244 | Missing Rungs: A slow climb for women in hospitality leadership

A new study by McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org reveals that over the past five years Corporate America has made some progress in gender diversity, including increasing the number of women in leadership. Although that finding is promising, women remain underrepresented in business leadership across the board and continue to lack access to opportunities available read more

225 | LinkedIn Means Business: How to use social media to grow

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. That career adage is about 100 years old, but it still rings true today, especially when it comes to social media. If you’re not tuned into social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn, it’s time to reconsider. With more than 3 billion people read more

219 | Train and Retain: Hospitality apprenticeship fills high-level jobs

It’s no secret the hospitality industry in America is in dire need of skilled employees. Many hotel owners and operators continually seek ways to attract and keep talent. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says the hospitality industry has a turnover rate of nearly 75 percent per year, compared to a healthy rate of 10 to read more

209 | American Tales: Hotel industry execs tell all

“These stories can only be told by us.” Those words are written by Bharat Shah, an American hotelier and an immigrant from India, in his autobiography “America My Destiny.” Bharat’s son, Mit, is founder and CEO of Noble Investment Group, which has $3 billion of private equity invested in hotels throughout the country. Together, father read more

202 | Mitch Patel Redesigns the Future of Vision Hospitality

This week, Lodging Leaders focuses on Mitch Patel and his company, Vision Hospitality Group in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We will hear from Mitch about how he has remade Vision Hospitality Group to capture new segments of travelers and capitalize on new and emerging trends in guests’ needs, wants and expectations. We also hear from others involved read more

February 1st week

Renewed Vision: CEO Mitch Patel, an engineer by degree, becomes a hospitality bridge builder…

Mitch Patel redesigns his company’s future with a new independent luxury hotel, a proprietary brand and a boutique division. He’s a prime example of how the next generation of Asian American hoteliers is scaling their businesses to thrive in the future.

200 | Excellence Wins with Horst Schulze

Horst Schulze is Founder, Chairman and CEO of the Capella Hotel Group, and Co-founder & Former COO of The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. Schulze is a legendary leader and global titan of business and the author of Excellence Wins: A No-Nonsense Guide to Becoming the Best in a World of Compromise (Zondervan/HarperCollins). His visionary and disruptive read more

198 | Energy & Experience Turn Into Results with Jyoti Sarolia

Jyoti Sarolia is a third-generation hotel owner from San Diego. She serves as Chief Operating Officer of Ellis Hospitality that operates seven properties and she just completed a one-year term as Chairman of the Choice Hotels Owners Council. Her original career choice was to be a lawyer, but now she is raising the bar in read more

195 | The Internal Experience (iX) Leadership Framework with Rachel Headley

Dr. Rachel MK Headley has been in the trenches, dealing with unspoken conversations, barriers to team goals and success, and figuring out how to achieve impossible goals demanded by executive leadership. She believes the internal experience (iX) of an organization is a leadership choice. Partnering with Meg Manke at the Rose Group Int’l, they developed read more

183 | The Business Case for Improving Employee Engagement with Julia Felton

Julia Felton is the Founder of Business HorsePower, which delivers leadership and team development to CEO’s, entrepreneurs and executives. Julia is a veteran of the hospitality industry having been the creator the HotelBenchmark Survey which provided the lodging industry with monthly statistics on its performance. She took that business from an idea on a piece read more

171 | The Engine that Drives the Hotel with Stan Turkel

Stanley Turkel is a recognized authority in the hotel industry. He operates his consulting practice serving as an expert witness in hotel-related cases and providing franchise consultation and asset management. Prior to forming his hotel consulting firm, Turkel was the Product Line Manager for Hotel/Motel Operations at the International Telephone & Telegraph Co. overseeing the read more

169 | Leading from the Front with Damian ten Bohmer

Damian ten Bohmer currently serves as IHG Senior Director of Commercial for the Middle East. He possesses a proven track-record of success in on-property, regional sales, marketing, brand management, digital marketing and channel management. Over the years, Damian has demonstrated the ability to build productive relationships with both internal and external partners, and create teams read more

166 | Create a Moment of Truth with Quentin McElveen

Quentin McElveen is a graduate of the University of South Carolina, and holds a B.S. degree in Hospitality Management. He is a passionate Hotel Operations Manager who has excelled in several positions within full-service and select-service hotels. He believes that employee empowerment and communication is important to the success of hotels. As Quentin thrives in read more

159 | The Power of a Tribe with Jon Albano

I just had the honor and privilege of speaking at the Vesta Hospitality Annual Meeting in San Diego, Calif. Knowing that I’d be addressing their amazing team of GMs, Directors of Sales, and Corporate Office Executive staff, I decided to talk about the power of a tribe. This episode is that speech. Enjoy! In This read more

158 | 3 Key Elements to Being an Effective Leader with Gary Douglas

Gary Douglas is an investor, a business owner, and a multi-millionaire. He’s also a psychologist, and a sought-after international speaker who empowers people to know that they are the source for creating a life that goes beyond the limitations of popular beliefs and conditioning. Gary founded Access Consciousness® 25 years ago – a $10M+ global read more

153 | You Don’t Need a Title to Be a Leader with Mark Sanborn

Mark Sanborn, CSP, CPAE, is president of Sanborn & Associates, Inc., an idea studio dedicated to developing leaders in business and in life. Mark is an international bestselling author and noted expert on leadership, team building, customer service and change. In This Episode, Mark Reveals: The vision behind one of Mark’s books, You Don’t Need read more

128 | Leadership and Service Go Hand In Hand with Roger Miller

As a multi-unit hospitality veteran of 30+ years, Roger Miller has established himself as one of the hotel industry’s leading sales and marketing technical advisors who offers results-driven, sales & marketing expertise to the industry. He brings a depth of experience as a strategist, trainer, leader, coach, mentor and industry resource for full service, select read more

095 | The Smartest Room with Tarun Patel

Tarun S. Patel is a second generation hotelier and entrepreneur specializing in Hospitality Management and Development, Deal Structure, Finance and Accounting. He’s Principal of Pacific Hospitality Company, and Founder and CFO of Pracrea Inc, a Silicon Valley based startup offering software-as-a-service solutions used by commercial real estate brokers and owners to manage the sale of read more

081 | Building Commitment Through Clarity, Focus and Accountability with Susan Hasty

Susan is the CEO of 360 Profit Masters and the host of the Lucrative Leadership Conversations podcast. Her passion is helping business owners and CEOs improve their own clarity, focus and commitment to build more sustainable organizations empowered to make economic liberty a reality. Susan is a member of the Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching read more

074 | Increase Hotel Profits Through Financial Leadership with David Lund

David is an international hospitality financial leadership expert who has held positions as a Regional Financial Controller, Corporate Director and Hotel Manager with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. David authored an award winning workshop on financial leadership, and he coaches hospitality executives, leads group facilitations with hospitality teams and delivers his Financial Leadership Training workshop throughout the world. read more

067 | Creating Power Teams Through Accountability and a Positive Praise Culture with Peter Ivanov

Peter Ivanov is a Virtual Teams Expert, Keynote Speaker and Executive Coach. He has 20 years of international experience leading Virtual Teams of 100+ people – spread across Eastern and Western Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa – and delivered outstanding business results. His Management System “Virtual Power Teams” has won multiple corporate awards. read more

059 | Fail a Thousand Times and Be Cause in the Matter with Dawn Berry

Dawn is President and CEO of PHD Hospitality, a full service asset management, design and development company based in Scottsdale, AZ. In just 10 years, PHD has operated, owned or managed a portfolio of up to 23 properties under management in 11 states. In 2015, PHD Hospitality ranked #85 in the Hotel Business Top 100 Management Companies read more

057 | Why Women: The Leadership Imperative to Advancing Women and Engaging Men with Jeffery Tobias Halter

Jeffery Tobias Halter is a corporate gender strategist. The country’s leading expert on engaging men to advance women, Jeffery is the President of YWomen, a strategic consulting company. The former Director of Diversity Strategy of The Coca-Cola Company, Jeffery has worked with leading companies including McDonald’s, Deloitte, Publicis Groupe, GE and more. Jeffery’s latest book read more

053 | Ingaging Leadership (with an I for Involved) with Evan Hackel

Evan Hackel, creator of the concept of Ingaging Leadership and author of Ingaging Leadership, is a successful businessman who has started more than 10 companies. During his tenure at CCA Global Partners, he ran a $5 billion division. One of his signature achievements was turning around a bankrupt business in four years, more than doubling read more

033 | Attitude Decides the Latitude in Life with Hemant Patel

Hemant “Henry” Patel CHO CHA was born and raised in India, and he immigrated to the United States in 1986. Within a few short years, he and his wife settled in Miami, Florida, where they invested in their first property – The King Motel – an independent property on Biscayne Blvd. He also has an interest read more

031 | Do the Right Thing, Then Do the Thing Right with Sterling Stoudenmire

Sterling Stoudenmire is versatile executive proven in uniquely challenging situations involving transformation, turnaround, re-engineering and disruption. A successful, top-tier consultant and chief executive, he delivers value through the synthesis of a unique and distinct skillset in finance, strategy and technology combined with innate ability to lead, inspire and mentor others. Sterling’s diverse career includes business consulting read more

030 | Find a Mentor and Listen! with Greg Plank

Greg Plank’s diverse hospitality career spans more than 50 years, beginning as a receiving clerk at the Barclay Hotel in Philadelphia. He graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Hotel Administration. He worked in advertising for hotel clients in New York in account management and some creative work. Greg moved to read more

029 | Student of the Industry: A Foot Soldier’s Journey with Chip Elbers

Chip is a hospitality veteran and he’s been serving the industry for more than 30 years. He’s done it all. From Dish Washer, to Front Desk Agent, Assistant General Manager, General Manager, Sales Manager, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Development Officer, and Vice President. For the last half of the career, Chip faithfully served as Vice read more

021 | Mediation, Fact-based Decision Making, and Doing the Right Thing with Ramesh Gokal

Ramesh Gokal is a 39-year veteran of the hospitality industry, with a recognized reputation in the areas of entrepreneurship, franchise leadership and mediation expertise. His diverse industry experience includes being an entrepreneur, owning developing and managing a diverse hotel portfolio, working as a brand president for the world’s largest hotel franchise company, Cendant, and selling read more

018 | Service, Employee Benefits, Operating Debt Free and Entrepreneurial Responsibility with Harris Rosen

Harris Rosen is president and COO of Rosen Hotels & Resorts and is Florida’s largest independent hotelier. Founded in 1974, Rosen Hotels & Resorts currently features a collection of seven Central Florida hotels offering a total of more than 6,300 guest rooms, approximately six percent of the Central Florida inventory. Rosen Hotels has several subsidiaries read more

017 | Iconic Leadership, Innovation by Necessity, the Human Resource, and Mindset with Mike Leven

Michael Allen Leven, also known as Mike, has served the hospitality industry for more than 50 years. Throughout his career, Mike has garnered nearly every award and recognition one can receive in the hotel industry, and he’s recognized by many as an industry icon and an innovative pioneer. In 2014, AH&LA presented Leven with a read more

013 | Fearless Leadership with Vantage Hospitality President and CEO Roger Bloss

Roger Bloss has more than 40 years of experience in the hospitality industry, starting in the business as a teenager. After serving in executive positions with several major hotel franchise companies, Bloss and his partners started the Vantage Hospitality Group in 1996 and acquired their first hotel. Bloss’ vision was to develop a national hotel read more

012 | The 12-Year Journey to the Top 10 with Magnuson Hotels CEO Tom Magnuson

Tom Magnuson is Co-Founder and CEO of Magnuson Hotels Worldwide – a top 10 global chain, and the world’s largest independent hotel group. Magnuson markets over 1000 hotels across six countries and three continents, and they’re the number one conversion brand in the market, with over 400 Best Westerns, 250 Wyndhams and 200 Choice franchises read more

005 | What Makes a Leader with John Hogan

John J. Hogan, CHA CMHS CHE CHO is a career business professional and educator who has held senior leadership with responsibility in several organizations involving operational, academic and entrepreneurial enterprise. He has demonstrated competencies as a strong leader, relationship builder, problem solver and mentor and is frequently invited to speak at franchise meetings, management company read more

003 | Great Leadership Stems from the Heart with Nancy Johnson

Nancy Johnson’s career in hospitality spans more than 40 years, the last 25 of which were in executive roles with Carlson that include heading up the brands Country Inn & Suites™ and Radisson Hotels International.  Nancy served as Chair of the American Hotel and Lodging Association (AHLA) in 2012, and initiated AH&LA’s Women in Lodging Council. read more

001 | About the Lodging Leaders Podcast with Jon Albano

Jon Albano is the Founder and CEO of the LodgingMetrics dashboard for hotels, and host of the Lodging Leaders podcast. For more than 13 years, he defined Membership Services for AAHOA, one of the fastest-growing organizations in the hospitality industry, with more than 12,500 members owning more than 20,000 hotels that total $128 billion in read more