At 7am this morning as I was writing this blog, my phone blared that jarring “Amber Alert” noise. But there was no missing child.

Instead, my state’s governor smartly alerted everybody to stay at home to slow the spread of the Coronavirus. What a weird experience; I felt like I was in an apocalypse movie.

The first thought that crossed my mind was gratitude that my family was healthy, at least at the moment.

The second thought that crossed my mind was how much “great leadership” matters in times of crisis. I’m proud of how our Managing Partner, Randy Street, and my other colleagues are leading through this crisis. And I realized how this crisis has revealed some of the cultural roots of ghSMART, the leadership advisory firm I founded 25 years ago.

Why you should care
If you are reading this article, you likely run or own a company or not-for-profit, or you aspire to lead an organization one day. ghSMART is a leadership advisory firm whose clients include CEOs of some of the largest companies in the world, influential entrepreneurs, and enlightened government and not-for-profit leaders. We help them to confidently hire, develop and lead talented and diverse teams that succeed.

You already know how much “culture” matters in propelling any organization forward. ghSMART recently won the “#1 company to work for” award in our industry for overall employee satisfaction, according to Vault. Vault said the main reason we won that award was due to the firm’s culture. And it’s during challenging times like these that a culture’s true DNA becomes crystal clear. So, I wanted to share with you 3 cultural roots that help ghSMART to power through crisis.

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Today, I watched over 100 of my colleagues crying.

Their.
Eyes.
Out.

The reason was that Nick Stoyer, Learning and Development Leader at Four Seasons Resort Orlando, was revealing some secrets to world class service.

And his stories were so compelling, so powerful, that many of us were overwhelmed with emotion. Nick was generous enough to stop a ghSMART summit to share some secrets to success. And he and his firm agreed to allow us to share them with you.

How does the Four Seasons deliver world-class service across the globe?

That was the central question. Below are some excerpts from the conversation. I hope you find the insights as powerful and as useful as we did.

Geoff: Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts is known as the gold standard for service worldwide. It has achieved more Forbes Five Star ratings than any other hotel and resort brand in the world, among a long list of “best of” awards. The experience is unique. And it’s consistently awesome. Any company in any industry can benefit from learning from your example. The question is HOW DO YOU DO THAT?”

Nick: Long before it was fashionable for CEOs to talk about doing good in the world, and treating “stakeholders” (also known as “people”) well, Four Seasons has been practicing the Golden Rule—to treat others as you wish to be treated. Our Founder Issy Sharp, son of Polish immigrants, started Four Seasons in 1961 in Toronto. It seemed to him that if you wanted to build the best hospitality company in the world, you had to treat your colleagues and guests the best.

Geoff: Easier said than done.

Nick: Right!

Geoff: So is it all about defining metrics and meticulously measuring your employees and holding people accountable, as so many companies do?

Nick: No.

Geoff: What do you mean, no? That’s management 101, right?

Nick: Yes. Maybe. But we have a different approach.

Geoff: What’s that?
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