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Communications Skills That Spur Hotel Leadership Success

By Ryan Kopyar Professional Counselor Assoc. & Men's Vulnerability Coach, Ryan Kopyar Holistic Healing & Counseling | June 2024

Leadership is a strategic and evolving combination of communication and behavior patterns focused on aligning and unifying a group of individuals to move towards a clearly defined goal and to facilitate collective flexibility throughout the process of reaching that goal.

One of the key components of that statement is communication. Communication is the cornerstone that helps to spur success in hotel leadership. John Maxwell, one of the most well-known and highly renowned subject matter experts in business development and leadership, discusses the synergy between leadership and influence.

Whether you are a CEO, C-suite executive, front desk manager, or fill any other supporting roles within the hotel, you are all part of the leadership group because you all have influence.

Another way to define influence is simply the act of impacting how another human being thinks or feels about themselves. This article will break down leadership and communication skills to help facilitate that leadership in two different ways: the first is in the traditional sense of top-down, and the second is not bottom-up, but rather wide. Very wide because this second framework or perspective reflects the importance of communication and influence from each and every hotel staff member to each and every customer. These interactions are copious and to some extent almost impossible to measure. They range from the housekeeping staff interacting with a guest to provide them with an extra towel to a dinner reservation made by the hostess at the hotel restaurant, all the way up to a front desk manager happy to step in and resolve a larger issue for the guest at the front desk.

In both of these frameworks, communication is key to providing an outstanding work environment for the employee and a guest experience for the customer. It’s important to note that how management communicates and influences their staff directly, in many ways, shapes how the staff communicates and influences the experience of the frontline staff interactions and experiences with the customer. In that sense, it’s important for hotel management to understand that their communication, both directly and indirectly, impacts the customer experience. This presents a tremendous opportunity for hotel management to lead the way and to exemplify what communication and influence excellence sounds, looks, and feels like for providing an outstanding customer experience.


Very often when we think about communication, we think about it in the sense of words, and undoubtedly that is a major part of communication. But for hotels to really provide a uniquely and distinctly outstanding guest experience, it is important to reflect upon communication as a triad of actions, words, and energy. It has been said that people will not always remember what you said to them, but they will always remember how you made them feel.

For any service industry provider that faces the challenges of dealing with a wide range of customer service situations, one may find a laugh when they find themselves laughing at that, and just as a customer that has had a poor experience will there very often quote our words, but nevertheless, I think that’s the quote signifies and embodies the triad notion of communication, which is to say that actions that the staff takes relative to the guest’s experience is one level of communication and influence with the guest.

Secondly, direct communication and words have a clearly defined impact as it relates to the communication with the guests and shapes their guest experience. And lastly, we have energy. As human beings, we are either consciously or subconsciously overtly or covertly communicating and influencing others with our energy. Energy is that unquantifiable and yet simultaneously creates a measurable impact on the customer experience. The energy, the vibe, the intentionality, the genuineness, all of these could be used interchangeably as it relates to how hotel staff can imagine or define energy. Energy that the hotel staff puts forth interacting with the customer can be so powerful that it can even overtake a subpar customer experience and turn it into a positive one.

Think about it like this: Have you ever been in a situation as a customer where there has been a less than positive experience but you saw from the person on the other side of the desk such a tremendous desire to fix the situation or a heartfelt sense of responsibility that even if they couldn’t fix the situation, they truly cared about trying to make it right? I myself have been in those situations, and it disarms me of my dissatisfaction, and many times in my life has even got me to not only no longer be upset with the merchant or the vendor or the staff but actually have an increased level of appreciation for their steadfast commitment to making me as the customer feel valued, feel important, and feel as though they’re doing everything they can to rectify the situation. That’s the power of communication. That’s the power of energy as it relates to communication.

Now that the framework has been set as it relates to communication skills through the triad framework of actions, words, and energy, let’s talk about communication skills for excellence and influence through the framework of upper management to the customer-facing staff. I will keep this within the triad of action, words, and energy.


Let’s start with action. The biggest way that management can use communication skills in the furtherance of the organization and employee engagement is through actions of leading from the front. This means that management not only communicates in words or in writing what needs to be done to provide an excellent customer experience but also is humble and willing to step in to lead from the front where appropriate. This leading from the front mentality communicates commitment not only to providing an exceptional customer experience but also a commitment to the staff that management has their backs, is there to support them, and is not asking them to do anything that they haven’t or wouldn’t do. There is no better way to communicate or to exemplify training than to quite literally have management or the trainer show the staff directly what needs to be done by executing it as if they were a customer-facing staff member.

Of course, there are certain limitations that pragmatically come through as it relates to the fact that management is responsible for a number of different administrative and other duties which can limit their ability to spend any large amounts of time in this direct customer-facing role. I would argue that these leading from the front actions don’t need to happen at any significant level as it relates to the number of times that it happens. But perhaps even more importantly, is the context and the timing of which they happen.

For instance, if a customer-facing department is short-staffed for the day, management could step in and lead from the front for 15 to 20 minutes during the check-in rush so as to help alleviate that burden from other frontline team members. Another context or framework in which this could happen would be if a member of management knows that a particular team member is struggling with a personal matter or simply having a bad day, that member of management can step in and be a little extra supportive to that particular staff member. This is excellence in leadership. This is excellence in communication through actions and will most assuredly make a marked impact on the employee’s well-being and job satisfaction as well as possibly even garner the attention of the customer as they feel impressed by the fact that management is stepping in to such a role.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had situations where a general manager or even the owner of a large business has stepped in, and I’m always impressed by that level of humility as well as really appreciate and feel and made to feel special that individual took time out of their busy day to step in to make my customer experience faster, easier, or even to bring some resolution to an issue that I may be having.

Now let’s talk about the next part, which is communication through words. There is a big difference between paying somebody a compliment or acknowledging somebody’s hard work as a general statement, versus paying somebody a compliment, acknowledging their hard work, and making it specifically about them. A non-business-related example would be somebody says, "I like your blue shirt." That would feel good. But if somebody was to say to you, "I like your blue shirt and it really highlights your blue eyes," that’s an added and more personal level of helping the individual to feel seen. Now let’s look at this through a business framework. If management says to a staff member, "You really went above and beyond to help that customer. Your great attitude and genuine passion for helping people really shone through there. I just want to let you know that I recognize you for that. And I appreciate you for that." That’s completely different than saying, "Hey, you did a good job handling that upset customer."


These communication skills through words may seem a bit nuanced, but the level of impact that adding those last few words or even taking the time to add in the extra sentence or two is unquantifiable. In emotional, positive impact that it will have on the staff member. And as was discussed before, the more positive communication skills go to impacting the staff members the more likely it is for those staff members to continue to keep that communication and that positive influence rolling into the customer-facing experience.

For the last part of communication skills for excellence and influence, as it relates to management to the customer-facing staff, let’s talk about energy and communicating through energy. An excellent way to do this involves the following skills or techniques, but at its heart, it is an energetic way of being as a manager and as a leader. This requires communicating to your staff through an energy of composure and steadfastness. When there are periods of chaos at the hotel, what energy is management giving off? Are they feeding into the chaos and becoming frantic and overwhelmed? Or is management composing themselves and providing a steadfast and guiding hand of understanding, which helps to bring unison and harmony that facilitates a resolution to the chaos, the disruption, or whatever problems the hotel may be facing at that time? I also think that another part of this is just a genuine caring way of being for both the staff members of the hotel as well as for the customers. I should also note that this also goes for the energy part as it relates to staff to customers. Having a sense of genuineness is very important as it relates to communicating through energy.

Now let’s look at the communication skills for excellence as it relates to hotel staff members to the customers. In one of Les Brown’s famous speeches, he has a quote that I think really embodies what it means to provide gratuitous levels of service. He says the following: "Our intention is not just to satisfy our customers. Our intention is to amaze them." I love this quote and I feel that it really fully embodies what it means to put intentionality around and behind these communication skills that we’re going to break down next. So let’s dive in.

Actions: Communicating through actions means that the staff is not just doing what is expected for the customer but going one or two steps beyond what’s expected. I think that most people have a reasonable level of expectation as to what their hotel experience should look like. Again, this is going to vary based on the type of hotel but ultimately, wherever that bar is set relative to a general level of expectation. Communication skills through actions means going one or two steps further beyond what is expected. This can look a lot of different ways to a lot of different departments within the hotel. So I won’t get into all of the fine nuanced details here, but suffice to say that one or maybe even two extra steps may only require 10 seconds to a minute of the hotel staff’s time, but could go exponentially far as it relates to providing the customer with an amazing guest experience.


Now let’s look at words: Communicating through words involves not just hearing and then responding to the guest but really listening to what it is that the guest is expressing or asking for and then responding specifically to that request. Very often, in the customer-facing side of the hotel business, it can be challenging to find the balance between what it is that is possible to do for the customer and what it is that the customer is asking to have happen. Ideally, in situations like this, the hotel staff can give the customer exactly what it is that they are asking for and maybe even more.

But, there is another unique side to this as it relates to communication skills and that is listening to what is really behind what the customer is saying. As human beings, we all have a desire to be seen and heard. Yet sometimes what we’re communicating at the surface level is not fully or exactly what it is that we’re really looking for. So when the hotel staff can listen for the meaning or the emotion just behind the words of what it is that the customer is asking for, it can help to facilitate an even deeper level of customer satisfaction and can, in many ways, give the customer what it is that they were really asking for, even if they didn’t directly ask for it with words.

The last part of this is energy: Again, this ties back into the communication skills that management can use with their staff as it relates to the staff’s communication with the customer. It boils down to just a true genuineness in conversation, a smile that is truly felt by the customer and not seemingly forced or disingenuous by the staff. Another way to phrase this is to say we can communicate our positive energy through executing our job duties and responsibilities that are customer-facing in which we’re executing these skills, roles, and responsibilities like we really want to, like we really care about providing an amazing customer experience, and not just because we have to or because it is checking off a box on a job duty or job responsibility or even because the customer asked us to.

In summary, it’s important to note that in order to provide an exceptional and amazing customer experience and employee experience working at the hotel, that communication skills are not just defined or limited to verbal interactions but are fully embraced and executed through the triad of what communication is: communication through actions, communication through words, and communication through energy. Whether you’re part of the hotel management team or part of the hotel from frontward facing Customer Experience team, reflecting, reviewing, and improving all three aspects of your communication skills and these three areas is absolutely crucial to not just satisfying your customers but to amazing them.

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Notwithstanding the foregoing, any and all disputes, which the parties cannot informally resolve, regarding the scope of issues or matter with the jurisdiction of the arbitrator, shall be resolved by a separate dispute resolution process whereby HotelExecutive, in its sole discretion shall elect the dispute to be resolved by either (1) a court of competent jurisdiction in the State of California or (2) a panel of three new arbitrators.

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California notwithstanding any conflict of laws provisions. You and HotelExecutive agree that the venue for all legal disputes, controversies, actions of any kind arising under or related to this Agreement shall be San Francisco, California. You and HotelExecutive further agree that in case of any litigation regarding this Agreement, you irrevocably and unconditionally (i) consent to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in the County of San Francisco, California for any litigation or dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement, (ii) agree not to commence any litigation arising out of or relating to this Agreement except in the California Courts, (iii) agree not to plead or claim that such litigation brought therein has been brought in an inconvenient forum, and (iv) agree the California Courts represent the exclusive jurisdiction for all litigation relating to this Agreement.

11. MEMBERSHIP FEES

Hotel Business Review Subscriptions

If you choose to purchase a subscription, member subscription payments can be made in U.S. Dollars, as well as a variety of international currencies. Membership terms are Annual Recurring, and Monthly Recurring. The Annual Recurring subscription is an annual commitment and subscribers will be charged each consecutive billing cycle. Annual Recurring subscriptions can be cancelled after the first billing cycle and within 30-days of the billing date for a full refund. Monthly Recurring subscriptions are ongoing and subscribers will be charged each consecutive monthly billing cycle. Monthly Recurring subscriptions can be cancelled after the first month and within 7 days of the monthly billing cycle for a full refund.

12. PAYMENT AUTHORIZATION

Payment for the services provided to you in, at, through or in association with HotelExecutive may be made by automatic credit card, debit card, direct debit, bankwire or Paypal and other approved payment means offered in, at, through or in association with HotelExecutive, and you hereby authorize HotelExecutive and its agents to transact such payments on your behalf.

You hereby authorize HotelExecutive's Internet Payment Service Provider to charge your credit card to pay for your membership to HotelExecutive. You further authorize HotelExecutive's Internet Payment Service Provider to charge your credit card for any and all purchases of products, services in association with HotelExecutive. You agree to be personally liable for all charges incurred by you in association with your access or other use of any content provided by HotelExecutive or any third party in association with HotelExecutive. You acknowledge and agree that your liability for all such charges shall continue after termination of your access or any type of membership arrangement with HotelExecutive.

In the event that you have chosen to have your membership automatically rebilled, unless and until you notify HotelExecutive that you wish to cancel or terminate your membership to HotelExecutive, you hereby agree and authorize HotelExecutive's Internet Payment Service Provider to automatically renew your membership to HotelExecutive on a continuing basis and to charge your credit card (or other payment means you have selected) to pay for the ongoing cost of your membership. You hereby further authorize HotelExecutive's Internet Payment Service Provider to charge your credit card (or other approved payment means you have selected) for any and all purchases of products, services and entertainment provided to in, at, through or in association with HotelExecutive.

13. PRIVACY POLICY

The following is the Privacy Policy for HotelExecutive

We can be reached via telephone, email, or online at our contact page. When you visit our site we do not log any information regarding your domain or email address. Information Sharing: We do not share user information with any third parties other than via press release distribution as described below.

Hotel Newswire is a newswire service that distributes press releases on behalf of our users. If you decide to submit a press release for distribution through our system we will transmit your entire press release including any personal information therein contained to our media contacts and online distribution points including search engines. This is the only redistribution of your information that we engage in. Your submission of press releases through our system indicates consent with this policy. The information we collect during your registration process is used to notify users about updates to our service and inform users of any special events hosted by Hotel Newswire. This information is not shared with other organizations for commercial or non-commercial purposes.

Cookies: Our system requires the use of cookies to enable the user to log back into our website to access information from the newswire, without having to log in each time using the required username and password.

If you do not want to receive email from us in the future, please let us know by following instructions included in our communication with you. Users who supply us with telephone numbers online may receive telephone contact from us regarding their account, or informing them of new products and services available on the HotelExecutive website. If you do not wish to receive such telephone calls, please edit your account and remove your phone number from your account profile. This can be done from your user account menu.

Ad Servers: We do not partner with or have any relationship with any ad server companies. From time to time, we may use customer information for new uses not previously disclosed in our privacy notice. If our information practices change at any time, we will post the policy changes to our website to notify you of these changes and provide you with the ability to opt out of these new uses. If you are concerned about how your information is used, you should check back at our website periodically.

Upon request we provide site visitors with access to all information (including proprietary information) that we maintain about them. Users can access this information by logging in to their account.

Security: We always use industry-standard encryption technologies while transferring and receiving user data exchanged with our site. We have appropriate security measures in place in our physical facilities to protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of information that we have collected from you on our site. We do not store credit card information in our systems.

If you feel that this site is not following its stated information policy, you may contact us.

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