Do we learn lessons from the past? Do we hinder progress for illogical reasons?
Written by Chris Sheppardson, Founder of EP Business in Hospitality
One of the most impressive traits about the top leaders in our industry is their obvious care for the human asset under their lead but also the fact that they are so rarely personal, rarely are personal in their critique. It has long been a known truth that top leaders are far more accepting of success and failure in people and for good reason; they did not just become leaders. They became leaders through a long arduous journey where they will have learnt the importance of bringing people together to work as a team and this does require something more, something higher which inspires people to work and take risk for the whole.
As we have emerged from Covid, though, structures are having to think anew to bring people together and yet it is also a marked reality that so many are fighting change. Here are some observations for reflection:
One cannot help noticing how personal senior politics has become. It is also the opposite of what is stated above and then one wonders why there is little trust and engagement. The strange thing is that often top politicians do have good understanding of the difficulties so why do they get drawn into personalized battles?
In a survey, EP ran earlier this year on partnerships and collaboration, nearly 48% noted that they wanted to see a return to business models of pre-covid.
In a webinar we co-hosted on AI and technology, 48% of companies noted that they are yet to start their AI journeys. This is striking given that so many companies are seeking to improve their margins – which are under pressure – and are not exploring the power of digitalization and AI. Considering how many webinars and news columns have been dedicated to this subject, how can this be the landscape?
All know of the disengagement and falling productivity in workplaces pre covid – so why would one not want to change?
These are all central questions which are being asked with increasing volume. The emerging generations are not that dissimilar to those of the 1960s, 70s and 80s which did all believe in building better. The baby boomers did this impressively via wealth and ironically, given the AI/Digitalisation point above, post the Big Bang of 1986, when, in one fell swoop, the City of London was deregulated, revolutionising its fortunes and turning it into a financial capital to rival New York. London's switch in 1986 from traditional face-to-face share dealing to electronic trading helped it outpace its European competitors and become a magnet for international banks.
One must ask why would we not learn the lessons of the past to support what can help business margins improve today?
Why is there such a desire to fight change? And returning to the opening point, does all this negativity to change make it the harder for leaders to lead?
So many senior players seem to still want to command and control rather than empower their people which is again illogical as so many complain that talent is not emerging. It is and is doing so almost despite some frameworks.
Our role is to create forums for these debates around these questions, so please do come and get involved.