Wednesday 3 July 2013

Julia Gillard

08:09 | Posted by UNLVstud | | Edit Post

Prime Minister of Australia (ex)

Background:

• Prime minister of Australia and Leader of the labor party from 2010 to 2013
• Born in the Welsh port town of Barry in 1961, Ms Gillard migrated to Australia with her parents when she was four.
• An outstanding student in her home town, Adelaide, she became president of the Australian Union of Students at Melbourne University in 1983.
• Gillard worked in the industrial department of the law firm Slater & Gordon from 1988 through to 1995, after which she resigned and pursued her political career.
• First female in Australia to hold either position
• Graduated from University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws

Contributions:

• After the 2010 Election, Gillard formed a minority government with the Greens and Independents and formed a climate change panel consisting of Labor, Greens and Independent members of Parliament. The panel ultimately announced backing for a temporary carbon tax, leading up to an Emissions Trading Scheme.
• Gillard placed education her economic agenda, relating to how development of skills can lead to high productivity and other rewards. In January 2011, the government extended tax cuts to help parents pay for textbooks, stationary, or equipments under the Education Tax Refund Scheme.
• In February 2011, Gillard announced extensive revision of the original health funding reforms proposed by the Rudd Government, towards providing 50% of new health funding (and not 60 per cent as originally agreed) and removed the requirement of the states to cede a proportion of their GST revenue to the Federal Government in order to fund the new arrangement

Leadership Style:

• Democractic

Gillard’s style of leadership encompasses discussion, debate and sharing of ideas and encourage people to feel involved about the decisions. The boundaries of democratic participation tend to be limited to the citizens’ concerns and abilities to direct them to the government The democratic style encompasses the notion that everyone, by virtue of their human status, should play a part in the group's decisions.

Leadership Traits:

1. Motivated

Ms. Gillard comes from a labor household where her hardworking parents has shaped her beliefs in working hard. Her father was denied proper education as a child and that drove her to regard education very highly. As a child, she had the vision to correct these problems in her country. That drive has motivated her to achieve her visions in her later years.

This is a very important leadership trait especially in the hospitality industry. To have a vision means having a path or destination to work towards. Having a clear and compelling vision drives employee to work towards the goal. This very vision will later be used as a guideline towards the planning of trainings and sets a strong culture for the company.

2. Relationships Builder

Ms. Gillard as built a strong sense of trust towards her followers. She proved to everyone how a women can be as capable in a job. To be a prime minister, building up the trust is as good as building up the number of votes from the citizens. During her climb to becoming a prime minister, she had made a good number of friends who had held on to her belief and supported her.

The hospitality industry requires many things combined into one. Take example a hotel, there is the purchasing of bed sheets, the supplies of food to the restaurant etc. It requires the management to build good relationships with these suppliers so they can supply the goods that would be needed to provide service for the guests. It important to build rapport from your employee so they can share the same visions and support the leader by putting in efforts for the company.

3. Focused

The prime minister had the vision to help people achieve education and get good support from the government in the workforce. This has led her to become the leader of the labor party, which then gave her support for her to rise as a prime minister. There are many issues in politics but Ms. Gillard has remained focus in doing what she has set out for.

There are failures in life, but each failure is only but a step forward to achieving success. Focus is a leadership skill needed in the hospitality industry, the ability to pick oneself up after a failure is crucial. If the company has made targets to achieve better service quality, it should always be focus on achieving the task first before moving on to the next. Distractions or personal agendas from time to time should never interfere with the targeted goal. 

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Isadore Sharp

07:55 | Posted by UNLVstud | | Edit Post

Founder and Chairman of Four Seasons Hotel

Background:

• Isadore Sharp is a Canadian hotelier. He is founder and chairman of Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts. After graduation, Sharp went to work for his father’s company full-time as an architect and real estate developer, building apartment buildings and houses. He founded the Four Seasons Hotel in 1960 and opened the first hotel on Jarvis Street in downtown Toronto in 1961.
• On November 6, 2006, Bill Gates, through his holding company Cascade Investments LLC, and Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal made an offer to take Four Seasons Hotels private for US$3.4 billion (excluding debt). Sharp would remain chairman and chief executive of the company. He also would be able to realize proceeds from a 1989 incentive plan that would pay him $288 million. The company's headquarters would remain in Toronto.

Achievements:

• Founding of Four Seasons Hotels: built and opened the first Four Seasons, a 125-room motor hotel, in Toronto, Canada, in 1961 after founding the company the previous year
• In 2011 was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Luxury Travel Mart
• In 2010 was inducted into the Hall of Leaders by the US Travel Association
• Authored a book in 2009 detailing the history and philosophy of the company entitled "Four Seasons: The Story of a Business Philosophy"
• In 2009 was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from York University.
• In 2009 was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Hotel Investment Fund
• In 2008 was named a Companion to the Order from the Canadian Business Hall of Fame (first inducted in 1998)
• In 2008 was awarded the Visioinary Awards from the Marketing Hall of Legends

Leadership Style:

• People Orientated

It may seem obvious that in the hotel business, service is a primary objective, but it is how that service is delivered that sets Four Seasons apart.One way to characterize Four Seasons service would be to call it an exchange of mutual respect performed with an attitude of kindness.

Defining and enforcing the company culture was one of four key strategic decisions made in the formative years of Four Seasons history. Sharp sat down with his communications experts and wrote down the fundamentals of his company’s culture, which is based on the Golden Rule – to treat others as you wish to be treated. A lot of companies talk about having a culture, but he knew he had to walk the talk if he expected it to thrive in his hotels.

Top 3 Leadership Traits:

1. Motivating

Isadore Sharp believes that the crucial task of leadership is to bring out the best in his people. He is very excited when he realized how many people have developed along with the company, people at every level who have matured on the job. And if he have done his job right, his people won’t be saying, “He did it,” they’ll be saying, “We did it.” Sharp believes that by nurturing the full potential of every willing worker from top to bottom, businesses can tap a unique source of leadership and success for the 21st century.

Being a motivating hospitality leader plays a vital role in a hotel’s success. Leaders must seek to motivate and inspire his or her people to bring out the best in them. Because it is a 24/7 business, hoteliers need to be motivated to excel and deliver excellent service in their individual roles. The success of a hotel is a result of the whole team - management and line staff, so it is essential that each and every one is being motivated at work daily.

2. Responsibility

According to Sharp, the most essential quality of leadership – and the one most often overlooked – is responsibility. He says that responsibility is always taken for granted and that it comes with authority. These 2 elements go hand in hand with each other. He took on the mantle of responsibility to create a governing purpose that unites. He did that, first of all, by establishing a meaningful goal which is an overriding purpose that most people can relate to. If the goal is clear and the focus is sharp and constantly reinforced, then he has unify and energize through a sense of common purpose.

A leader must be responsible in the hospitality industry. With great powers come great responsibilities. When people see that their leader takes responsibility because of his actions and roles, they are more inclined to follow his or her ideals. This will result in a more faithful workforce because the industry is one with high turnover rates. Employees retention is therefore curical.

3. Integrity

Sharp built his company’s culture based on the Golden Rule that stats ‘Treat others as how you want to be treated.’ He believes that trust – in integrity and openness – is the measure of a good leader. He says that ethics plays a big role in how individuals and companies form their principles. If everyone had been more concerned about the ethical outcome of what they were doing, the world wouldn't have suffered through the financial problems of recent years. At Four Seasons, treating others well, trust and integrity are at the center of everything he and his employees do.

Integrity plays an important role to the image of a hospitality leader. The overall success of a business depends on the integrity of each and every body in the business. With that said, the leader is one whom everyone looks up to. If the leader does not display trust and openness to his employees, then the business will be in real trouble.

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Tony Fernandes

07:44 | Posted by UNLVstud | | Edit Post

CEO and Founder of AirAsia

Background:

• Tan Sri Anthony Francis "Tony" Fernandes,  is a Malaysian Indian entrepreneur. He is the founder of Tune Air Sdn. Bhd., who introduced the first budget no-frills airline, AirAsia, to Malaysians with the tagline "Now everyone can fly". 
• Fernandes managed to turn AirAsia, a failing government-linked commercial airline, into a highly successful budget airline public-listed company. He has since founded the Tune Group of companies.
• He was also instrumental in lobbying the then-Malaysian Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in mid-2003, to propose the idea of open skies agreements with neighbouring Thailand, Indonesia, and Singapore. As a result, these nations have granted landing rights to AirAsia and other discount carriers.

Achievements:

• International Herald Tribune Award for the "Visionaries & Leadership Series", for his outstanding work in AirAsia
• "Malaysian CEO of the Year 2003" in December 2003; so far awarded to only nine other recipients in the country, by American Express and Business Times. The award was an initiative to recognize entrepreneurial and managerial expertise and performance among leaders of Malaysian corporations.
• Named the joint winner of the CEO of the Year 2003 award by American Express Corporate Services and Business Times
• "Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year" in the Ernst & Young "Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards" in 2003
• Made the list of Business Week's "25 Stars of Asia" in 2005
• Malaysian Ernst & Young "Entrepreneur of the Year 2006"
• "Excellence In Leadership - Asia Pacific Leadership Awards 2009"
• 2010 Forbes Asia businessman of the year
• 2011 No. 52, in FastCompany Top 100 Most Creative People in Business

Leadership Styles:

• Charismatic

Tony Fernandes is known to be the charismatic CEO of Air Asia. “Despite having received various international awards and accolades for AirAsia and himself, Fernandes remains a very down-to-earth and approachable boss who has a quick smile for everyone. Fernandes was named FORBES ASIA’s 2010 Businessman of the Year and Forbes named him as a “single, charismatic pioneer” in the article. He is undoubtedly a charismatic speaker as he speaks at a level that the layman can understand. In fact, from his dressing; a ubiquitous cap and unassuming shirt, he does not take himself too seriously despite being the CEO of a multi-billion airline carrier. It is this ability to enrapture the masses that had enabled him to gain great traction within Malaysia. Due to the advent of social media, his reach has become ever more pervasive attracting thousands of likes on his Facebook page and followers on Twitter.In fact, Tony Fernandes is set to become a regular fixture of many Asian households as he is set to become the boss of the first Asian Apprentice, a role made iconic by Donald Trump.

Top 3 Leadership Traits:

1. Walk the Talk

Fernandes adopts a 'walk around' management style. He believes that if one sit up in his ivory tower and just look at financial reports, he is going to make some big mistakes. For a few days every month he works on the ground or in the cabin crew. He says he has learned a lot from working on the airline himself. He makes business decisions based on his own experiences, observations and feedback from his crews.

In the hospitality industry, a great leader must walk the talk. It is critical that he is seen with his employees and learn from ground experience. Staffs will then be appreciative of their leader and be motivated to do their best.

2. Employees Orientated

Fernandes says that to him, employees come first before his customers. He believes that in having a happy workforce, his staffs will look after his customers anyway. His company is said to have a culture department whose sole job is to organize parties. He has been known to search out new staff in queues. He looks for people who are driven, who have ambition and who are humble. He has hired many people at very strange places.

With all great businesses, employees are the vital human resources that drive the core of daily’s revenues and profits. Being invested in his or her employees will portray a leader as caring and understanding, more like a family in a business rather than just a worker and boss relationship. As it is widely practiced in the hospitality industry, take care of your employees and they will take care of your customers.

3. Anti-hierarchy

Fernandes encourage people to speak up and get “every brain in the game” by relaxing formality and breaking down walls (literally — AirAsia executives sit with other Allstars in an open floor plan). A good example is how his office is constructed. It is smack at the heart of the company, with no walls and no doors. Everyone sees him and he sees everyone. He is Tony to everyone and he is in his polo shirt and with his famous baseball cap. Management sits on one huge stage in an open space office, where the chief pilot has a corner desk looking at the operations team, which is right next to the flight attendant team, which is right next to the reception area, and where there is no call center but an online chat customer service team.

The hospitality industry is very much a people to people interactions basis. Therefore, having a hierarchy or chain of command sometimes make it difficult for effective communications. With everyone treating one another as friends or team members, the work produced would be more productive. Everyone gets the chance to share their thoughts and opinions on how to increase revenue and reduce costs.

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Steve Jobs

07:36 | Posted by UNLVstud | | Edit Post

CEO and Founder of Apple Inc.

Background: 

• Steven Paul “Steve” Jobs was an American entrepreneur and inventor, more commonly known as the founder, chairman, CEO and father of Apple Inc. Despite being a college dropout, he went on to create, inspire and inspire revolutionary companies like Apple and Pixar Animation Studios. 
• With his perfectionistic yet innovative mind, he catapulted his companies to new heights, making them the top brands in every consumer’s mind. With his enduring efforts, he has been referred to as “legendary”, a “futurist” and has been described as the “Father of the Digital Revolution”, a “Master of Innovation” and the “Master Evangelist of the Digital Age”.
• Despite his passing, he and his products have allowed not only the world to advance technological but also created a stepping stone for leaders and entrepreneur to create a better future. 

Achievements:

•  Founded Apple Inc., NeXT and Pixar Animation Studios
• In 2009, Jobs was named the CEO of the decade by Fortune magazine
• In November 2010, Jobs was ranked No.17 on Forbes: The World’s Most Powerful People.
• In December 2010, the Financial Times named Jobs its person of the year 2010.
• In March 2012, Fortune named Steve Jobs the “greatest entrepreneur of our time”

Leadership Style:

1. Authoritarian

Ever since Steve Jobs was of a young age, he always wanted to be in control of things. With this enduring characteristic, it was how he ran Apple Inc., making him an authoritarian leader. Moreover, him being a perfectionist and concern over the slightest detail, he made so that every single detail of the product from the design, color to even the back where nobody actually sees has to be perfect

2. Transformational

Steve Jobs was considered also to be a transformational leader as he redirected his employees’ thinking, challenged and inspired them with a sense of purpose and excitement. During his time as CEO of Apple Inc., he not only transformed the whole company’s thinking and direction but he also constantly challenged his employees to think creatively and encouraged them to come out with revolutionary products that would change the world.

3. Inspirational

It is said that inspirational leaders are one that transform, contribute and inspire a company but by the heavy paycheck but simply because of his or her inner drive to help the company. Steve Jobs was an inspirational leader simply because of his endless and revolutionary contributions to Apple Inc. despite only being paid $1 annually. 

Top 3 Leadership Traits:

1. Passion

‘Passion’ is often referred to the spark in a person that guides a person to the ends of earth; take on new and dangerous challenges to get what he or she wants. This is something that Steve Jobs always and constantly have in him that drives him to create better, more innovative and revolutionary products for the masses. Without his passion, the world would then be short-of groundbreaking products and the technological advancement it has today.

Applying it into today’s hospitality industry, having the passion to do something or in particular, having the passion to serve is essential and crucial for all hotel employees. Having this passion, employees would go the extra mile, end work later and putting their hundred and one percent effort in serving the guests. Thereby, not only benefiting the hotels but also an individual’s quest for achievement.

2. Vision

Having the vision means to stand for something or fall for everything. It is crucial for every leader to have the vision so as to seek continuous improvement and bring the company to new heights. Steve Jobs, for example, is one person who has a strong vision for his company, Apple Inc. It was his vision that enabled Apple to differentiate itself from its competitors and making it one of the top brands in the world.

With application into the hospitality industry, it is vital that leaders and CEOs of any hotel must have a vision for their establishments. Having the vision would prove to be beneficial for the organization as it would then seek for continuous improvement, implement the right culture and thrive for certain excellence. Moreover, it is vital for leaders to instill their vision to the employees so as to inspire and motivate them to share the same visions allowing a better cooperation for a better tomorrow.

3. Character

Without the character of its leader, it may render a company to lose its direction, drive and motivation for excellence. In Steve Job’s case, without his character of being a perfectionist and having a niche for the slightest details, we will not have the brilliance and elegant Apple products we have today. Moreover it was his obsessive character that kept his employees in check and made sure that they are in sync with his vision and the products he wanted to create.

In today’s hospitality industry, leaders must hone on their character to provide and bring out the best in their employees to better contribute to the organizations. Although, different leaders have different characters, distinctive organizations require different characteristics of their leader in bringing the company to new heights, new innovation or thriving excellence.

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Richard Branson

07:09 | Posted by UNLVstud | | Edit Post

CEO and founder of Virgin Group

Background:

• Struggled in school and dropped out at age 16, a decision that ultimately leads to the creation of Virgin Records.
• Entrepreneurial projects started in the music industry and expanded into other sectors making Branson a billionaire.
• Virgin Group holds more than 200 companies, comprising of Virgin Blue, Virgin Mobile, Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Finances, Virgin Brides, Virgin Cars, Virgin Trains and most recently, Virgin Galactic.

Achievements:

• With an estimated net worth of approximately £2.58 billion (US$4.2 billion), Branson ranks 254 in the global list of billionaires and the 5th richest person in the United Kingdom.
• Branson’s first successful business venture was at a young age of 16 in the form of a magazine named Student.
• In 1987, his hot air balloon “Virgin Atlantic Flyer” crossed the Atlantic, thus, becoming the first and the largest hot-air balloon to cross the Atlantic. He broke his own record in 1991 by crossing the Pacific from Japan to Arctic Canada, 10,800 km, in a balloon of 2,600,000 cubic feet (74,000 m3) with a speed of 245 miles per hour.

Leadership Style:

• Democractic

Richard Branson is a leader that seeks opinions and views from other people that are working around him. His core value is always to listen what other people have to say. He demonstrates this leadership style by carrying a pocket book for times when he hears something interesting from people he interacts with on any level.  However, Branson will still make the final decision and particularly loves to take high risk decisions if he feels it is worthwhile. His democratic leadership style also stretches to a point where he focuses on the importance of being humble and making his employees feel that they are important to the organization. This Virgin founder believes that praise goes further than criticism.

Top 3 Leadership Traits:

1. Visionary

Branson has always believed that there are industries out there that can be ‘Virginized’, which he means by revitalizing and making it more attractive. Branson’s vision of embarking on novel and stimulating future prospects has led him to expand the Virgin name so vastly and yet has kept its high standards. 

Being a visionary, especially in a hospitality industry, is vital to being successful. In this fast paced era, everyone is striving to create something outstanding to be ahead of its competitors. Having vision is to be able to anticipate changes and seizing opportunities, without this quality, one will have difficulty in leading his/her company to success. 

2. Team Builder

A successful leader is nothing without its followers. Being able to create unity in his team has made Branson more successful than ever. He has flown to great heights to create a fun working environment for his employees. He believes that people who work for him should not have the concept of just coming to work for that paycheck; instead, he wants his team to enjoy being a part of the Virgin family. As a team leader, one has to create a harmonious working atmosphere with little conflict or issues amongst its people. The most important part of being a good leader is not only to lead its followers, but to foster a relationship and showing interests in their needs.

Being in the hospitality business, there is no doubt that one has to work with other people. Not just colleagues, but also other players such as industry partners, guests etc. A leader simply cannot run a successful hotel just by being the best. The success of the hotel depends on how the collection of employees functions it.  By creating a team of employees that is happy to be working for the hotel, it would be more likely that they project their happiness towards the hotel guests.

3. Confident, Determined and Persistent

Outstanding leaders must first and foremost, believe strongly in what they want to achieve. This unrelenting belief has to be portrayed through the leader’s confidence and unrelenting spirit to never give up even when met with numerous obstacles. The leader must not only have faith in him/her-self, but also in the people he/she is leading. Branson had to jump over many hurdles to be where he is now. Branson suffered from Dyslexia, which prohibited him from being able to read by the age of 8. But that did not stop him; he fought with the disease and ultimately overcome it. This incident has given him the confidence he needed to become a great leader, a sense that he can accomplish anything. When he was older, and his business matured, he still met with failures like Virgin Cola and Virgin Vodka. His Virgin Airlines was sold because it was not making money. All these did not stopped him from exploring other possibilities, all he did was bounce back after disappointment and pressured forward.

Being able to lead is closely tied to the leader’s personality and spirit. The set of qualities like confidence, determination and persistence is fundamental to strive in a competitive hospitality industry. These qualities must also be projected onto the leader’s followers, to never give up when met with a set-back. Ultimately, in the hotel business, it is impossible to satisfy everyone, there is bound to be incidents where the hotel’s name is dragged through the mud, be it because of financial crisis, reputation or competition. The key lesson to learn from Branson is never give up trying.

"You don't learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over."

– Richard Branson

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