THE LEGEND
Sorenson runs with the team at the W Shanghai .
an excellence in technology , loyalty and branding ,” he says . “ We ’ ll see that our competitors increasingly become not just other hotel companies or hospitality companies , but that they will be companies that are trying to come from a different place to be relevant , somehow , in the space of travel . Some of those will be partners of ours and many will be competitors , and some will be both . But that fluidity in terms of the competitive landscape is going to continue to be a fact of life and , to some extent , be a confusing complication in the way we assess whether or not we ’ re succeeding .”
Technology and branding continue to make for good intellectual challenges . “ Marriott has said for decades and decades that success is never final . We ’ re driven to get better and I think we can continue to get better ,” he says . “ There are a lot of things we do very well . But I think there are lots of places where we can be even stronger , and we continue to learn about how we can do that . And that pursuit of getting better for our associates and guests and our hotel owners sort of drives us every day .”
The complete
LEADER
Having come up through the legal and M & A departments , Arne Sorenson offers his take on what ’ s required to become a more complete hotel leader :
“ To do well , you must recognize that there are many , many different aspects of the hotel business that have to be valued and understood .
“ And the traditional hospitality and people side of the business is still enormously important , and it ’ s going to be important forever . If you think you can manage this business only from a deal perspective , you ’ re doomed to fail . At the same time , if you ’ re an operator and have come up through the hotel ranks , you ’ ve got to make sure that you ’ re investing in learning the platform side , the branding side , and the transactional side of the business .
“ If you ’ re engaged in a brand platform with a management and franchise business , you really need to understand both of those things .
“ For emerging leaders , be curious always . Don ’ t quit learning . Listen — always listen . Force yourself not to jump in and immediately prove that you know well what somebody is talking about , because you don ’ t need to prove yourself in every conversation that you ’ re having . So make sure you listen .
“ The more senior the job , the more important communication skills are . And those communication skills include how you inspire people and communicate with people to create a single team . How do you communicate with clarity about what ’ s important , what ’ s not , and the direction that you ’ re heading ? And how do you communicate authentically to who you are ? That communication is , I think , a pretty essential part of what we have to do .”
22 hotelsmag . com April 2020