SPECIAL REPORT : HOTELIERS OF THE WORLD
mention earn him the honor of 2013 Independent Hotelier of the World .
“ There are a lot of guys who are good leaders , but they can be a bit arrogant ,” says Jim Kenan , The Breakers ’ chairman of the board . “ One of Paul ’ s strengths is he can talk to the common man , so to speak , and there ’ s no phoniness . He ’ s just a very decent human being .”
PAUL LEONE
AT A GLANCE
AGE : 55
“ I compare him to any executive — Paul is exceptional by any standard ,” adds The Breakers board member Garrett Kirk . “ He could do a lot more than run hotels . He ’ s just a great leader .”
Workaholic ’ s dream Despite the fact that Leone was a reluctant scholar — “ I ’ m a real
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS : After starting his hospitality career as a teenage jack-of-all-trades at his family ’ s Starlight Motor Court in Paris , Kentucky , Leone earned a degree in accounting and worked for Coopers & Lybrand . After completing an audit of The Breakers Palm Beach , the resort hired Leone as controller in 1985 . He was ultimately promoted to president of The Breakers as well as Flagler System Inc ., a position he has held since 1994 .
FAMILY : Wife , Kathy , and four sons ages 20 through 14
Paul Leone poses with his wife , Kathy , and sons ( L to R ) Jake , Griffin ,
Nick and Ben .
HOBBIES : Golf , cycling and windsurfing with his sons . “ I ’ m not someone who relaxes by sitting and reading a book — I wish I could ,” Leone adds .
MANAGEMENT STYLE : “ I like to reference the idea of servant leadership ,” Leone says . “ As a leader of this company , I ’ m here to serve our people , to make their lives better .”
ADVICE TO YOUNG HOTELIERS : “ Be nice and work hard . I tell it to my kids all the time . It has taken me a long way .” action-oriented person ,” he notes . “ Traditional education for me was sort of painful .” — with his stepfather ’ s encouragement he enrolled at the University of Kentucky , where he studied accounting . “ I didn ’ t love it , but it was easier than English and history and science , and I had a knack for it ,” Leone recalls .
He jokes that “ by a miracle ” he was hired by Coopers & Lybrand , but after two-and-a-half years of intensive training there , he took a yearlong break to run a motel and restaurant in Lake City , Florida , with his younger brother . He then returned to Coopers & Lybrand , this time in the firm ’ s office in West Palm Beach , Florida , where the biggest client — The Breakers — needed an auditor who understood the hotel business . Leone supervised a six-week , all-encompassing audit of the property , after which he recommended The Breakers hire more talent in its finance division . It was a self-serving move , Leone admits , but also one based in fact , and at age 27 Leone was hired as the property ’ s controller , a role that also landed him on the management committee .
“ It was way more than I really understood ,” Leone says . “ The company was a mess at the time , but therein was the opportunity . I was a workaholic , and this place needed work .”
Leone dove into that work wholeheartedly , going well beyond the traditional boundaries of the controller ’ s role . “ He could have just been sitting in the accounting office and working on the financial stuff , but you saw him in the laundry on the midnight shift ,” says Atesh Chandra , vice president of administration at The Breakers , who has worked with Leone since he joined the resort in 1985 . “ He was interested in seeing for himself every aspect of the business , not just reporting the numbers .”
“ I probably worked 80 hours a week , and I loved it ,” Leone adds . “ I learned by going down to the receiving dock at 4 o ’ clock in the morning , and at 11 at night being in the kitchen as they were wrapping up . At first I wasn ’ t really welcome , but people realized I was there to learn and to help .”
34 HOTELS November 2013 www . hotelsmag . com