Luxury Hoteliers Magazine 3rd Quarter 2019 | Page 56
8. Surprise and celebrate. “I want
everyone to know that, despite
the reality we’re running hundred
million dollar hotels, there’s a
place to have fun while creating
excellence,” says Dan. “And,
because we test every employee—
some two-hundred-and-fifty
questions—there’s a lot of pressure
to succeed. During the opening
ceremony of the Abu Dhabi
EDITION, I wanted to catch GM
Stefan Soennichsen off guard with
a special surprise. When Stephan
stood in front of his team of five-
hundred from fifty-six countries
to announce his hotel’s score, one
of my team members ran up on
stage, grabbed the microphone,
and said, ‘Stop! Stop! Stephan, we
have important news! You’re team
scored 98.8% giving your hotel the
highest score ever.’ “Stephan shed
56 ILHA
tears of joy as the crowd erupted
with cheers and applause,” Dan
says.
9. Keep it real. “Dan has never let
promotions and growth go to his
head. He’s super smart, strategic,
and results oriented. Yet, after
all these years, I can joke around
with him,” says Kate Harth. “In a
meeting, he stated that he wasn’t
the smartest person in the room. I
quietly snickered. Later, after the
meeting, I told him how I wanted
to say something sarcastic. He
said, ‘Oh, so it was you who made
that noise?’ I told him I wanted to
call him out.” And, he replied, ‘you
should have … it would have been
funny.’ “In the end, I’m always
learning, pushing myself to new
heights, and feel I’m part of a great
adventure. And, if you don’t know
Dan Flannery, watch him go into
one of his hotels, past or present,
and see the impact he has on
anyone who works, or has worked
with him,” Kate says.
About the author
Bob Brown, president of Bob Brown
Service Solutions, www.bobbrownss.com,
pioneered Marriott’s Service Excellence
Program and has worked with clients such
as Disney, Ritz-Carlton, Conrad, Viceroy,
Four Seasons and Nordstrom, and works
internationally with the prestigious hotels
such as Burj Al Arab in Dubai. He has
appeared on the Food Network, is author
of bestselling The Little Brown Book of
Restaurant Success selling over 100,000
copies and was rated the #1 presenter at
the National Restaurant Association Show
2017. ©Bob Brown Service Solutions 2019.