Pulse Legacy Archive May 2012 | Page 38

IN THE SPA INDUSTRY, WHO IS YOUR IDEA OF A GREAT LEADER? “Ruth Stricker is a leader in the industry and a mentor for up-and-coming industry leaders.” BRANDON CLAYPOOL SASANQUA/THE KIAWAH ISLAND CLUB KIAWAH ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA “There are so many who have provided inspired leadership in so many different areas: Deborah Szekely and Sheila Cluff for their ongoing contributions to estab- JANE IREDALE Founder and President, Iredale Mineral Cosmetics, Ltd. Great Barrington, Massachusetts lishing and shaping the modern spa industry; Mary Tabacchi for providing the academic credibility so desperately necessary to industry growth; Susie Ellis for her ability to grasp the industry’s trend to wellness and her diligent work in helping it to actually come about and Lynne Walker McNees for making ISPA the definitive voice of the spa industry.” KATHRYN STOLLE TOTAL SPA CONCEPTS BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA “Ilana Alberico of Innovative Spa Management is someone who I feel shares the same motives and passion as myself. She is constantly working to move the industry and her company forward by implementing new ideas for her own business and solutions for hotel and spa operators. I also admire Horst Schulze, former president of the RitzCarlton. He was someone who [worked his way up through the ranks], took an idea of excellence and implemented it What is the best leadership lesson you’ve learned? Be clear in giving directions. Too often, I’m rushed and I assume that people know what I want. They don’t. This results in time being wasted as we retrace our steps. Being clear doesn’t mean being dictatorial. It means listening to all arguments and then being straight forward in the action plan. This sets people up for success. If you can read only one book about leadership, what would it be? Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela. If you can ask one great leader a question, who would it be and what would you ask? Winston Churchill. I’d ask him how, with the devastation and deprivation that Britons faced in World War II, was he able to find the words that inspired and gave them courage. They faced something much worse than we’re facing now, the possibility of losing everything including their lives, and yet when my mother speaks of those times she remembers a sense of camaraderie, a sense of one-for-all which she directly attributes to listening to Churchill on the “wireless.” That’s leadership. with precision.” SCOTT VAZINSKI THE SPA AT YELLOW CREEK AKRON, OHIO 36 PULSE ■ May 2012 How do you spot a natural leader? Give them a project that requires working with others and watch how they interact. If they are a leader they won’t be able to help themselves; they will have to lead. They might sit quietly and observe in the beginning but soon they’ll be organizing and inspiring. It never fails.