4. PUT HOSPITALITY BACK INTO MANAGEMENT.
Published 23.02.2026
Hospitality is a strange industry. It exists to make people feel welcome, seen, and looked after, yet somewhere along the way we decided management did not need to practice any of that internally. A bold strategy for a people business. "Groundbreaking".
We over systemised leadership with those damn checklists. We promoted without preparing. We kept adding and never removing, as if managers came with unlimited bandwidth and a big new set of keys. The result? A role that became operationally heavy and emotionally thin.
The old school hospitality manager did not disappear because people changed. The role changed. And we changed it.
Managers once owned the room. They were present. They absorbed pressure. Leadership lived on the floor, not in a dashboard. Now too many are stretched between service and spreadsheets. Technically in charge, emotionally removed. The result is frustrated managers and flat service.
That is not a manager problem. It is our problem
If I walk into a business where management presence cannot be felt, I do not start a WhatsApp thread. I watch a full service. Who is leading? Who is absorbing pressure? Who is firefighting? If you cannot feel a conductor, you do not have one. You just have noise and crossed fingers.
Then we sit down and reset expectations together. Who is running the shift? What are you watching during service? How much of your day is leadership versus feeding the admin machine
If the balance is wrong, that is not personal failure. It is design. Leaders own design. So we fix it together.
Floor presence becomes non negotiable. Admin supports leadership.
Prep and prep before service. Because the universe has a special talent for humiliating anyone who thinks they can wing it. Confidence is built before the doors open, not during a 7:30 meltdown when three tables sit at once and someone drops a tray of Negronis. Stay flexible. Service will not follow your beautiful 4 pm plan. It never has.
Then I run a shift beside them, not above them. Comfortable shoes optional. I model what absorbing pressure looks like without theatrics. Maybe a restrained jazz hand. How to correct without crushing. How to mentor without turning service into theatre.
Leadership is not sitting in the office watching service on CCTV like it’s a nature documentary. It is on the floor, in the noise, in the heat.
If we want hospitality back in management, we do not talk about it. We practice it. Together. On the floor. In real time.
So here is your challenge:
When was the last time you stood through an entire service without checking your phone?
How much of your managers’ time is leadership versus admin?
Are you promoting for readiness, or because someone wants out?
What have you added to the manager role in five years? What have you removed?
Do managers finish shifts feeling proud or just relieved?
How often are you personally present on the floor modelling what you expect?