Dr. Jeffrey O epitomizes the incredible career path which the hospitality industry provides - from front desk agent to CEO. He shares why he felt he had a knack for leadership early on and how overcoming his hesitancy to delegate has been a main focus of his leadership development. He talks about why giving back is so fundamental to his mission, why diversity matters, and the importance of mentorship. And, he makes an exclusive offer to listeners of DEI Advisors for access to complimentary public speaking resources.
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Episode Transcript
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Rachel Humphrey (00:03):
I am Rachel Humphrey with d e I advisors.
We are an Arizona nonprofitorganization dedicated to
empowering personal success inthe hospitality industry, and I
am delighted to welcome to theshow today, Dr.
Jeffrey O, who's the c e O ofSt.
Justine Hotels and the presidentof the International Hospitality
Institute.
And if you don't know more abouthim than.
(00:24):
Then I encourage you to go overto d e i advisors.org and check
out his bio.
But today, please help mewelcome to the show, Dr.
Jeffrey.
Dr. Jeffrey O (00:33):
Thank you, Rachel.
I appreciate your finding timeto catch up and looking forward
to a great conversation.
Thank you.
Rachel Humphrey (00:39):
Absolutely.
One of my favorite things aboutthe hospitality industry is how
incredibly unique each of ourpaths to leadership can be.
There is no one straight checkthe box path from A to B.
And so I'm hoping you can take acouple minutes and just tell us
about your personal journey andhow you got to the various roles
that you hold.
Dr. Jeffrey O (01:00):
Yeah.
Thank you.
And that's an excellentquestion, Rachel.
My journey started years andyears ago.
I'm going to try not to datemyself.
And I started working in in ahotel.
It was actually a marriedproperty as a front desk agent,
and I just stumbled into intohospitality and I worked as a
front desk agent and eventuallywas promoted to NI audit manager
(01:21):
and then front desk manager, andthen moved on to AGM and gm and
then went corporate to.
VP of operations, divisionalvice president of operations c o
and c e o.
It's been an interestingjourney.
I love interacting with people.
I love mitten people.
I love the entire engagementpiece, and I can't imagine doing
(01:42):
anything else.
I'm not very good at a lot ofthings.
This is something I think I'mfairly good at and I just fell
into it.
I fell in love with it and Ican't think of a better
profession that I could have gotinto.
So really excited and blessed tobe in your hospitality industry.
Rachel Humphrey (01:58):
What an exciting message too.
Both coming through all of thedifferent roles, but so many
different responsibilities andlearning so many different
aspects of the industry.
And we'll definitely cover someof those as we continue talking
a little bit today.
One of the things when we talkabout leadership, there are some
people who say, I never expectedto be in a.
(02:19):
Role in my career, I would beone of those.
And then there are others thatsaid, you know what?
I felt early on that I wasreally destined or destined to
be a leader.
Can you talk a little bit aboutwhich category maybe you fall
into, if it was from early on,what was it about it?
If not, was there maybe apivotal moment where you
realized that leadership couldbe in your future?
Dr. Jeffrey O (02:39):
That's a great question.
I can't say I've had that askedof me before.
So it's a great one.
I don't know that I work when Iwas, growing up I thought, I'm
in natural leader and I'm goingto lead people and I'm going to
do all of this things.
I didn't think of that.
I think at some point, Workingin the corporate world, at some
point I found myself in rolesthat involve responsibility,
(03:01):
leading teams and chasing goals.
And I taught, I think I can dowell at this.
And I really developed myleadership burn or muscle, if
you can call it that, byconstantly reading about
leadership, learning from peoplewho have more experience than I
have, or way smarter than Icould ever be reading about
their journey, studying theirstories, and trying to.
(03:22):
You knowle some information outof that would enhance my,
enhance me as a person.
So I think I've been in a veryreceptive mode when it comes to
leadership.
I don't think you could possiblyknow all that there is to know
about leadership.
There are more books written onleadership than there, than any
other subject.
It's just, So many topics.
I've written a couple myself andpublished a couple.
(03:42):
It's such a vast world.
I did my PhD studies andleadership.
It's very vast.
There are so many aspects to it.
So I didn't grow up thinking Iwas going to be a leader and I
was going to do all of thethings I've been very fortunate
and privileged to achieve.
But at some point in my career,while working in different
position, I realized I needed tokeep developing myself, learning
(04:04):
how to be a better and a moreeffective leader, a more
compassionate leader.
And I just kept working at itand learning from people who are
more smarter than me.
And I think eventually, I justkept moving up progre,
progressing into differentroles, with more and more
responsibility.
And that's just what my journeyhas.
Rachel Humphrey (04:22):
We hear that from so many leaders nowadays
that this idea of curiosity orcontinuous growth or wanting to
learn more or emulate others issuch a big part of their path.
That's a great segue actually,to developing new skills, as we.
Advance through our career.
Sometimes we encounter a skillthat we didn't realize would be
so important for us as a leader,and we really need to go out and
(04:45):
fine tune it or even develop itfrom scratch.
Or if we can't, we need tosurround ourselves with other
executives who really possessthis strong skill.
Have.
Have there been any examplesthat you found along the way
where you said, you know what?
I stumbled on something and Irealized that was not a strong
set of mine, and I set out todevelop it some more.
Dr. Jeffrey O (05:08):
I think my biggest challenge as a leader
has been really delegating.
That's a hackney concept.
People talk about that quiteoften.
Oh, I need to get better.
I need to learn how to delegate.
But in my case, it really istrue.
It's not just saying it, peoplesay that quite often.
I interview, leaders who saythat to me, oh, I need to get
better delegating.
(05:29):
And I'm telling you for me, isactually the case.
I, I have.
I was horrible at delegating anda lot of that I think has to do
with arrogance.
I think I was arrogant because Ithought I could do it all.
I was arrogant.
I thought, I don't need anyone.
I didn't trust anyone.
I didn't trust people as much asI should have to get the task
accomplished.
(05:49):
I always thought, if I do itmyself, then I'm going to get it
done and I'm going to do itright.
And to me, that's his feeling ofleadership.
And I was not aware of that whenI was touching my career as a
front office manager.
I work ridiculous hours, I.
I could barely get my work donecause I tried to do my work,
plus the work that should havebeen delegated to other folks.
I was a poor leader and I didn'teven know it.
(06:10):
It took me a while to wake upand say, Jeffrey, you don't have
to do all this.
You're not the smartest personon the planet.
You're not even the smartestperson in the company.
You're not the smartest personin the room.
Quite often there are people whoare way smarter than you.
Learn from them, exchangeinformation with them, let their
reciprocity, do all of that andyou're going to be a better
leader for it.
(06:31):
So it took a lot of searchingand introspection to get to that
point.
That has been my biggestweakness, being able to
delegate, being able to knowthat I can do it all.
I don't know it all, and trustother people to deliver the.
I'm getting better at it.
I'm much better now than I wasyears and years ago.
So that's been it is been alearning experience for me.
(06:51):
I think it's a continuousprocess.
Even now.
I have to watch myself and say,okay, you know what?
Stop, let someone else do that.
You don't have to do that.
You don't have to respond toevery email.
You don't have to follow up onevery item.
Item that requires follow up.
I'm a work in progress.
I'm much, much better than Iused to be, but I can't tell you
that I'm absolutely where I needto be, so I'm still working on
(07:13):
it.
Rachel Humphrey (07:14):
I love that answer so much, and I really
appreciate your sharing that.
I think that's something thatyou and I probably have in
common mine was a combinationof, I know I'll get it done and
I'll get it done how I want toget it done, but it was also
feeling guilty about askingothers to put, add something
else to their plate.
People are so busy everywherethat I was like, oh, I feel
terribly asking, and it becamevery difficult.
(07:36):
But you're right, as you startdoing, And you build trust and
you have success and positiveresults, it becomes easier and
easier to do.
But I can really appreciate thatvery much.
One of the things that I love todo is to share with our audience
why I have asked someone to joinus as a guest.
On d e I advisors because insome way I have felt that
(07:58):
they've really impacted mycareer and or the hospitality
industry.
As I shared with you earlier,you're the first guest that I
have interviewed that I have notmet before, although we have
tried several times.
Absolutely.
Yes.
And I really wanted to sharethat.
One of the things with theInternational Hospitality
Institute that I am so gratefulfor and so proud of is the
(08:19):
celebration of the amazingpeople in our industry.
There are so many people workingso hard for so many other people
wanting to bring about greatchange, wanting to see our
industry thrive, and we don'toften take time to celebrate, to
say thank you, to say good job,to say We recognize what you're
(08:39):
doing.
And so what I h I is doing hasreally been, in my view, a game
changer for the industry oftaking a little bit of time each
year to say thank you for allthat you do for hospitality.
And so I will say to you here,Thank you for all that you do
for hospitality through I h I.
But I also wanna tie that intospecifically getting involved
(09:01):
with boards, associations, andnonprofits because so many great
leaders, not just about givingback, but really talk about
leadership skills that they havedeveloped.
Through these additional rolesthat they have had at various
points in their careers.
Can you talk a little bit aboutwhy it's so important for you to
participate in these additionalendeavors?
(09:21):
Cuz you've got a full-time dayjob.
A couple of them actually.
And maybe some of the leadershipskills that you've learned
through those channels that havebeen different from, in maybe
the for-profit corporate world.
Dr. Jeffrey O (09:32):
What a great question.
I had an interview not long ago,I think it was with Media
Magazine.
And the gentleman whointerviewed me asked me a
question that I don't often getand that was a very in,
intriguing question, much likewhat you're asking me now.
And he said to me, can you tellme about something that you've
done for anyone or a group thatdid not benefit you in any way?
(09:53):
Something that you did that didnot benefit you?
How have you served yourcommunity?
How have you done positive?
Good, good work.
That did not benefit you and I aquestion you don't get very
often, right?
Yeah, and I have to think for aminute.
I'm already thinking.
I know.
I was thankful for the fact thatI could answer that question
because of the activities I'vebeen involved in.
(10:13):
One of my old time favoritequotes is by Horrors man, the
great American educator, and hesaid, you should be ashamed to
die unless you've done somethinggood for human.
Oh wow.
Yeah, and that's so criticallyimportant to me in terms of
building a legacy, making apositive change, being a force
for good in people's lives, notmely being a biological band.
It was so mission is to eat,drink, and sleep, and grow
(10:36):
through life without impactingsomeone else's life positively.
This is usually important to meand a lot of the things I'm
involved in.
Things that are squarely alignedwith my values, we've been able
to give back.
I h i thanks to mention, whatyou said about I hhi is our
mission really to do all ofthose things for the hospitality
industry.
We're not doing it to makemoney, we make money in other
(10:56):
ways, but a lot what we do ispremised on service, on giving
back, on recognizing the peoplewho are toiling every day on
Sing on Song.
So that is really important tous to be able to give back, to
recognize all of these.
People like you and so manyother folks have done so much
for our industry.
Working, tirelessly to advancethe industry that we love so
(11:18):
much that was battered by Covid19.
It is great to be able to bringa smile to someone's face in any
way that we, that you possibly,we possibly can.
So that's really important to meto be part of that.
And as you speak, I've got acouple of global Hospitality
magazine, which we published.
You can see, we recognize folkswho are doing great things and
it's our mission and it's beenour mission, to continue to do
(11:40):
those things and really shinethe.
Of hospitality.
So I've been involved in manyorganizations that are
providing, Services to theindustry, not only hospitality
to people, c communities,service, all kinds of things.
I recently took over as chairmanchair chair.
I guess I don't really like thatterm too much, but it's okay.
It's what it is, right?
Sounds super pretentious, but Irecently took over as Chair of
(12:02):
the Hotel is Guild based inLagano Logano teaching of
Switzerland, where I work withsome really amazing people who
are doing a lot of things andone of the great programs we
currently.
Carrying out in the hotel isGuild is providing a scholar.
Scholarship opportunities topeople from countries that are
really struggling financially.
People who don't have the meansto go, get a higher education.
(12:24):
And we're bringing thesestudents, these folks into
Europe and providing pathwaysfor them to get a university
degree.
We've already sponsored manystudents and we've got many more
students and we sponsor and wegoing, we sponsoring going
forward.
So programs like that are verymuch of interest to me.
What I HHI is doing is very muchof interest to.
It's very difficult jugglingwhat I am doing as send Justine
(12:46):
and also juggling I h I.
We're currently looking torecruit A C E O, who's going to
take over from it?
We've not identified someoneyet, but that is usually
important to me to be able togive back to our industry, to be
able to help in any little waythat we possibly can.
And and I appreciate taking thetime to cool that out.
That's been your mission aswell.
I know that for a fact andthat's why I'm a big fan of the
(13:07):
work that you do, that d EIadvisors do.
Thank you.
Rachel Humphrey (13:11):
Thank you so much for that.
And we are very grateful both onthe scholarship side.
Like I said, the recognitionside, it's so critically
important for our industry.
And with that comes theopportunity to both be mentored
and be a champion for someoneelse but also to be a mentee
along the way.
Have there been people in yourpath, in your career specific or
(13:33):
generally who have really servedas a great champion for you and
where do you see the.
Of mentors and champions in thehospitality industry?
Dr. Jeffrey O (13:42):
Yeah, mentoring is a huge part.
Should be a huge part of ourindustry.
There's an organization in theUK that's doing some really
great work.
It's called oto.
I'm going to mention thembecause they've done such great
work and I was recognized bythem last year.
I received an award from themfor my mentoring.
Very important.
I have people reach out to me ona daily basis.
(14:03):
People that I know, peoplewho've never even met me, they
reach out to me for advicethrough LinkedIn, they connect
with me and say, I just wannapick your brain about this.
I want to buy a hotel.
How do I get started?
I want to work in the industry.
I want to transition from foodand beverage to rooms.
What do I do?
And I take time to connect withthese folks.
I make our time, 10 minutes,five minutes, 20 minutes of my.
(14:24):
People I don't know.
And when they hear thisinterview, they're going to say,
yeah, I've taken time to dothat.
I continue to do that.
So I have been a mentor to manypeople and I've had many folks
mentor to me.
My colleague I sent, Justine hasbeen a great mentor and role
model.
He and I, our conversations arealways so enriching.
This is someone who's a legendwho's done so much for the
(14:45):
industry very passionate.
He, em embodies the spirit ofhospitality that we're talking
about.
It's a true evangelist forhospitality and he gets it
right, and many other folks, Agentleman I worked with called
Son Zara, just an absoluteamazing mentor of mine.
I reach out to him for advice.
I call him and.
Mr.
Serai, how do I handle this?
What do I do about this?
(15:05):
What do you think of that?
And he always makes our time totalk to me.
So I've been very blessed.
I've got many mentors.
I can't possibly mention all ofthem.
And I've also been a mentor tomany others.
And I mentioned Ello becausethey are doing the kind of work.
Now I have incrediblerespectful, and as the reason I
mentioned them on the, on thisshow on this podcast because
they're doing really great worksupporting people who need to be
(15:27):
mentored in our industry.
And of course, I mentioned theHotel is Guild, which I'm,
chairman of the academy of Art.
So it's, there are companies andentities who.
Really playing an active role inimproving the lives of people in
their spheres and theircommunities, in their companies.
And I and I'm just veryfortunate to have been able to
interact with some of thesefolks, including the ones that I
(15:48):
just mentioned.
Rachel Humphrey (15:49):
Your passion for an enthusiasm for mentor
certainly comes through inlistening to you talk about that
and certainly appreciate yourtaking so much time to field and
spend time with all of thepeople reaching out to connect
with you.
That's such an important part ofgiving back, as you mentioned,
which is a big part of yourcommitment as well.
(16:09):
Pivoting a little bit to anotherchallenge that people identify
as one of the biggest obstaclesthat they feel like impacts
their path to leadership aspublic speaking.
And we talk a lot about maybeconference speaking, but
certainly public speaking can beone-on-one with your manager.
It can be at a staff meeting, itcan be in a small group setting.
And then of course the giantconferences that you and I both
(16:31):
speak pretty regularly at.
Have you always been comfortablepublic speaking?
Do you have.
A preparation that you gothrough, how do you get yourself
ready to speak?
And did it always come naturallyfor you?
Dr. Jeffrey O (16:43):
Yes, it has come naturally.
Me, I can't seem to shut up.
My biggest challenge is notbeing able to speak, is learning
when to shut up.
So my wife tells me that quiteoften.
She says, okay, Jeffrey, I gotit.
I got it.
Stop, please.
So I try not to bore people'ssenseless, admire rambling, but
I, I love to talk, which is howI got into Speechs.
I love people.
(17:03):
I love to talk, I love topresent.
I don't do a lot of preparationbecause I do a ton of calls.
I do a lot of, speaking.
So I do it so often.
It's not something I need.
Get revved up for, because I doit very often, but I always say
I'm actually written a guide onpublic speaking.
If there's anyone listeningwho's interested in in in, in,
in getting that access to thatcourse we can actually, I h I
(17:26):
can actually offer that courseto them at no charge.
If they're listening and theywant to take advantage of it.
If they mention d e i advisorsin responding to this interview
when it's posted, we'll givethem free access to the course.
I wrote on public speaking,there are many tricks to being a
great public speaker, and I havedealt with, c-suite leaders,
senior leaders, and given them afew tips that I've, picked up
(17:47):
along the way on publicspeaking.
So there's so many ways to, itis different from different
people.
It all depends on what theindividuals issue, right?
There are people who are notcomfort.
With their voices.
There are people who strugglewith their appearance when they
come out in public to speak.
There are folks who have gotnervous ticks, right?
They can't, it's still, they'refidgety.
They're doing all kinds ofthings because they're nervous.
(18:07):
There are so many ways that onecan approach that issue, but
it's a, I thought I've gotenough time here for it, but I
think what I was in terms of,what might help people get
better public speaking for folkswho are looking for that, what I
will say is this quite often.
We are in our own heads when itcomes to speaking in public.
We are thinking too much.
(18:29):
We are thinking about what weare about to do, and is it
thinking?
Is that constant thinking thatparalyzes people who struggle
with public speaking?
If you are approach publicspeaking, just like you're
talking to your relative, yourlong lost friend, your mom, your
dad, your brother, your sister,you're not going to have any
apprehensions about speaking inpublic.
But when you are constantlythinking about what you're going
to do and your fear of howyou're going to perform, you're
(18:50):
having.
Real that's going through yourhead, this loop that's going in
before you even do the swick.
It's like you're already losingthe battle before you're on
stage.
So the key to not think aboutit, don't think about it, don't
dwell on it, prepare the pointsthat you're going to talk about.
Have them in your mind.
If you need to have some talkingpoints like an index card, you
could use that.
(19:10):
You need that.
If not, go through what you needto go through mentally.
But don't think too hard aboutit.
Pretend or say to yourself, I'mgoing to be speaking to a room
of people who love me.
They absolutely adore me.
They love me, and they can'twait to hear me speak.
I am among friends.
I'm among friends, and I'm goingto tell my story to my friends.
(19:30):
They're going to love listeningto me.
They're going to loveinteracting with me.
This is going to be great.
I am going to.
It's really pro, essentiallyprogramming yourself and putting
yourself in that zone and notthinking too much about what
you're going to do.
Not dwelling on it, not playingthat loop all day and all night
thinking, oh my God.
Just go with it.
(19:51):
So there are many specific stepsthat I've got in my training
course I put together, which Ithink is about.
33 keys or something of publicspeaking that I would encourage
anyone who's interested and I hi, can offer that.
We usually charge for it.
But this particular, because I'mtalking to you on the d e I
advisors podcast, I'm trying outthe offer.
There's someone who'sinterested.
(20:11):
I have my team at I h I set themup and it can hopefully benefit
from it.
I wave waive the fee and notgoing to get charged.
I charged for Course, and Ithink that might be useful to
some folks.
So anyway, just wanted to
Rachel Humphrey (20:22):
put that out there.
Thank you very much.
We appreciate that tremendously,and that's great advice.
I have not heard it describedthat way, but I really like
that.
I think that I'm verycomfortable public speaking.
I certainly get nervous enough,but I like the idea of being
your own personal hype squad,trying to get yourself,
everybody wants to be therelistening to you, so I'm gonna
try that the next time.
Dr. Jeffrey O (20:43):
Absolutely it works.
Believe me.
I'll back to you on that one.
It works.
Believe me.
Rachel Humphrey (20:49):
One of the things that we hear about from
most leaders is that hospitalitymight be different from some
other industries on howcritically important
relationship building andnetworking is, whether it is to
close a deal, to get a newopportunity to find a mentor.
The sky is really the limit.
What, but not all of us.
Network the same way.
(21:09):
As a matter of fact you and Iprobably do not network in
similar ways at all.
Yet we may end up with verysimilar networks.
At the end of the day, what isyour personal strategy?
How have you tailored it reallyto your character and to your
character traits?
And how would you recommendothers who maybe are a little
bit apprehensive about buildingtheir own network?
(21:30):
Really take the first steptowards that.
Dr. Jeffrey O (21:34):
I think the key is to not take a transactional
approach to networking, right?
Don't go in thinking, I'm goingto talk to 30 people today.
I'm going to speak to 30 peoplewho are potential clients, who
will be potential clients ofcustomers, potentially investors
and all of that.
Don't take your transactransactional approach to
networking.
Let it be organic.
(21:55):
Go out and talk to people, talkto as many people as you can and
spend time with them.
I have been in certainenvironments where I felt like
networking was like speeddating.
Someone comes to, Hey Jeffrey,how are you?
I'm John.
Hey.
Hey.
Okay, have a good day.
On to Rachel.
Hey Richard.
Hey.
It's what is this?
We're not building arelationship.
You're just walking aroundcollecting business card.
(22:16):
And collecting business cards isnot the same as building a
relationship.
Building a meaningfulrelationship entails you getting
to know me, me getting to knowyou, even in the 10, 15, 5, 8
minutes that you and I connect.
That's what building arelationship is about.
Having a memorable counter isnot simply asking for my, my
business card.
So I think don't betransactional in networking and
(22:38):
don't network it.
Only people that you think youcan get something.
In other words, talk to as manypeople as you can because you
never know who knows someone.
Who might be the person you'relooking to connect with?
Could be an investor, it couldbe a mentor, it could be a
client, it could be a customer.
So be flexible and don't betransactional in your approach
because when you come acrosslike someone who's simply trying
(22:58):
to get something out of thatnetwork, and in that moment
people are going to be turnedoff.
I want people, I want to feelthat a person I'm talking to is
genuinely interested in me.
I don't want'em to see.
As a potential business partneror investor or customer or
client, I don't want to feellike you're trying to sell me
something and I'm going to bevery quick on mention LinkedIn.
(23:20):
I get a lot of people reach outto me on LinkedIn.
They connect with me onLinkedIn.
And the very next message I getfrom them is, Hey Jeffrey, we
want to sell you X, Y, Z.
And I'm thinking, I don't evenknow you.
You don't know me.
You know nothing about me.
You haven't tried to engage withme.
You're trying to sell mesomething.
On the very first, first messagethat you send to me after we
(23:41):
connected, people, buy frompeople that they know, people
that they trust.
If I don't know you, you are atotally stranger my inbox.
What are the chances of youbeing able to sell me anything?
So network.
But do not be intentional, butdo not be transactional.
Just go ahead and talk topeople, make the process
organic, but don't do it becauseyou're trying to get something
(24:02):
out of it in that moment.
That's been my approach.
Rachel Humphrey (24:07):
That's such great advice.
Thank you very much for sharingthat.
And the LinkedIn example is aperfect example of that.
I wanna switch gears some tosomething a little bit broader
for a second.
There's so much talk right nowabout building a more diverse
industry at the leadership leveland certainly a lot of the
initiatives that you're involvedwith.
A lot that I am in d e Iadvisors is.
Is governed and we're seeing alot of momentum.
(24:29):
We're seeing some change.
Can you share a little bit aboutwhat you think maybe some of the
stumbling blocks have beenleading up to now, and then what
you are seeing from all of yourengagement in the industry about
where change is coming from orhow we're gonna see greater
change, maybe a little bitfaster in the industry?
Dr. Jeffrey O (24:47):
Yeah.
I think there has beenimprovement in terms of level of
diversity that you find in ourindustry.
I can't speak for the.
The entire world, obviouslyspecific to hospitality, I think
we've seen a movement towardmore diversity, a movement
toward that.
We know entirely what we need tobe yet, but we know what we
need, what we used to be, thereis a growing awareness that,
(25:09):
okay, we need to be morediverse.
We need to have more women atthe table making a leadership
decision.
Decisions?
No, because it's it should notbe something that's cosmetic.
It should not be for Shell, weshould do it because it's the
right thing to do.
Period.
People have talked about, sendJustine and they say, oh, you
guys are very, your board isvery diverse.
(25:30):
It's very diviv diverse and thatwas intentional.
That's how the word is.
We should reflect what the wordaround us looks like.
So I think we are getting betterat diversity.
We now, we need to be, but wenow, we used to be, we're making
progress, we're getting morewomen in leadership roles, more
minorities in, in, in leadershiproles.
All of that is getting done forme, it just makes sense and I
(25:51):
can't imagine a company notwanting to.
Diverse, people from diversebackground and cultures of,
different gender.
Who look different or, justdifferent in, in different ways.
So I think it's one that is verymuch needed in our industry and
I'm glad to have an entity liked e i advisors, focused on that.
I know you do a law offense.
It's not just about diversity.
(26:12):
That's not all you do, but it'sgood to see you talk about
diversity.
I think it's conversation thatwe should be having this type of
conversations.
You will only make thehospitality industry.
Rachel Humphrey (26:23):
And as you mentioned with the St.
Justine board, you are actuallypracticing what you're preaching
and that's so important to seeand looking for others to follow
suit.
I have enjoyed so much getting achance to talk to you.
As I mentioned, we have not hada chance to visit.
In the past and getting to knowyou a little bit more, but we
are gonna run short on time.
So I wanna wrap up with two ofmy favorite questions.
(26:46):
One is what advice you wouldgive to 21 year old Jeffrey.
And the reason I've always lovedthis question is I think we are
all works in progress and Ithink reflection is a really
important part of our owndevelopment and of our own
growth.
As we sit here today, thinkingabout what you've accomplished,
what you've had a part in, whatwould you tell your 21 year old
(27:06):
self?
Dr. Jeffrey O (27:08):
Very easy.
Don't be so arrogant.
Don't be so arrogant.
The word does not around you.
And let other people speak,learn from other people.
And let other people do the worktoo.
You can't do it all yourselfbecause you don't know it all.
And don't be so arrogant and letother people speak cuz the only
one who has some knowledge andthat's really what it would be,
(27:31):
wow.
Rachel Humphrey (27:32):
Coming back to the thoughts on delegating and
learning different leadershipskills For sure.
Yeah.
And then finally, I just wannawrap up.
You know that d e i advisorsmotto is empowering personal
success.
So I'm curious if there isyou've shared a lot of insights,
a lot of lessons you've learnedalong the way.
Do you have a final piece ofadvice that you would offer to
our listeners?
Dr. Jeffrey O (27:55):
There's so many things that we could talk about.
I think I would just say that Weshould focus on building a
legacy.
When we go through life, we needto think about how can we build
a legacy?
What are we going to beremembered for?
What are we, how are we going totouch other people's lives in
meaningful ways?
What are we going to beremembered for?
(28:15):
I think if we get into what Icall the legacy mindset and
allow that to govern a law ofour actions, the word is going
to be a better place.
What is the word going to bewhen we are gone?
What are, what's the word goingto think of us?
What is the legacy that we livebehind?
What lies are we have?
We touched?
What have we done has impactedhumanity and that's I think is
(28:37):
so critically important.
Now we look beyond ourselves andlook at the world that we live
in and think about how we canimpact that world positively and
have a legacy that's deeplyentrenched that people are going
to remember remark on.
I think that is so criticallyimportant.
I, if you don't mind, Imentioning this, MLK said the
most urgent and persistentquestion of our time is.
(28:58):
What are you doing for others,right?
I remember that quote.
That's the most persistent andurgent question of our times of
our time.
What are you doing for others?
We need to be able to answerthat question, and if we can't
answer that question on anygiven day, our work is not done.
Our work is not finished.
Rachel Humphrey (29:15):
Wow, what an incredible way to end our time
together.
And certainly a perfect segueinto thank you so much for what
you do, for others, for ourindustry, for so many people in
it.
It is not unnoticed and I'm verypersonally appreciative and I
know as an industry we are aswell.
And thank you for supporting themission of d e I advisors and
(29:36):
spending a little bit of timewith us today.
Dr. Jeffrey O (29:39):
Thank you Rachel.
You're very kind.
I appreciate the time and thankyou so much.
Have a lovely rest of the,
Rachel Humphrey (29:45):
Thank you so much and to our listeners, thank
you as always for tuning in.
We hope you have enjoyed whatyou have heard today and that
you'll visit us at d e iadvisors.org to hear from the
nearly 100 hospitality industryleaders who have shared.
Their paths to leadership andtremendous journeys and insights
that they have learned along theway.
Again, you'll find that at d e iadvisors.org.
(30:07):
You can also stream d e iadvisors on your favorite
podcast streaming channel.
So Dr.
Jeffrey o thank you so muchagain, and thank you to thank
you for tuning in.
Dr. Jeffrey O (30:16):
Thank you.
Bye.
I am Rachel Humphrey with d e I advisors.
We are an Arizona nonprofitorganization dedicated to
empowering personal success inthe hospitality industry, and I
am delighted to welcome to theshow today, Dr.
Jeffrey O, who's the c e O ofSt.
Justine Hotels and the presidentof the International Hospitality
Institute.
And if you don't know more abouthim than.
(00:24):
Then I encourage you to go overto d e i advisors.org and check
out his bio.
But today, please help mewelcome to the show, Dr.
Jeffrey.
Dr. Jeffrey O (00:33):
Thank you, Rachel.
I appreciate your finding timeto catch up and looking forward
to a great conversation.
Thank you.
Rachel Humphrey (00:39):
Absolutely.
One of my favorite things aboutthe hospitality industry is how
incredibly unique each of ourpaths to leadership can be.
There is no one straight checkthe box path from A to B.
And so I'm hoping you can take acouple minutes and just tell us
about your personal journey andhow you got to the various roles
that you hold.
Dr. Jeffrey O (01:00):
Yeah.
Thank you.
And that's an excellentquestion, Rachel.
My journey started years andyears ago.
I'm going to try not to datemyself.
And I started working in in ahotel.
It was actually a marriedproperty as a front desk agent,
and I just stumbled into intohospitality and I worked as a
front desk agent and eventuallywas promoted to NI audit manager
(01:21):
and then front desk manager, andthen moved on to AGM and gm and
then went corporate to.
VP of operations, divisionalvice president of operations c o
and c e o.
It's been an interestingjourney.
I love interacting with people.
I love mitten people.
I love the entire engagementpiece, and I can't imagine doing
(01:42):
anything else.
I'm not very good at a lot ofthings.
This is something I think I'mfairly good at and I just fell
into it.
I fell in love with it and Ican't think of a better
profession that I could have gotinto.
So really excited and blessed tobe in your hospitality industry.
Rachel Humphrey (01:58):
What an exciting message too.
Both coming through all of thedifferent roles, but so many
different responsibilities andlearning so many different
aspects of the industry.
And we'll definitely cover someof those as we continue talking
a little bit today.
One of the things when we talkabout leadership, there are some
people who say, I never expectedto be in a.
(02:19):
Role in my career, I would beone of those.
And then there are others thatsaid, you know what?
I felt early on that I wasreally destined or destined to
be a leader.
Can you talk a little bit aboutwhich category maybe you fall
into, if it was from early on,what was it about it?
If not, was there maybe apivotal moment where you
realized that leadership couldbe in your future?
Dr. Jeffrey O (02:39):
That's a great question.
I can't say I've had that askedof me before.
So it's a great one.
I don't know that I work when Iwas, growing up I thought, I'm
in natural leader and I'm goingto lead people and I'm going to
do all of this things.
I didn't think of that.
I think at some point, Workingin the corporate world, at some
point I found myself in rolesthat involve responsibility,
(03:01):
leading teams and chasing goals.
And I taught, I think I can dowell at this.
And I really developed myleadership burn or muscle, if
you can call it that, byconstantly reading about
leadership, learning from peoplewho have more experience than I
have, or way smarter than Icould ever be reading about
their journey, studying theirstories, and trying to.
(03:22):
You knowle some information outof that would enhance my,
enhance me as a person.
So I think I've been in a veryreceptive mode when it comes to
leadership.
I don't think you could possiblyknow all that there is to know
about leadership.
There are more books written onleadership than there, than any
other subject.
It's just, So many topics.
I've written a couple myself andpublished a couple.
(03:42):
It's such a vast world.
I did my PhD studies andleadership.
It's very vast.
There are so many aspects to it.
So I didn't grow up thinking Iwas going to be a leader and I
was going to do all of thethings I've been very fortunate
and privileged to achieve.
But at some point in my career,while working in different
position, I realized I needed tokeep developing myself, learning
(04:04):
how to be a better and a moreeffective leader, a more
compassionate leader.
And I just kept working at itand learning from people who are
more smarter than me.
And I think eventually, I justkept moving up progre,
progressing into differentroles, with more and more
responsibility.
And that's just what my journeyhas.
Rachel Humphrey (04:22):
We hear that from so many leaders nowadays
that this idea of curiosity orcontinuous growth or wanting to
learn more or emulate others issuch a big part of their path.
That's a great segue actually,to developing new skills, as we.
Advance through our career.
Sometimes we encounter a skillthat we didn't realize would be
so important for us as a leader,and we really need to go out and
(04:45):
fine tune it or even develop itfrom scratch.
Or if we can't, we need tosurround ourselves with other
executives who really possessthis strong skill.
Have.
Have there been any examplesthat you found along the way
where you said, you know what?
I stumbled on something and Irealized that was not a strong
set of mine, and I set out todevelop it some more.
Dr. Jeffrey O (05:08):
I think my biggest challenge as a leader
has been really delegating.
That's a hackney concept.
People talk about that quiteoften.
Oh, I need to get better.
I need to learn how to delegate.
But in my case, it really istrue.
It's not just saying it, peoplesay that quite often.
I interview, leaders who saythat to me, oh, I need to get
better delegating.
(05:29):
And I'm telling you for me, isactually the case.
I, I have.
I was horrible at delegating anda lot of that I think has to do
with arrogance.
I think I was arrogant because Ithought I could do it all.
I was arrogant.
I thought, I don't need anyone.
I didn't trust anyone.
I didn't trust people as much asI should have to get the task
accomplished.
(05:49):
I always thought, if I do itmyself, then I'm going to get it
done and I'm going to do itright.
And to me, that's his feeling ofleadership.
And I was not aware of that whenI was touching my career as a
front office manager.
I work ridiculous hours, I.
I could barely get my work donecause I tried to do my work,
plus the work that should havebeen delegated to other folks.
I was a poor leader and I didn'teven know it.
(06:10):
It took me a while to wake upand say, Jeffrey, you don't have
to do all this.
You're not the smartest personon the planet.
You're not even the smartestperson in the company.
You're not the smartest personin the room.
Quite often there are people whoare way smarter than you.
Learn from them, exchangeinformation with them, let their
reciprocity, do all of that andyou're going to be a better
leader for it.
(06:31):
So it took a lot of searchingand introspection to get to that
point.
That has been my biggestweakness, being able to
delegate, being able to knowthat I can do it all.
I don't know it all, and trustother people to deliver the.
I'm getting better at it.
I'm much better now than I wasyears and years ago.
So that's been it is been alearning experience for me.
(06:51):
I think it's a continuousprocess.
Even now.
I have to watch myself and say,okay, you know what?
Stop, let someone else do that.
You don't have to do that.
You don't have to respond toevery email.
You don't have to follow up onevery item.
Item that requires follow up.
I'm a work in progress.
I'm much, much better than Iused to be, but I can't tell you
that I'm absolutely where I needto be, so I'm still working on
(07:13):
it.
Rachel Humphrey (07:14):
I love that answer so much, and I really
appreciate your sharing that.
I think that's something thatyou and I probably have in
common mine was a combinationof, I know I'll get it done and
I'll get it done how I want toget it done, but it was also
feeling guilty about askingothers to put, add something
else to their plate.
People are so busy everywherethat I was like, oh, I feel
terribly asking, and it becamevery difficult.
(07:36):
But you're right, as you startdoing, And you build trust and
you have success and positiveresults, it becomes easier and
easier to do.
But I can really appreciate thatvery much.
One of the things that I love todo is to share with our audience
why I have asked someone to joinus as a guest.
On d e I advisors because insome way I have felt that
(07:58):
they've really impacted mycareer and or the hospitality
industry.
As I shared with you earlier,you're the first guest that I
have interviewed that I have notmet before, although we have
tried several times.
Absolutely.
Yes.
And I really wanted to sharethat.
One of the things with theInternational Hospitality
Institute that I am so gratefulfor and so proud of is the
(08:19):
celebration of the amazingpeople in our industry.
There are so many people workingso hard for so many other people
wanting to bring about greatchange, wanting to see our
industry thrive, and we don'toften take time to celebrate, to
say thank you, to say good job,to say We recognize what you're
(08:39):
doing.
And so what I h I is doing hasreally been, in my view, a game
changer for the industry oftaking a little bit of time each
year to say thank you for allthat you do for hospitality.
And so I will say to you here,Thank you for all that you do
for hospitality through I h I.
But I also wanna tie that intospecifically getting involved
(09:01):
with boards, associations, andnonprofits because so many great
leaders, not just about givingback, but really talk about
leadership skills that they havedeveloped.
Through these additional rolesthat they have had at various
points in their careers.
Can you talk a little bit aboutwhy it's so important for you to
participate in these additionalendeavors?
(09:21):
Cuz you've got a full-time dayjob.
A couple of them actually.
And maybe some of the leadershipskills that you've learned
through those channels that havebeen different from, in maybe
the for-profit corporate world.
Dr. Jeffrey O (09:32):
What a great question.
I had an interview not long ago,I think it was with Media
Magazine.
And the gentleman whointerviewed me asked me a
question that I don't often getand that was a very in,
intriguing question, much likewhat you're asking me now.
And he said to me, can you tellme about something that you've
done for anyone or a group thatdid not benefit you in any way?
(09:53):
Something that you did that didnot benefit you?
How have you served yourcommunity?
How have you done positive?
Good, good work.
That did not benefit you and I aquestion you don't get very
often, right?
Yeah, and I have to think for aminute.
I'm already thinking.
I know.
I was thankful for the fact thatI could answer that question
because of the activities I'vebeen involved in.
(10:13):
One of my old time favoritequotes is by Horrors man, the
great American educator, and hesaid, you should be ashamed to
die unless you've done somethinggood for human.
Oh wow.
Yeah, and that's so criticallyimportant to me in terms of
building a legacy, making apositive change, being a force
for good in people's lives, notmely being a biological band.
It was so mission is to eat,drink, and sleep, and grow
(10:36):
through life without impactingsomeone else's life positively.
This is usually important to meand a lot of the things I'm
involved in.
Things that are squarely alignedwith my values, we've been able
to give back.
I h i thanks to mention, whatyou said about I hhi is our
mission really to do all ofthose things for the hospitality
industry.
We're not doing it to makemoney, we make money in other
(10:56):
ways, but a lot what we do ispremised on service, on giving
back, on recognizing the peoplewho are toiling every day on
Sing on Song.
So that is really important tous to be able to give back, to
recognize all of these.
People like you and so manyother folks have done so much
for our industry.
Working, tirelessly to advancethe industry that we love so
(11:18):
much that was battered by Covid19.
It is great to be able to bringa smile to someone's face in any
way that we, that you possibly,we possibly can.
So that's really important to meto be part of that.
And as you speak, I've got acouple of global Hospitality
magazine, which we published.
You can see, we recognize folkswho are doing great things and
it's our mission and it's beenour mission, to continue to do
(11:40):
those things and really shinethe.
Of hospitality.
So I've been involved in manyorganizations that are
providing, Services to theindustry, not only hospitality
to people, c communities,service, all kinds of things.
I recently took over as chairmanchair chair.
I guess I don't really like thatterm too much, but it's okay.
It's what it is, right?
Sounds super pretentious, but Irecently took over as Chair of
(12:02):
the Hotel is Guild based inLagano Logano teaching of
Switzerland, where I work withsome really amazing people who
are doing a lot of things andone of the great programs we
currently.
Carrying out in the hotel isGuild is providing a scholar.
Scholarship opportunities topeople from countries that are
really struggling financially.
People who don't have the meansto go, get a higher education.
(12:24):
And we're bringing thesestudents, these folks into
Europe and providing pathwaysfor them to get a university
degree.
We've already sponsored manystudents and we've got many more
students and we sponsor and wegoing, we sponsoring going
forward.
So programs like that are verymuch of interest to me.
What I HHI is doing is very muchof interest to.
It's very difficult jugglingwhat I am doing as send Justine
(12:46):
and also juggling I h I.
We're currently looking torecruit A C E O, who's going to
take over from it?
We've not identified someoneyet, but that is usually
important to me to be able togive back to our industry, to be
able to help in any little waythat we possibly can.
And and I appreciate taking thetime to cool that out.
That's been your mission aswell.
I know that for a fact andthat's why I'm a big fan of the
(13:07):
work that you do, that d EIadvisors do.
Thank you.
Rachel Humphrey (13:11):
Thank you so much for that.
And we are very grateful both onthe scholarship side.
Like I said, the recognitionside, it's so critically
important for our industry.
And with that comes theopportunity to both be mentored
and be a champion for someoneelse but also to be a mentee
along the way.
Have there been people in yourpath, in your career specific or
(13:33):
generally who have really servedas a great champion for you and
where do you see the.
Of mentors and champions in thehospitality industry?
Dr. Jeffrey O (13:42):
Yeah, mentoring is a huge part.
Should be a huge part of ourindustry.
There's an organization in theUK that's doing some really
great work.
It's called oto.
I'm going to mention thembecause they've done such great
work and I was recognized bythem last year.
I received an award from themfor my mentoring.
Very important.
I have people reach out to me ona daily basis.
(14:03):
People that I know, peoplewho've never even met me, they
reach out to me for advicethrough LinkedIn, they connect
with me and say, I just wannapick your brain about this.
I want to buy a hotel.
How do I get started?
I want to work in the industry.
I want to transition from foodand beverage to rooms.
What do I do?
And I take time to connect withthese folks.
I make our time, 10 minutes,five minutes, 20 minutes of my.
(14:24):
People I don't know.
And when they hear thisinterview, they're going to say,
yeah, I've taken time to dothat.
I continue to do that.
So I have been a mentor to manypeople and I've had many folks
mentor to me.
My colleague I sent, Justine hasbeen a great mentor and role
model.
He and I, our conversations arealways so enriching.
This is someone who's a legendwho's done so much for the
(14:45):
industry very passionate.
He, em embodies the spirit ofhospitality that we're talking
about.
It's a true evangelist forhospitality and he gets it
right, and many other folks, Agentleman I worked with called
Son Zara, just an absoluteamazing mentor of mine.
I reach out to him for advice.
I call him and.
Mr.
Serai, how do I handle this?
What do I do about this?
(15:05):
What do you think of that?
And he always makes our time totalk to me.
So I've been very blessed.
I've got many mentors.
I can't possibly mention all ofthem.
And I've also been a mentor tomany others.
And I mentioned Ello becausethey are doing the kind of work.
Now I have incrediblerespectful, and as the reason I
mentioned them on the, on thisshow on this podcast because
they're doing really great worksupporting people who need to be
(15:27):
mentored in our industry.
And of course, I mentioned theHotel is Guild, which I'm,
chairman of the academy of Art.
So it's, there are companies andentities who.
Really playing an active role inimproving the lives of people in
their spheres and theircommunities, in their companies.
And I and I'm just veryfortunate to have been able to
interact with some of thesefolks, including the ones that I
(15:48):
just mentioned.
Rachel Humphrey (15:49):
Your passion for an enthusiasm for mentor
certainly comes through inlistening to you talk about that
and certainly appreciate yourtaking so much time to field and
spend time with all of thepeople reaching out to connect
with you.
That's such an important part ofgiving back, as you mentioned,
which is a big part of yourcommitment as well.
(16:09):
Pivoting a little bit to anotherchallenge that people identify
as one of the biggest obstaclesthat they feel like impacts
their path to leadership aspublic speaking.
And we talk a lot about maybeconference speaking, but
certainly public speaking can beone-on-one with your manager.
It can be at a staff meeting, itcan be in a small group setting.
And then of course the giantconferences that you and I both
(16:31):
speak pretty regularly at.
Have you always been comfortablepublic speaking?
Do you have.
A preparation that you gothrough, how do you get yourself
ready to speak?
And did it always come naturallyfor you?
Dr. Jeffrey O (16:43):
Yes, it has come naturally.
Me, I can't seem to shut up.
My biggest challenge is notbeing able to speak, is learning
when to shut up.
So my wife tells me that quiteoften.
She says, okay, Jeffrey, I gotit.
I got it.
Stop, please.
So I try not to bore people'ssenseless, admire rambling, but
I, I love to talk, which is howI got into Speechs.
I love people.
(17:03):
I love to talk, I love topresent.
I don't do a lot of preparationbecause I do a ton of calls.
I do a lot of, speaking.
So I do it so often.
It's not something I need.
Get revved up for, because I doit very often, but I always say
I'm actually written a guide onpublic speaking.
If there's anyone listeningwho's interested in in in, in,
in getting that access to thatcourse we can actually, I h I
(17:26):
can actually offer that courseto them at no charge.
If they're listening and theywant to take advantage of it.
If they mention d e i advisorsin responding to this interview
when it's posted, we'll givethem free access to the course.
I wrote on public speaking,there are many tricks to being a
great public speaker, and I havedealt with, c-suite leaders,
senior leaders, and given them afew tips that I've, picked up
(17:47):
along the way on publicspeaking.
So there's so many ways to, itis different from different
people.
It all depends on what theindividuals issue, right?
There are people who are notcomfort.
With their voices.
There are people who strugglewith their appearance when they
come out in public to speak.
There are folks who have gotnervous ticks, right?
They can't, it's still, they'refidgety.
They're doing all kinds ofthings because they're nervous.
(18:07):
There are so many ways that onecan approach that issue, but
it's a, I thought I've gotenough time here for it, but I
think what I was in terms of,what might help people get
better public speaking for folkswho are looking for that, what I
will say is this quite often.
We are in our own heads when itcomes to speaking in public.
We are thinking too much.
(18:29):
We are thinking about what weare about to do, and is it
thinking?
Is that constant thinking thatparalyzes people who struggle
with public speaking?
If you are approach publicspeaking, just like you're
talking to your relative, yourlong lost friend, your mom, your
dad, your brother, your sister,you're not going to have any
apprehensions about speaking inpublic.
But when you are constantlythinking about what you're going
to do and your fear of howyou're going to perform, you're
(18:50):
having.
Real that's going through yourhead, this loop that's going in
before you even do the swick.
It's like you're already losingthe battle before you're on
stage.
So the key to not think aboutit, don't think about it, don't
dwell on it, prepare the pointsthat you're going to talk about.
Have them in your mind.
If you need to have some talkingpoints like an index card, you
could use that.
(19:10):
You need that.
If not, go through what you needto go through mentally.
But don't think too hard aboutit.
Pretend or say to yourself, I'mgoing to be speaking to a room
of people who love me.
They absolutely adore me.
They love me, and they can'twait to hear me speak.
I am among friends.
I'm among friends, and I'm goingto tell my story to my friends.
(19:30):
They're going to love listeningto me.
They're going to loveinteracting with me.
This is going to be great.
I am going to.
It's really pro, essentiallyprogramming yourself and putting
yourself in that zone and notthinking too much about what
you're going to do.
Not dwelling on it, not playingthat loop all day and all night
thinking, oh my God.
Just go with it.
(19:51):
So there are many specific stepsthat I've got in my training
course I put together, which Ithink is about.
33 keys or something of publicspeaking that I would encourage
anyone who's interested and I hi, can offer that.
We usually charge for it.
But this particular, because I'mtalking to you on the d e I
advisors podcast, I'm trying outthe offer.
There's someone who'sinterested.
(20:11):
I have my team at I h I set themup and it can hopefully benefit
from it.
I wave waive the fee and notgoing to get charged.
I charged for Course, and Ithink that might be useful to
some folks.
So anyway, just wanted to
Rachel Humphrey (20:22):
put that out there.
Thank you very much.
We appreciate that tremendously,and that's great advice.
I have not heard it describedthat way, but I really like
that.
I think that I'm verycomfortable public speaking.
I certainly get nervous enough,but I like the idea of being
your own personal hype squad,trying to get yourself,
everybody wants to be therelistening to you, so I'm gonna
try that the next time.
Dr. Jeffrey O (20:43):
Absolutely it works.
Believe me.
I'll back to you on that one.
It works.
Believe me.
Rachel Humphrey (20:49):
One of the things that we hear about from
most leaders is that hospitalitymight be different from some
other industries on howcritically important
relationship building andnetworking is, whether it is to
close a deal, to get a newopportunity to find a mentor.
The sky is really the limit.
What, but not all of us.
Network the same way.
(21:09):
As a matter of fact you and Iprobably do not network in
similar ways at all.
Yet we may end up with verysimilar networks.
At the end of the day, what isyour personal strategy?
How have you tailored it reallyto your character and to your
character traits?
And how would you recommendothers who maybe are a little
bit apprehensive about buildingtheir own network?
(21:30):
Really take the first steptowards that.
Dr. Jeffrey O (21:34):
I think the key is to not take a transactional
approach to networking, right?
Don't go in thinking, I'm goingto talk to 30 people today.
I'm going to speak to 30 peoplewho are potential clients, who
will be potential clients ofcustomers, potentially investors
and all of that.
Don't take your transactransactional approach to
networking.
Let it be organic.
(21:55):
Go out and talk to people, talkto as many people as you can and
spend time with them.
I have been in certainenvironments where I felt like
networking was like speeddating.
Someone comes to, Hey Jeffrey,how are you?
I'm John.
Hey.
Hey.
Okay, have a good day.
On to Rachel.
Hey Richard.
Hey.
It's what is this?
We're not building arelationship.
You're just walking aroundcollecting business card.
(22:16):
And collecting business cards isnot the same as building a
relationship.
Building a meaningfulrelationship entails you getting
to know me, me getting to knowyou, even in the 10, 15, 5, 8
minutes that you and I connect.
That's what building arelationship is about.
Having a memorable counter isnot simply asking for my, my
business card.
So I think don't betransactional in networking and
(22:38):
don't network it.
Only people that you think youcan get something.
In other words, talk to as manypeople as you can because you
never know who knows someone.
Who might be the person you'relooking to connect with?
Could be an investor, it couldbe a mentor, it could be a
client, it could be a customer.
So be flexible and don't betransactional in your approach
because when you come acrosslike someone who's simply trying
(22:58):
to get something out of thatnetwork, and in that moment
people are going to be turnedoff.
I want people, I want to feelthat a person I'm talking to is
genuinely interested in me.
I don't want'em to see.
As a potential business partneror investor or customer or
client, I don't want to feellike you're trying to sell me
something and I'm going to bevery quick on mention LinkedIn.
(23:20):
I get a lot of people reach outto me on LinkedIn.
They connect with me onLinkedIn.
And the very next message I getfrom them is, Hey Jeffrey, we
want to sell you X, Y, Z.
And I'm thinking, I don't evenknow you.
You don't know me.
You know nothing about me.
You haven't tried to engage withme.
You're trying to sell mesomething.
On the very first, first messagethat you send to me after we
(23:41):
connected, people, buy frompeople that they know, people
that they trust.
If I don't know you, you are atotally stranger my inbox.
What are the chances of youbeing able to sell me anything?
So network.
But do not be intentional, butdo not be transactional.
Just go ahead and talk topeople, make the process
organic, but don't do it becauseyou're trying to get something
(24:02):
out of it in that moment.
That's been my approach.
Rachel Humphrey (24:07):
That's such great advice.
Thank you very much for sharingthat.
And the LinkedIn example is aperfect example of that.
I wanna switch gears some tosomething a little bit broader
for a second.
There's so much talk right nowabout building a more diverse
industry at the leadership leveland certainly a lot of the
initiatives that you're involvedwith.
A lot that I am in d e Iadvisors is.
Is governed and we're seeing alot of momentum.
(24:29):
We're seeing some change.
Can you share a little bit aboutwhat you think maybe some of the
stumbling blocks have beenleading up to now, and then what
you are seeing from all of yourengagement in the industry about
where change is coming from orhow we're gonna see greater
change, maybe a little bitfaster in the industry?
Dr. Jeffrey O (24:47):
Yeah.
I think there has beenimprovement in terms of level of
diversity that you find in ourindustry.
I can't speak for the.
The entire world, obviouslyspecific to hospitality, I think
we've seen a movement towardmore diversity, a movement
toward that.
We know entirely what we need tobe yet, but we know what we
need, what we used to be, thereis a growing awareness that,
(25:09):
okay, we need to be morediverse.
We need to have more women atthe table making a leadership
decision.
Decisions?
No, because it's it should notbe something that's cosmetic.
It should not be for Shell, weshould do it because it's the
right thing to do.
Period.
People have talked about, sendJustine and they say, oh, you
guys are very, your board isvery diverse.
(25:30):
It's very diviv diverse and thatwas intentional.
That's how the word is.
We should reflect what the wordaround us looks like.
So I think we are getting betterat diversity.
We now, we need to be, but wenow, we used to be, we're making
progress, we're getting morewomen in leadership roles, more
minorities in, in, in leadershiproles.
All of that is getting done forme, it just makes sense and I
(25:51):
can't imagine a company notwanting to.
Diverse, people from diversebackground and cultures of,
different gender.
Who look different or, justdifferent in, in different ways.
So I think it's one that is verymuch needed in our industry and
I'm glad to have an entity liked e i advisors, focused on that.
I know you do a law offense.
It's not just about diversity.
(26:12):
That's not all you do, but it'sgood to see you talk about
diversity.
I think it's conversation thatwe should be having this type of
conversations.
You will only make thehospitality industry.
Rachel Humphrey (26:23):
And as you mentioned with the St.
Justine board, you are actuallypracticing what you're preaching
and that's so important to seeand looking for others to follow
suit.
I have enjoyed so much getting achance to talk to you.
As I mentioned, we have not hada chance to visit.
In the past and getting to knowyou a little bit more, but we
are gonna run short on time.
So I wanna wrap up with two ofmy favorite questions.
(26:46):
One is what advice you wouldgive to 21 year old Jeffrey.
And the reason I've always lovedthis question is I think we are
all works in progress and Ithink reflection is a really
important part of our owndevelopment and of our own
growth.
As we sit here today, thinkingabout what you've accomplished,
what you've had a part in, whatwould you tell your 21 year old
(27:06):
self?
Dr. Jeffrey O (27:08):
Very easy.
Don't be so arrogant.
Don't be so arrogant.
The word does not around you.
And let other people speak,learn from other people.
And let other people do the worktoo.
You can't do it all yourselfbecause you don't know it all.
And don't be so arrogant and letother people speak cuz the only
one who has some knowledge andthat's really what it would be,
(27:31):
wow.
Rachel Humphrey (27:32):
Coming back to the thoughts on delegating and
learning different leadershipskills For sure.
Yeah.
And then finally, I just wannawrap up.
You know that d e i advisorsmotto is empowering personal
success.
So I'm curious if there isyou've shared a lot of insights,
a lot of lessons you've learnedalong the way.
Do you have a final piece ofadvice that you would offer to
our listeners?
Dr. Jeffrey O (27:55):
There's so many things that we could talk about.
I think I would just say that Weshould focus on building a
legacy.
When we go through life, we needto think about how can we build
a legacy?
What are we going to beremembered for?
What are we, how are we going totouch other people's lives in
meaningful ways?
What are we going to beremembered for?
(28:15):
I think if we get into what Icall the legacy mindset and
allow that to govern a law ofour actions, the word is going
to be a better place.
What is the word going to bewhen we are gone?
What are, what's the word goingto think of us?
What is the legacy that we livebehind?
What lies are we have?
We touched?
What have we done has impactedhumanity and that's I think is
(28:37):
so critically important.
Now we look beyond ourselves andlook at the world that we live
in and think about how we canimpact that world positively and
have a legacy that's deeplyentrenched that people are going
to remember remark on.
I think that is so criticallyimportant.
I, if you don't mind, Imentioning this, MLK said the
most urgent and persistentquestion of our time is.
(28:58):
What are you doing for others,right?
I remember that quote.
That's the most persistent andurgent question of our times of
our time.
What are you doing for others?
We need to be able to answerthat question, and if we can't
answer that question on anygiven day, our work is not done.
Our work is not finished.
Rachel Humphrey (29:15):
Wow, what an incredible way to end our time
together.
And certainly a perfect segueinto thank you so much for what
you do, for others, for ourindustry, for so many people in
it.
It is not unnoticed and I'm verypersonally appreciative and I
know as an industry we are aswell.
And thank you for supporting themission of d e I advisors and
(29:36):
spending a little bit of timewith us today.
Dr. Jeffrey O (29:39):
Thank you Rachel.
You're very kind.
I appreciate the time and thankyou so much.
Have a lovely rest of the,
Rachel Humphrey (29:45):
Thank you so much and to our listeners, thank
you as always for tuning in.
We hope you have enjoyed whatyou have heard today and that
you'll visit us at d e iadvisors.org to hear from the
nearly 100 hospitality industryleaders who have shared.
Their paths to leadership andtremendous journeys and insights
that they have learned along theway.
Again, you'll find that at d e iadvisors.org.
(30:07):
You can also stream d e iadvisors on your favorite
podcast streaming channel.
So Dr.
Jeffrey o thank you so muchagain, and thank you to thank
you for tuning in.
Dr. Jeffrey O (30:16):
Thank you.
Bye.
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