Renaud Grégoire is a young GM for a 5-star hotel in the metropolitan city of London. He took over Corinthia Hotel London less than a year ago. He is enthusiastic and ambitious. Like many top hoteliers, he has a charming personality and possesses superb social skills. He is highly intelligent and has a lightning speed mind.

Although Corinthia Hotels is not yet a large hotel company, with ambitious hoteliers, such as Renaud Grégoire, one can imagine that given a few years, they will be a formidable international luxury hotel brand.

INTERVIEW

You graduated from ISGH with a degree in Hotel Management in 1997. Did you become interested in hotel management at a young age?

When I was a child, my parents used to take me to Cannes and Nice in the South of France for our summer holidays every year. I was fascinated by those iconic hotels. For some reason, I always knew that one day I would be the GM of one of these hotels. I started to work for restaurants when I was 12 and later, I worked for hotels. Of course, at the time, I thought being a GM is a glamorous job. I now know that behind the scenes, it is not always glamorous; there is hard work involved. Still, it is a fabulous job; I don't regret it at all.

You were the Director of F&B at Claridge's in London for seven years. What did you learn from working for such an iconic hotel?
I started at Claridge's as an Assistant Room Service Manager. Later, I became the Director of F&B for three or four years. Claridge's is still, to this day, one of the iconic hotels in Great Britain. During this time, I learned the true meaning of luxury. This is where I learned the difference between 5-star hotels and super 5-star hotels. At Claridge's, I learned to pay attention to details. I learned how to work with a list of amazing clients, including heads of states, celebrities, etc.

*I have also interviewed the GM of Claridge's, London, Thomas Kochs. Read Here.

This year you enrolled in the General Manager's program at the Cornell University. Why did you decide to go back to school?

First, it is important that we keep up with academic learning. Secondly, although I am a fairly new GM, I left university 18 years ago and going back to school again is a good experience. Thirdly, I was fortunate that my company was willing to invest in me and selected me to participate in the Cornell's program. It is perfect timing.

You are rather young to be the GM of a well-known luxury brand hotel in a major city. What are your success factors?
I am, indeed, a rather young GM for a big 5-star hotel. It comes with being passionate about your work. What does it mean? It means that if you truly love what you do, and you really believe in the brand, you put everything in it. Hotel industry today demands a lot of hard work and dedication. Therefore, your work becomes your lifestyle, and that is one part that you need to understand and accept. Secondly, I am passionate about the luxury hotel industry. I guess the right opportunity came at the right time. That is, I was at the right place at the right time. I must have been doing something right since I was very fortunate to be given this opportunity to manage such a prestigious brand in London.

What are the most challenging issues you are facing on your current job?

Today, the position of a GM has become so complicated. Compared to even 5 to 10 years ago, the way the business is conducted and the evolution of technology in our industry have made things quite different in terms of booking coming through from various sources. As the GM, I have to be on top of the technology developments and understand them. So, we are not only the ambassadors of our hotel, but at the same time, we also have to be savvy business managers. That is, we need to be aware of how to reach our guests from all channels.

In your opinion, what do your employees expect from you?

I think my employees would expect me to be fair and show transparent leadership. The GM is there to lead the way towards creating an organizational culture that the company believes in. What has to come from me are the direction of how we are going to create the distinctive culture of our hotel, and the knowledge to show our employees how we are going to develop it.

If you must make a choice, would you do the things right or would you do the right things?

I would definitely do the right things. In today's world, after all the scandals and financial crises, leaders have the responsibility to behave ethically. Doing the right things means that at times we may have to say "no" to things if we don't believe in them or we don't condone them.

In your opinion, is the GM important to the daily life of his frontline employees?

A GM needs to be visible to his employees. I wish I could spend more time getting to know our employees. We need to plan our day, so that we are visible on the floor. When employees see that you are there, visible and approachable, they will feel your presence. This is how we can create our culture. I don't want to just sit in my office all day while nobody knows who I am. I want to be able to go through every department once or twice a day, not just to get to know them, but to thank them personally for doing a good job.

What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

My strengths:

  • I am a people person. I get along with people and I love them.
  • I believe in building a cohesive and strong team.
  • Externally, I am the ambassador and the host of my hotel. I am easy going and charming with my guests. I need to gain their trust so that they trust me to take good care of them.

My weaknesses:

  • I like to be informed about everything that is going on at the hotel on a daily basis --- even though it is impossible to be involved in it all.

I am certain that every GM has at one time faced the choice between:

  • Rude or misbehaving guests who could bring a lot of business to the hotel;
  • Pleasant guests, who you will never see back again.

What would be your choice and why?
It is extremely rare that we face guests who are rude or who misbehave. If it does happen, we have the responsibility to protect our employees as well.

This is the case of doing the right thing. The GM must be the one to discuss this sensitive issue with the client. The client may never come back again, or, if you handle it right --- and I've seen it before --- the client might realize what they did wrong, apologize and become your most loyal guests.

At work, what puts a smile on your face?

At work, I try to have fun. We have 600 employees here in London. We spend most of our time at work. We all work hard and we have to be pleasant to our guests. At the end of the day, I want them to perform well and to be really good employees, but I want them to go home and say to themselves that they really love their work. So, I think we need to have fun. I try to infuse a little bit of humor in our working life. I want my team to enjoy their job.

What puts a frown on your face?

You can achieve excellence in luxury if you are really focused and determined in your pursuit of excellence. When things are repeatedly done wrong, I get annoyed. I would have to have a constructive talk with the individual in private, not publicly. Otherwise, it would give the wrong signal.

Can you think of a time when you've done something that has made the impossible become possible?

We always try to top the luxury level; it's a part of our DNA. I will give you an example. I remember one time we had a gentleman in a wheelchair. His dream was to meet the famous Hollywood star, Al Pacino, who happened to stay at our hotel for the award ceremony of the British Film Institute. We spent a lot of time making this possible. If we can create an experience that would make a difference in someone's life, we go out our way to make it a reality.

How has your life been different from what you imagined?

When I think about the days I spent during a number of summer vacations with my parents in the South of France, I had a very different mental image of the GM of a big 5-star hotel. The reality is that the job is much more complicated and challenging than what I had ever imagined.

Life is too short to tolerate ____________________?
Spending every single moment of our life on work. We need to be dedicated and work hard and be passionate about what we do, but balance in life is also very important. I don't tolerate seeing my team working seven days a week, nonstop. I want them to have a balanced life, because I think in the end that is how you get the best output.

What one thing have you not yet done that you really want to do?

This hotel has only been open for three and a half years. We are still a new hotel. I want it to become the best hotel in London. London has many top five-star luxury hotels that are competing for the number one spot! My ambition is to be recognized as the Number One Hotel in London. We have the product and we just have to deliver.

In your opinion, which is worse, failing, but trying or not trying but not failing?

If you don't try, you don't fail, but it is bad. When you don't try to do anything, you've failed yourself. You need to be creative and not afraid to take a chance.

Who do you admire the most and why?

I try to look at other business leaders who are dynamic, such as James Dyson*, the founder of Dyson Company, who started from nothing. Another one is Richard Branson, who is really charismatic and so driven. I hope I have a little of his character in my leading of my team. I think we can learn a lot from these individuals.

*Sir James Dyson is a British inventor, industrial designer and founder of the Dyson Company.

What advice would offer to those who aspire to become a GM someday?

Nowadays, there is no set career formula to become a GM. You can come from operations, finance, etc. Some of the young people today have unrealistic expectations. They think that in five to ten years they will become a GM of a major brand. Today, the job of a GM has become so much more complicated and it takes time for someone to develop into a competent GM.

What's next?

I just became the GM of this hotel last year. I still have a lot to do. So, I will stick with this one for a while. After this, we will see. Our company is small, but it has great ambition to grow. So, I will continue working for Corinthia.

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