2014 began with a bang.
In February/March, pro-Russian unrest grew into full-blown conflict in Eastern Ukraine. Our hotel in Donetsk was thrust into a crisis management mode that would last until the hotel was deflagged several years later.
In April, we opened a hotel in Freetown, Sierra Leone. A month later Ebola had taken hold in the country. The outbreak grew and the WHO declared a Public Emergency of International Concern in the summer.
The challenges of being the head of security in a global hotel group never end, and sometimes, like in 2014, they pile up. My deputy and I called the General Manager in Donetsk daily for so many months that I once asked if they felt we were wasting their time. They were living in a war zone and had to field phone calls from corporate people who were helpless and could do nothing to change their situation.
“Please keep calling.” the GM said. “You’re our lifeline. You give us all hope that there is still a world outside and that there are people who care about us.”
We kept calling.
In Sierra Leone, the hotel became a safe haven. They collaborated with the CDC and international aid organizations to ensure the outbreak never entered their compound. As a newly opened hotel, they were hemorrhaging money. It was suggested that we pull the plug. On one of our calls, the General Manager told me he had been given two options: 1) close the hotel, cut our losses, and leave the country, or 2) fire half the staff and try to manage until the situation improved.
“I have a third option.”, he told me. “I want to negotiate a pay cut for everyone including myself so we can keep everyone and try to manage until it gets better. If we fire anyone, we’re basically sending them to their death as they’ll be unemployed in a country ravaged by deadly disease.”
I supported his case, and the hotel remained open throughout the pandemic.
During 2014, we were also dealing with the continued unrest that followed the fall of Gadaffi in Libya, a growing terrorism threat in Europe from a variety of actors, and security challenges resulting from years of austerity after the 2008-2009 financial collapse.
During my regular check-in meetings with my boss, the COO, I often had to use what our daughter called my "Vice President" voice. He couldn’t comprehend that my personal feeling was that we should be spending more time supporting our hotels in difficult destinations like Donetsk, Tripoli, Nairobi and Cairo than we did on hiring a bunch of twenty-year-old tweeters who would jump up and down and get all excited every time they saw a tweet with one of our brand names in it.
A meeting in mid-May 2014 was different. He was full of praise, everything was great and without even batting an eye he approved my Amman expense report. He also approved travel for both of our remote regional security directors to come to Brussels for our annual meeting. That had never happened before.
Good news like this made me feel something fishy was going on.
At the end of the meeting, my boss asked me if I would be in the office Monday.
“Yes”, I replied.
“Monday afternoon?”, he asked.
“Yes, at least until I go to the gym at 4.30,” I said, “but I can stay longer if you need me to. “
“We might need you Monday afternoon,” he said without hinting why.
“I'll stay until I hear from you.”, I said.
Monday afternoon at 2:30 a call came in on my cellphone.
It was the CEO of the company that owned our brands. My boss’s boss’s boss.
"Have they told you why I'm calling?", she asked.
"No," I replied and wondered if pink slips really are pink.
"Good" she said, "I will tell you myself." she said. There was a hint of surprise in her voice. She thought I would have been given a heads-up.
In my role, I wasn’t used to or prepared for good news when a senior executive called so I was still wondering what I had done wrong to deserve a personal call on my cell phone from the BIG CEO. While waiting for her to continue I was planning to defend myself against any allegation that somehow I should have defused the Ukraine / Russia thing that was hurting our business in Kyiv, or stopped what might be the next coup in Libya because coups are never good for business either.
My history with calls from CEOs was long and not always positive.
When Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1991, my boss wanted to fire me because we didn’t have a plan for what to do if a foreign army invaded and took over a hotel.
"I'm really really happy to be the one that informs you that you have been selected to receive the highest award that is given to any individual in Carlson - The Carlson Fellowship Award!"
I picked my jaw up off the floor and said thank you. The rest is a blur.
Every year, someone from our company was selected to become a Carlson Fellow. It was a huge deal. Winners were celebrated and there were interviews and write-ups in our internal magazine.
The official ceremony was held June 23, 2014, in Minneapolis. This article is published on my tenth anniversary as a fellow.
When big American companies put on big award shows, you could be forgiven for thinking you’d won an Oscar.
From lunch with senior leadership and other award winners at the Founder’s house on the family compound, to an afternoon ceremony honouring other nominees, to the grand ceremony for the award winners, everything was top-notch.
As the Board Chair and the CEO took turns introducing the winners from each subsidiary, they began with a quote from someone famous.
Maya Angelou
John F. Kennedy
Martin Luther King
There was no famous quote for me. The Board Chair recited lines from a poem I had written in a year-end greeting sent to colleagues, counterparts, competitors, friends, and family members.
As I arrived on the stage, the Chair hugged me and whispered into my ear,
“I’m so happy I met you in the elevator earlier so I knew who you were.”
A tribute video colleagues and company leaders contributed to was played.
In my acceptance speech, I did my best to honour the real heroes in our company; The hotel teams that continued to fly our flag through sometimes unimaginable hardships.
Back in Brussels, I went straight from the airport to an already-in-progress meeting of Area Vice Presidents. They clapped when I arrived late. From then on, it was back to business.
In July, a Malaysian Airlines plane was shot down by pro-Russia forces near Donetsk in Ukraine. The black boxes were handed over at our hotel.
In August we had to have foreign staff evacuated from Tripoli as unrest continued. Our hotels continued to operate despite the overwhelming challenges.
As I said, back to business as usual.
Today, the Carlson Fellow statue stands proudly on display in our home and the memories from the ceremony will last forever.
*Carlson Fellow Award, Carlson’s highest honour, is a career achievement award that is especially meaningful as it recognizes those who have produced great results for the company, shown true leadership and dedication, and exemplified Carlson’s values throughout their careers.
Stay safe, Always Care
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