That old adage, “Do what you love and the money will follow,” really is good advice. The problem, of course, is knowing what it is that you love.
In the late 70’s, when I was a young manager, I mistakenly hired my closest friend to be a part of the concierge team. While she is an exquisite person, truth be told she was a lousy concierge. In other words, she wasn’t fabulous with the aspect of front line service that requires willingly serving people with bad manners. During her tenure at the concierge desk, we had a citywide hotel strike—500 employees walked out the door and the 70 managers that were left to operate a very full 750-room hotel had to pick up the slack. I ended up working the concierge desk alone for 14 hrs a day, all the time being serenaded by a cacophony of banging pots and pans and strikers screaming “Local Two on strike.” My friend was assigned to the kitchen. She worked day and night to service our guests and if I tell you it looked as if she had swallowed a light bulb, I would not be exaggerating. She was literally glowing with pride and enthusiasm.
After the strike was over, I asked if Diana could be transferred to the kitchen. The General Manager replied, “If she didn’t do a good job in one place, we won’t transfer her to another.“ Not only was that a ridiculous decision, he was also exhibiting a lack of insight into people’s character and potential. So, I had to fire my best friend rather than help her get transferred to a place where she would be happy and make a contribution. Amazingly, we are still close friends. After she was forced to leave the hotel, she went to culinary school and became a very successful Chef. All is well that ends well, I suppose, but the real message to managers is to place people where their hearts are and watch them grow and glow.