The One With all the Keys

When you start in the hotel industry, you're typically issued keys that will give you access to do your job. Often, it's a key card with an RFID chip that you tap directly onto a lock, and the door will open so you can get in and out. These cards are very similar to those you get when you check into a hotel but will usually have a different color to make it easy to see which one is for team members quickly. For example, you may have seen a housekeeper working on a floor using a card to open a room to do the cleaning or a bell attendant using it to open a storage room door. When their shift is over, hotel staff will return the cards, record them in a security logbook, and head home.

As you progress in leadership, your key cards are granted additional levels of access to the property. When you become a hotel General Manager, technically, you're the one who can open every door on site. I love that feeling. You can walk up to any entry, tap your card on the lock, and boom! The door opens. Nothing can stop you! Unless, of course, the lock's battery has died, in which case, you slam your face into the door because you expected the door to open. I've done it—many times.

On a different level, the privilege of being a leader in hospitality is that you get to be that person who opens doors for others. So for the mom that saved up all year to take her family on a trip to the city, you can help open the doors to a great experience. For the new Canadian trying to start a new life, you get to help unlock the possibilities for them and their family. For the young person trying to find their way, a leader can help them see their own potential

Some leaders only use the opportunity they have to advance their careers. Hospitality continues to teach me that it's much more satisfying being the person who opens doors for others.

One of the many great pieces of art in the Kinnaird Ravine here in Edmonton