Mike 
One of my recent trips included nights at two different hotels in two different cities, and two similar lessons in the importance of paying attention to details. At the first hotel, I was about to step into the shower when I realized that there weren’t any washcloths. I had plenty of bath towels, but the housekeeping crew apparently forgot to restock the other towels. The omission was a bigger problem at the second hotel, where I realized that the shower rod was bare – no shower curtain. In both cases, it was too late for me to do something about the missing elements, so I just had to make the best of it.
Each incident was just a minor inconvenience. They didn’t affect the rest of my day, and they wouldn’t keep me from returning to either of these hotels. But that’s not always the case. Sometimes a lack of attention to details causes major problems. It can derail a major event or frustrate guests to the point that they don’t return or stir up major dissatisfaction among staff members.
So let me suggest two important leadership lessons that came to mind in the shower:
- It’s fine to be a visionary leader. But you need a strong second chair with an eye for details and the authority to address them. Telling a big picture person to pay attention to details is like asking a leopard to change its spots. It just won’t happen. Instead, that visionary leader needs to find and empower one or more people with complementary gifts. Don’t view them as threats because they shine in areas where you are weak. Treat them as the valuable parts of the body that they are.
- If you are leading others (staff or volunteers), create a culture where everyone knows that the details matter. This requires training and communication and keeping these valued workers engaged. My experiences may have been random mistakes, but I wonder if they indicated poor training or bad morale among the staff. The people on the “front lines” are the ones who make the difference between great and mediocre experiences.
