Page 132 - The New Gold Standard

PRINCIPLE 2: EMPOWER THROUGH TRUST
touch points every day. If you think about a hotel with 300
rooms, no manager can work long enough or hard enough to
follow along behind his or her people to make sure everything
goes right in every guest interaction. To be successful at our level
in this business, it takes everyone on the staff having the skills,
training, confidence, and above all else, the faith of their leader-
ship to fully and consistently step into creative-problem-solving
mode when things go awry.”

STRIKING GOLD

D How does leadership in your organization take a genuine in-
terest in the lives and ideas of your frontline employees?

D What can you do to help your employees automatically re-
spond to the needs of customers without seeking higher-
level approval?

C The Results of Trust D

For those skeptical of the wisdom of entrusting frontline work-
ers so unconditionally, leadership at Ritz-Carlton is convinced
that believing in their Ladies and Gentlemen releases greatness,
while negativity and distrust shrink morale and service impact.
The ultimate test of this leadership approach of “empower
through trust” lives in the outcomes the approach affords guests
and in the pride it instills in the Ladies and Gentlemen. While
Principle 4 in this book will offer a comprehensive examination
of the Ritz-Carlton Wow experience, the following examples
share what can be created in a work environment of mutual trust
and respect.
Subtle benefits of “empower through trust” can be found in
the actions of staff members such as Emnet Andu, a server at the
downtown Atlanta hotel, who cites an example. “A lady sat at

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