When Mark Hoplamazian was appointed CEO of Hyatt Hotels in 2006, he soon realized his defacto leadership style was incompatible with the culture of a hospitality chain. Having built a career in private equity and investing, including as president of The Pritzker Organization up until his appointment as Hyatt President and CEO in December of 2006, he had grown accustomed to the utilitarian, high-pressure, and frosty work environment that’s emblematic of the finance industry. He quickly learned that this corporate atmosphere and corresponding governance approach didn’t jibe with that of the hospitality giant.
Speaking with Fortune Executive Exchange, Hoplamazian said both the company and his management style had evolved considerably over his nearly two-decade reign at Hyatt, the $16 billion hotel chain employing more than 50,000 employees across 78 countries. Working in finance, he had limited patience for workplace diversions or small talk with staffers. But the hospitality industry is different; it’s people-facing, warmer, and incredibly contingent on customer and employee satisfaction. This change in industry expectations necessitated a rewiring of how he managed and influenced his staffers, as well as how he related to the end-user: guests.
As a relatively new entrant to hospitality at the time, Hoplamazian said he learned that there’s no such thing as a stupid question and that sincerity brings out authenticity and kindness in others.
“I really didn’t know the underlying business. I had put the company together, so I could tell you everything about the legal structure, financial structure, tax structure, anything about the mechanics,” he said. “But I could tell you nothing about what it was like to operate a hotel [or] what you do in relation to guests’ experience. Ignorance was actually my big superpower.”
Hoplamazian said his earnestness to learn more and transparency about his shortcomings incited those around him to champion him as a leader and help him hit his stride. “I got a lot of people saying, ‘Wow, this guy really doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing. We’ve got to help him.’ So I learned a lot very quickly.”
Empathy is a cornerstone of Hoplamazian’s current leadership style. He emphasizes listening to understand—whether it’s employees or hotel guests—rather than to form follow-up responses, which can cloud his focus on what’s said. “That practice of empathy, the extra three minutes that it takes, makes all the difference in the world.”
Having this emotional capacity is a trait he seeks in a future successor, along with a growth mindset. “You have to have someone who’s really thinking broadly and thinking forward,” he said. Adaptability and a willingness to swiftly adjust and pivot are also vital leadership skills he seeks. Hoplamazian points to Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and General Electric’s Larry Culp as exemplars of CEOs who embody these characteristics. “Satya Nadella really did honestly transform Microsoft from a know-it-all to learn-it-all culture,” he said. “[Nadella] talked about growth mindset extensively when he first started, and he meant it, and he executed against that. And I think that’s in part why you see a Microsoft that’s reinvigorated in a completely new way.”
And because Hoplamazian values adaptability, he pushed back on the notion that great leaders should always have contingency plans for worst-case scenarios. Uncontrollable forces like recessions and pandemics are a part of life, and for him, time spent bracing for unforeseen crises is time wasted.
“I don’t believe in seeing around corners,” he said. “I spend no time trying to map out a plan. I spend all of my time trying to build capability within the company to be agile and to be able to respond no matter what happens because we can’t predict what’s going to happen. Not one person has a plan that they could pull off the shelf.”
He added: “Spend less time trying to do scenario planning and spend more time doing capability building.”
