Recently I had the opportunity to speak to a large local High School hospitality class that was touring the Marriott Courtyard at LaGuardia in Queens.    This had come on my plate last minute with no time and no plan in place.  When I looked back, I can say it was definitely an experience – – a very interesting and insightful experience.

With my stomach in my throat, I grabbed a pen and a napkin and jotted down some talking points.  Before I knew it, someone was grabbing me by the arm and dragging me down the hall.  I was not ready but it was my time to perform.  I walked into a packed meeting room, which was hot in addition to being humid.  The room had that gym locker room smell.   Pubescent faces gave me that look that can strike fear into any speaker’s heart…”so impress me Big Man!”

I started off with the typical, “Hi my name is…”  Not one blink from the audience indicating that anyone cared.  So I buried my face in the napkin.   After five minutes, I could see that my audience was not engaged.   I was failing….fast.  So I stopped, pulled up a seat, sat down and asked what I would have wanted someone to ask when I was sixteen. “What do you guys want to know?  Ask me anything.”

What took place over the next twenty minutes was a barrage of questions.  I got everything from “Why did you pick to work in a Hotel” to “How do you become a General Manager?”   The room buzzed with energy.  Everyone was engaged in their own process of learning.  We were partners at this point.

So – – are you wondering why the title of this blog is “When Disaster Strikes?”  Well – anyone who has been thrown to a pack of teenagers would understand the title.  I was definitely heading for “disaster” with napkin notes as my guide.  But when my senses took over and I looked through their eyes – I found, not only my way out; but, I found true success.

It is the same Journey behavior –‘looking through the eyes of those we serve’ that we faced a real and recent disaster in one of our properties.   A sprinkler pipe broke.  Hundreds of gallons of water pored through five floors of occupied guestrooms.

Since our associates didn’t just execute a protocol, we found success.  They followed a safety process but, in addition, used their heads and their hearts thinking, “How would I want to be treated?  What would be important to me?”  And then they used Journey behaviors to produce guest experiences like this one:

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Dear Mr. O’Brien,

I wanted to write you regarding our stay at your Courtyard hotel last weekend. It was a difficult weekend for us, as we were in town for my grandmother’s funeral. The first evening we were touched to return to our room and find a condolence card from the staff. It was a very thoughtful gesture and was definitely appreciated.  The second evening was the night the water pipe broke. We returned to our room late in the day and were very exhausted from the funeral as you may imagine. As we were sitting there reflecting on the day the fire alarms started. Then we saw water begin to leak from our ceiling. The deluge from the sprinkler began. We happened to be staying in Room 401, the room directly below the pipe that burst. In a matter of minutes our room quickly became flooded. I’m sure that you’re aware of the nights events and don’t need me to recreate them. However, I would like you to know how wonderful your staff was to us. I believe it’s safe to say that they had never encountered such a situation before. When I ran down to the lobby to tell them what was happening they responded immediately. I can’t even remember how many people ran into our room to help us remove all of our possessions. We threw everything into the hall, and there were other staff members who grabbed everything from there and moved it further down the hall. Your staff also helped us move everything to our car to keep it dry. This was no easy feat in the chaos that ensued- not to mention the fact that our belongings were not packed.

We also had a wonderful man who was one of the bartenders who found us a seat in the lobby, got us a drink to calm our nerves, and who repeatedly checked on an alternative room for us. He even guarded the men’s restroom for me so I could change out of my soaking wet clothes. Many, many people were not very nice to your staff members- yelling and demanding things. I thought you should hear from someone how wonderful they really were. It didn’t really hit me until we returned home and were unpacking- but some of the things that their kindness & quick thinking saved that evening were my grandmother’s family bible and priceless family photos from almost 90 years ago. My ruined shoes can be replaced but if we lost those items I would be truly devastated.

Please pass our thanks to everyone that helped us that evening, and please feel free to share this note with corporate management. I really feel that your staff’s actions need to be recognized.

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The answers to our questions of ‘what to do’ are not always clear.  But we cannot fail when we merge our heads and hearts together and look for success by emphatically serving others.

Please share stories with us about how you have been successful looking through the eyes of those you serve.  I would love to share your stories.