Lead with Core Values in Uncertain Times

Late last year, as the market delivered the first blow of this unimaginable economic battle, leaders everywhere started having to answer tough questions from their staff. What does this mean? Will we lose our jobs? Will the company survive?

In times of uncertainty and fear, people look up the ladder to find answers.

Leaders need to dig deep and inspire hope in others, even when it's in short supply for them personally. I'm going to dedicate one article per quarter to what I'm calling the "Leaders in Action" series--real-life stories about how a leader is providing hope in her organization. Hearing from others can give us ideas and foster a sense of community among those of us in a job that often feels solitary.

For this first article, I interviewed Niki Leondakis, COO of San Francisco-based Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants, which operates luxury boutique hotels throughout the U.S. and Canada. The hospitality industry has been widely seen as being at the epicenter of the downturn, and I looked to Leondakis to provide ideas on how she keeps her team of 6,500 employees at 41 properties focused and positive. In particular, Kimpton is known for its unique employee-focused culture that Leondakis works hard to preserve in good times and bad.

What's your leadership style?
I'm hands-on. I believe in being with the people who are making it happen every day for our customers. I get my information through involvement, and hearing their perspective and feedback. My style is based on honesty and compassion. I believe in telling the truth and being authentic and genuine. People need to know what to expect from a leader and trust in you to tell them what's going on.

Every year I travel the country with one of our senior leaders, visit every hotel and restaurant and talk to all of the employees. We call it the The Kimpton Road Show. It's like painting the Golden Gate Bridge--by the time we're done, we've started the next schedule of tours around the country. I use this to update and reinforce our culture and values. It has an invaluable impact for employees to be heard and shown they are cared for and communicated with.

How are you confronting the economic downturn?
First, I try to model by example. I use all forms of communication to let people know what's happening with the company and to discuss our plans to deal with the downturn. Late last fall, when the economists began talking about us progressing into a full recession, we scheduled an all-manager conference call throughout the company. I addressed the issue head-on and tried to model the behavior I wanted our VPs to emulate and repeat throughout all levels of the company. I also write a regular article in our newsletters to management and front-line employees.

How do you address the overall mood out there?
There is anxiety, and you have to acknowledge that. Don't pretend that it's business as usual. People in the front lines are doing more with less. I received a lot of thanks for acknowledging that this was the most difficult budgeting season I had ever experienced.

People need to see you and to hear from you more. Don't ever assume that people know what you're doing. A lot of the work force has never experienced a downturn.

We ensure that people understand that this is what is happening in the industry, and we're all in this together.

People want certainty in the midst of so much uncertainty. How do you handle that as a leader?
I tell the truth. When the economy is uncertain you just can't answer all the questions you're asked with absolute certainty. I acknowledge the unknown but can say with absolute certainty no matter what happens we will not lose our integrity or compromise our culture or change who we are. We will do what we need to survive from a business perspective, but we'll do it with compassion.

Talk about how your corporate culture impacts your decisions.
We made a commitment to continue key meetings or conferences where we speak to, motivate and inspire employees. We reduced the bells and whistles, but we didn't cancel them. I spoke to the general managers [and] I challenged them to use this opportunity to create their defining moments as leaders.

We kicked off the meeting with a celebration. You have to celebrate the wins. We celebrated Kimpton being featured in Fortune's top places to work. We're not losing our core values of caring for each other and having a good time. We put on a comedic performance by all of our senior executives to make employees laugh.

Sounds like you use humor strategically. Tell us more.  
Humor breaks the ice and relaxes everybody. It levels the playing field. People can get intimidated by authority or stressful situations and block up. We use humor to relax people, to get them out of fear mode, and to counteract some of the baggage people bring from other cultures where fear and intimidation were used to influence behavior. We manage through inspiration, motivation and integrity. We do things because they are the right things to do.

Describe some specific programs you're using to keep the company moving ahead and positive.
When we realized revenue wasn't going to be what we'd been experiencing, we involved everyone in the solutions. Everybody was asked to brainstorm where to reduce costs. By engaging everyone, it's easier to swallow when the decisions are made.

We've organized calls with 401(k) advisors so employees can alleviate their market risk and get questions answered. We also changed our health-care provider to get better benefits at a reduced cost.

We have done a number of things to communicate that while we're in survival mode, it's important to take care of yourself first. It's you first, family second, job third. Make sure you're eating, sleeping and exercising. To hear this message from the business leader went a long way with our team. We rolled out a stress management self-care workshop in December.

We were concerned that we would lose the focus on customer care with all the stress people were going through. We rolled out a contest for our front-line employees to award the best Kimpton moment as judged by our guests. The winner will receive the fulfillment of a dream come true, like going back to Vietnam to see a grandparent or renovating part of their home, up to a value of $10,000.

What changes have you refused to allow?
Even though we're under stress, there are people in need more than we are. Kimpton has a longstanding commitment to social responsibility. We've maintained our commitments while other companies are cutting and continue to provide opportunities for employees to support and get involved. We support The Trust for Public Land, Dress for Success and the Red Ribbon Campaign. We continue to expand our environmental program as well.

How can a company create hope for people?
Companies create hope by celebrating accomplishments. There are always wins along the way--maintaining a customer account, achieving a threshold of profitability or any kind of recognition. Celebrating wins gives people hope that we're still fighting and will survive.

You can provide hope by giving some history. After 9/11, we were hit by both the travel and technology industry downturns, and our founder died. We had a really tough year then. I remind people that we've survived and thrived through tougher times than this, and we can do it again.

Any last piece of advice for our readers?
No matter how stressed you are, deal with it privately. Maintain a positive attitude, and it will come through in your communications and body language. If you allow yourself to focus on the negative and spiral into self-pity or fear, do whatever you have to do as a business owner to get your frame of mind positive and focused on what you can control.