An amazing setting, an unparalleled destination, a "5 Star" experience...yet, one of the most challenging environments to create internal balance and consistency of leadership.
In my experience with varying levels of resort or lodge environment throughout Southern Africa, there seems to be very few that are able to achieve a consistently high retention of quality and service-driven leaders on the ground.
Passion is a quality that is sought-after to a greater or lesser degree in any recruit throughout the hospitality industry, but very little attention is given to the "back-of-house' or less obvious passion of a potential leader for the growth and development of their teams. How high does L&D, coaching and growth of their subordinates sit on their priority list? And is this established at any stage during an interview or probationary period?
Richard Branson famously said, "Take care of your employees and they will take care of your business. It's as simple as that." To look at a leadership candidate and scratch beyond Branson's advice- would one not be better off first understanding to what degree the potential leader is actively engaged in his/her own development, and critically, to what degree do they actively encourage and actively participate in driving individual growth/mentorship/coaching of their individual team members?