Minneapolis Life: Leadership Lessons from Laos

Recently, my wife Lori and I visited the country of Laos. We spent our entire time in Luang Prabang, a beautiful part of the country situated along the Mekong River. We had the opportunity to see temples and nature, enjoy local food and take in the culture. We stayed at a great place that had some of the best guest service I have ever experienced. In general, the service throughout the town was good and people were nice, but the Mekong River View Inn staff were outstanding and did not compare to any other place we had ever stayed, anywhere. On our last day I had a chance to speak with the owner of the Inn, a Swedish national, who was a lifetime hotel industry expert. He had worked in the hotel business in France, started his own in Sweden and now built and is growing a beautiful guest house in Laos. I asked him what his secret was to have such an amazing group of people working for him; so happy, energetic, genuine, committed and effective. He listed six points in a subtle, natural, yet crystal clear way:

1. Trust: Trust people. They may lose it, but you must always start with trust.

2. Responsibility: Let your staff make decisions. Give them power to make their own choice and stand behind them in that decision.

3. Mistakes: Let them know it is OK to make mistakes. "If I make mistakes, they should be able to make mistakes. It’s how we learn. If we aren’t making mistakes, we were are not trying hard enough!"

4. Respect: Treat people with respect.

5. Mission: “Always do right to the guest” Having a simple and clear mission allows everyone to work together and strive towards a common goal, it is critical.

6. Skills/Development: Cross train your staff to be able to take on more, do more, help each other, get the job done, all towards creating a great experience for the guest.

When asked how this approach differs from other leadership styles in Asia, he shared his perspective and mentioned, “If a leader is not telling their team what to do, they think they are not ‘leading’". In addition to his point, I believe many leaders do not embrace, practice or understand the importance of the list outlined above. The thoughts he shared were not scripted, they came from deep within and were casually shared off the top of his head as he stopped by our table at breakfast to say 'hi', see how our stay was going and answer my question. It was evident that these qualities were simply ingrained in his managerial style. Needless to say I was impressed and learned something from a very wise and successful person. You can read books, articles or watch videos, but nothing beats seeing first hand, the intangible spark of a great leader and the positive impact they make on those around them.