These joint CEOs have lessons for you about leading together

July 02, 2024 | Read Online

Dynamic Duo: The Joint CEO Success Story of Dorchester Collection

with Helen Smith and Eugenio Pirri, Dorchester Collection

Josiah Mackenzie

Together with

For the past year, Helen Smith and Eugenio Pirri have been operating from the unique arrangement as joint CEOs of Dorchester Collection. This company oversees legendary hotels such as The Dorchester in London, Hôtel Plaza Athénée in Paris, Hotel Eden in Rome, and the Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air in California. Keep reading to learn more about this unique arrangement - and what they’ve learned about sharing responsibilities and leading together that you can take into your role and business - wherever that is.

TOGETHER WITH REVENUE ANALYTICS

Picture it: an RMS built specifically for the unique needs of above-property revenue management teams. Easy to say – harder to imagine. So let us walk you through it. In this guide, you’ll experience a realistic day as a revenue manager using N2Pricing by Revenue Analytics, including prioritizing revenue opportunities with ease, managing pricing across your entire portfolio all in one place, and reclaiming your time and making space for strategic initiatives. Experience a day in the life and walk away understanding how much easier things could be for you and your team!

Experience a Day in the Life

The Joint CEO Success Story of Dorchester Collection

Credit: Luxury Briefing

Helen Smith and Eugenio Pirri have been operating as joint CEOs of the Dorchester Collection for the past year, creating a highly effective leadership arrangement. You can listen to us here on the podcast , and their success is rooted in several key practices that all of us can learn from:

Clear Division of Responsibilities: Helen and Eugenio strategically divided their responsibilities based on their strengths and experiences. Helen, with her background in sales, marketing, and branding, focuses on future vision and brand development. Eugenio, having extensive experience in people, culture, and operations, ensures operational excellence and a superior guest experience.

❝

It seemed the right thing to do to play to our strengths.

Helen Smith

This allows them to leverage their unique skills effectively while working towards common goals.

Strong Communication and Collaboration: The duo emphasizes the importance of daily communication. Their offices are next to each other, enabling constant interaction. They communicate consistently through daily face-to-face interactions, WhatsApp messages, and monthly calls with general managers. This helps align their efforts and ensures they support and challenge each other, enabling a collaborative environment.

❝

It's really important to communicate what we're doing so that we can support each other, but also challenge each other.

Eugenio Pirri

Frequent Visits to Properties: Helen and Eugenio visit all Dorchester Collection hotels four times a year together. These visits include back-of-house tours and conversations with front-line staff, demonstrating their involvement and commitment to the hospitality they provide. This hands-on approach boosts team morale and ensures they remain connected to the operational realities and challenges of their properties.

“We've just finished one of those circuits. Is this effective? We were in the lobby of one of the hotels just before we were leaving, and the chief engineer came up and said, ‘I cannot tell you how beneficial it is when you visit, how excited the team was before you arrived. and how because you go back of house, shake hands, chat to everyone they really feel that you're involved in their work.’”

Helen Smith

Unified Vision and Goals: From the outset, Helen and Eugenio established a shared vision and goals for their roles. They focus on strong communication and collaboration with their hotels to achieve desired results.. Their alignment on what they aim to accomplish as joint CEOs has been crucial in maintaining a unified direction for the company.

❝

Challenges happen every single day, but if you're aligned in what you're trying to achieve and that's very clearly articulated, that helps you get to where you need to get.

Eugenio Pirri

Mutual Support and Trust: The joint CEO arrangement allows Helen and Eugenio to support each other, especially during challenging times. Eugenio mentioned the benefit of having someone to "bounce ideas off of" and share the pressure of leadership.. Their mutual trust and vested interest in the company's success create a solid foundation for their partnership.

"Before beginning we talked about what we want to be known for in our roles. And top of the list was definitely strong communication and working with the hotels to achieve the desired results."

Eugenio Pirri

Takeaway

Effective joint leadership requires clear role definitions, consistent communication, and a unified vision.

Put this in action:

Define Roles Clearly: Identify the strengths of each leader and assign responsibilities accordingly to maximize efficiency.
Establish Regular Communication: Set up daily check-ins, use technology and messaging for quick updates, and schedule regular meetings to ensure alignment.
Engage with Teams Frequently: Visit each of your properties regularly and interact with your teams there to stay connected with what’s going on and boost team morale.
Support Each Other: Build a trusting relationship where leaders can share challenges, bounce ideas off each other, and provide mutual support.

Listen to my full conversation with Helen and Eugenio today on the Hospitality Daily Podcast

More for you

If you enjoyed this, you may also enjoy:

Decisions drive culture - Eugenio Pirri, Dorchester Collection

Eugenio Pirri is joint CEO at Dorchester Collection. Today, he shares why he’s focused on culture - and what creates culture. Follow Eugenio on LinkedIn Learn more a…

podcast.hospitalitydaily.com/decisions-drive-culture

Longevity through Legacy: How I Lead Thousands at the World's Longest-Running Forbes Five-Star & AAA Five-Diamond Resort - Ann Alba, The Broadmoor

The Broadmoor is the world's longest-running Forbes Five-Star & AAA Five-Diamond resort. In this episode, Ann Alba, Vice President and Resident Manager at The Broad…

podcast.hospitalitydaily..com/ann-alba-broadmoor

And that’s a wrap! If you found it helpful, I’d be very grateful if you could forward it to a friend or colleague who might also enjoy it.

Click here to forward this email.

(Or, if it’s your first time reading this, you can subscribe here.)

A few final things:

If you have any thoughts, ideas, questions, or suggestions for Hospitality Daily, please reply to this email. I’d love to hear from you.
If you’d like a private community where you can discuss things like this and ask other hotel operators and investors questions that you can’t just Google or ask ChatGPT, the Hospitality Daily Huddle might be a good fit.
If you have a product or service that would benefit the hospitality professionals who read, listen to, and watch Hospitality Daily, let’s work together to help you help more people.

Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you here tomorrow.

-Josiah

Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here

228 Park Ave S, #29976, New York, New York 10003, United States