Inspiring Leadership - A conversation with John Caparella

Hi Chuck,

I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed your interview with John. I listened to it yesterday and again today. The way he goes about solving problems certainly indicates he is very smart. However, many leaders and managers are very smart. So that isn’t the quality in my mind that separates him from many others.

For me, John’s distinguishing quality is his great ability to emotionally connect with others. Here are three examples of how it was demonstrated in your interview with him:

The first example was when he felt someone's eyes on his back at a convention in his hotel. He turned around and realized that this was his doorman from a property 20 years ago. They gave each other a big, hearty hug.

The second example was with the names tags. As was custom in the hotel before he became a manager there, the managers had their first and last names on the name tags. All the line workers had only their first names. He immediately had his name tag changed to John. When asked by the line workers why he did this, the answer was wonderful…“We are all team members with different roles.” Actions like this caused the working environment in his new property to become more egalitarian.

The third example, Chuck, came from something you told me many years ago when we were traveling to San Jose. You asked me this question, “What do people most want to feel when entering a hotel as a guest?” The answer is the same now as it was then: welcome, comfortable & important. John realizes that in order for guests to feel this way, the staff must feel this way first. It is the Reciprocity Rule at work.

I suggest that you & John write a book based on the interview. There was more wisdom if the 56 minute interview than I have read in most books on business.

On another note Chuck, next Wednesday you’ll be interviewing the founders of Emotional Intelligence. I would appreciate it if you would ask the following question. It is based on their definition of Emotional Intelligence: the ability to identify, use, understand and manage emotions in self and others.
"What would they cite as the strong and weak areas for Barack Obama and Mitt Romney?”
For me, both the President and the challenger seem to come out of T.S. Elliot’s poem, The Hollow Men. With both men, the motions are there and the components of life are in place but they lack the vigor that one craves. In my mind, this is a very apt description as to why so many people are dissatisfied with both candidates.