Leading From The C-Suite: Amanda Joiner Of The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center On Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective C-Suite Executive

As part of our series called “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective C-Suite Executive,” we had the pleasure of interviewing Amanda Joiner.

Amanda Joiner leads The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center (TRCLC), a global consulting and advisory firm dedicated to helping organizations create exceptional employee and customer experiences by leveraging the best practices of The Ritz-Carlton Brand. She brings a convincing perspective on creating a culture of excellence through example-setting leadership. Her insights on iconic customer service are relevant to all industries.

A quintessential ambassador for The Ritz-Carlton brand, Amanda has more than 30 years of hospitality experience in the luxury tier. Her proven record of delivering results to stakeholders throughout her career spans leadership roles across hotel operations and sales and marketing, at and above property for The Ritz-Carlton.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

My career began in the hotel industry, but it was not until I joined The Ritz-Carlton that my career came to life. I can close my eyes and remember the feeling I had on my first day of orientation at The Ritz-Carlton. Wow…this is what exceptional is. This is what I want to do, be, live and fulfill. Today my team and I are focused on helping organizations transform their culture through The Ritz-Carlton Leadership Center (TRCLC), the dynamic firm that is an extension of The Ritz-Carlton Brand.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

There are many but one that stays with me happened on the second day of work at The Ritz-Carlton. On this day, each new employee is expected report to orientation and recite our Credo from memory. I practiced for hours the night before. This was a rite of passage that communicated the level of care I had for this organization. I remember standing in front of the room and saying these three sentences:

1. The Ritz-Carlton is a place where the genuine care and comfort of our guests is our highest mission.
2. We pledge to provide the finest personal service and facilities for our guests who will always enjoy a warm relaxed yet refined ambience.
3. The Ritz-Carlton experience enlivens the senses, instills well-being and fulfills even the unexpressed wishes and needs of our guests.

Exhale — I did it! This was more than reciting. I owned these statements. This illustrates how The Ritz-Carlton creates its culture and why it is so important for C-suite leaders take organizational culture seriously.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

“Excellence is never an accident; it is the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction, skillful execution, and the vision to see obstacles as opportunities.”

Attributed to Aristotle, this quote embodies the success of one of the world’s most iconic brands: The Ritz-Carlton. I’ve had the privilege to work for The Ritz-Carlton for the last 31 years, and doing so has changed me as a human being. The philosophies and methodologies of the Gold Standards — The Ritz-Carlton’s mission, vision and values — created a leadership roadmap of excellence that continues to inspire me. On day one I understood the mission of our company and what was expected of me. I knew that the company valued me and trusted me. I was with an organization of like-minded individuals that wanted to be excellent.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on your leadership style? Can you share a story or an example of that?

I would recommend “The New Gold Standard” by Joseph A. Michelli. My in-the-trenches, front-row-seat observations of the leaders that I worked for are represented in the pages of this book. I have had the privilege to work for the most strategic leaders who lived the culture of our organization and embodied the behaviors they expected from everyone each and every day. They fulfilled the highest mission of our organization, our Credo, in all interactions. They led with intention and with the highest levels of integrity. And most importantly, they genuinely cared about the people that worked for them. I will be forever grateful to having witnessed great leadership in action from those who expected excellence, inspired excellence, and held themselves accountable to be excellent.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

At The Ritz-Carlton, our employees, the Ladies and Gentlemen, are the most important resource in our service commitment to our guests. We believe they are the finest service professionals serving the most discerning of guests. We trust and empower them to create guests for life as The Ritz-Carlton is only successful when we have fully engaged guests that can’t imagine a world without us. The indelible marks that our employees have left on our guests continue to inspire me:

• The security officer that parked a guest’s car on the loading dock, under security cameras surrounded by orange cautionary cones, took a selfie and texted the guest so that they could relax and know that their prized possession was safely guarded from any damage.
• The banquet server who urgently prepared chilled face towels and water for a bride and groom walking inside after taking photos in the 95 degree heat to ensure they were stunning for their first dance.
• The housekeeper who, after two days of engaging with a guest that was ill and did not want medical attention, insisted that the guest allow them to call for medical care and the guest’s life was saved after a ruptured appendix.
• The club concierge that arranged a memorable movie night for a child recovering from surgery while simultaneously having a chef serve a specially prepared 15th wedding anniversary dinner for the parents.

Magic!

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

Be passionate, listen, and exemplify the behaviors we want in our organization.

I had the great privilege to be appointed General Manager of a hotel with unfulfilled potential. There were exemplary leaders and employees seeded across the organization who needed a pathway to unlock their capabilities. By being passionate about the guests we served, listening to the smartest people in the room (the employees), and role-modeling the culture of our organization, we achieved unparalleled levels of performance excellence. Guest, employee, and financial metrics reached historic levels across the balanced score card. It was fun to go to work.

Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader?

The devasting impacts from COVID never seemed to stop in 2021. Laying off 95% of my employees was beyond difficult and negligible business volume created ongoing uncertainty. For those of us who continued to report to work, we carried the weight of our missing colleagues who were on longer beside us.

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Most of our readers — in fact, most people — think they have a pretty good idea of what a C-Suite executive does. But in just a few words can you explain what a C-Level executive does that is different from the responsibilities of other leaders?

The highest priority of a C-Level executive is to be the guardian of the company’s culture every day. This includes creating, fulfilling and embodying the mission, vision and values of the organization.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about being a C-Suite executive? Can you explain what you mean?

If leaders want excellence in their organization and they want employees to take care of their customers, they must understand the employees’ work environment. What are the working conditions, and what supplies and resources are challenging? Are processes efficient to take care of your customers? Is your training program the best-in-class? What barriers stand in the way of your employees fulfilling your customers’ expressed and unexpressed wishes and needs?

What are the most common leadership mistakes you have seen C-Suite leaders make when they start leading a new team? What can be done to avoid those errors?

Not listening to employees and forgetting to dedicate time to recognize employees for the behaviors that you seek in your organization. Recognizing the behaviors you want gets you more of those behaviors.

In your experience, which aspect of running a company tends to be most underestimated? Can you explain or give an example?

Ensuring that all employees — no matter their position — understand the mission of the organization and how they directly impact its success. Only when employees understand their purpose can they be motivated to fulfill it. They are telling the organization’s brand story to all customers, internal and external, that they serve.

What are your “Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective C-Suite Executive”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

1. Be a Brand Guardian. Embody the mission, vision and values of your organization and use them as the guideposts for all your decisions.
2. Prioritize culture. Never miss an opportunity enliven and reinforce your company culture in all of your words and actions.
3. Lead with compassion with accountability. Know your employees by name. Coach in a way that celebrates effort. Seek to understand. Hold all employees accountable to their responsibilities.
4. Empower your teams. Remove barriers and give your employees the authority to create memorable experiences for your customers. Educate your employees and provide them with tools and resources.
5. Have a defined recognition strategy. Define the behaviors you want emulated and reward this behavior. Ensure recognition is specific and personalized. Say thank you often.

In your opinion, what are a few ways that executives can help to create a fantastic work culture? Can you share a story or an example?

No matter the leader, we never recognize enough. To ensure that recognition is meaningful and impactful, it must be for a specific reason or action. At The Ritz-Carlton, we enable all employees in the organization to recognize and celebrate the actions of other employees through FIRST CLASS cards. This simple, branded, inexpensive card is the most coveted and cherished badge of honor within our organization. The strategy is about enabling employees to celebrate the excellence of other employees. Handwritten, personalized moments of recognition create an environment for celebrating success.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

Stop multi-tasking. Put down your phone and listen to the world around you.

How can our readers further follow you online?

Follow our innovations and see my thoughts on leadership on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-ritz-carlton-leadership-center

Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!