Leading From The C-Suite: Hilton’s Chris Silcock 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 Chris Silcock, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for Hilton.

Chris Silcock is Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer for Hilton. He leads the company’s global Commercial team including technology, sales, revenue management, distribution, enterprise data and analytics, marketing, and customer engagement, loyalty & partnerships.

Mr. Silcock has over 20 years of experience with Hilton and can be credited with leading the company’s global sales modernization process, and transitioning revenue management to a data-driven discipline delivering consistent and meaningful market outperformance. Mr. Silcock also created Hilton’s first enterprise data and analytics team, bringing advanced analytics to the forefront of real-time decision making.

Prior to this role, Mr. Silcock held a number of positions at the company, including Head of Revenue Management and Online and Regional Marketing, and Vice President of Revenue Management. He has also held a number of regional revenue and project roles across the business, as well as several positions at the company’s properties. Mr. Silcock began his career with Hilton as a catering and banquet waiter at Hilton Watford.

In addition to his time at Hilton, Mr. Silcock worked in a consulting capacity with several hospitality companies, including large international chains, as well as smaller operators and independent hotels across Europe. He currently serves as a member of the board for Groups360, a leading online marketplace for meetings; he previously served on the board of Roomkey, a joint venture of six global hospitality companies, including two years as the board’s chairman. Mr. Silcock holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Studies from University of Essex and studied music prior to his hospitality career.

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 at Hilton started by happenchance. While studying for my master’s in music, I worked at the Hilton Watford as a banquet waiter. What began as a part-time gig to pay the bills, soon became a meaningful experience. I realized the hospitality industry’s immense impact on guests, creating beautiful moments and memories. From big moments, such as weddings, anniversaries, product launches, and board meetings, to the smaller moments. What we do at our hotels truly matters.

Further, although I didn’t plan for it, I learned that if you deliver and do a great job, Hilton provides opportunity after opportunity, as it did for me, starting as a part-time waiter in a local hotel to now leading our global Commercial Services team.

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

In one of my early roles as Regional Project Manager, Hilton sent me to Egypt for my first hotel visit. I landed at the Cairo International Airport and jumped into a taxi to Alexandria, not realizing the ride would be five-hours long! This is a poignant memory in my 30+ year Hilton as in that moment, I realized the importance of widening your view to a global perspective and how travel helps all of us to continually learn from and listen to different people and cultures.

From a personal perspective, I realized that Egypt is an incredibly dynamic place with amazing people and customs. I also learned how Hilton positively impacts the communities we serve, providing opportunities and bridging the gap between cultures on a regional and global scale.

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

“Do what you say and say what you do.” This quote is about being straightforward and acting with great purpose and intention. For example, I am a strong proponent of keeping a healthy work-life balance. I therefore demonstrate such behaviors to my team and provide them with the resources to achieve that balance.

Fortunately, Hilton offers team members the tools and resources that allow us to thrive personally and professionally. Examples include our team member resource groups focused on diversity and inclusion, our team member hotel rates that extend to friends and family, as well as our mental health resources. Providing this consistency between words and actions builds trust in who you are as a leader and, as a result, trust in your broader organization.

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

“The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business” by Patrick M. Lencioni, who also wrote “The Five Dysfunctions of a Team.” I like the premise of it, which states that organizational health is the most significant opportunity for a team’s growth and the greatest competitive advantage a business can have. It also speaks to the need for strength and alignment among leadership teams.

For instance, this book discusses the importance of leadership teams solving critical issues amongst themselves to avoid pushing these issues further down into the organization where they can fester. When there is wasted time on unnecessary politics because leaders don’t trust each other, this can harm a company’s culture and potential for success. Instead, through the power of trust and inclusion, you can unleash the power of an organization.

We know, at Hilton, that when our team members feel welcomed and with a strong sense of belonging, they will in turn make our guests feel welcome, which is what hospitality is all about.

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

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, we experienced significant business impacts. However, instead of focusing on our bottom line, we focused, as we have in our 100+ year history, on our guests, team members, and the communities we serve.

In fact, at the onset of the pandemic, Hilton provided 1 million free hotel rooms to healthcare professionals who were traveling to be in hospitals and couldn’t go home at the risk of infecting their families. This community outreach speaks to Hilton’s people-driven culture and steadfast commitment to opening our doors and providing hospitality to everyone.

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?

My three-character traits are integrity, passion, and care. It starts from the small things, like being true to what you say, but it’s also the bigger things, such as treating everybody equally. However mature or seasoned you are, you are still emotionally invested in the things you care about, including the work you’re doing and the people you’re doing it with. While it’s essential to have the discipline to ensure you don’t allow emotions to dictate your immediate responses or actions, addressing those emotions is equally important and can lead to being a more empathetic leader.

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?

At Hilton, innovation is in our DNA and we are laser focused on providing a reliable and friendly hotel stay now and in the future. Because of this forward-looking mindset, we attract team members with entrepreneurial attitudes who thrive in fast-paced environments and are energized and inspired to develop industry-leading solutions that address the needs of our guests and customers. The mixture of passion and talent can sometimes lead to too many good ideas. To ensure that we’re investing our human and financial resources strategically, we must prioritize, which can be a hard decision to make.

For instance, in June 2021, we launched Confirmed Connecting Rooms by Hilton, an industry-first solution that allows travelers to book and instantly confirm connecting rooms, which is a family friendly feature highly valued by our guests.

In the months leading up to the launch, we needed all hands on deck, working with teams to de-prioritize other tasks to ensure we had the right experts working most efficiently towards our goal of launching this product ahead of summer travel. With our one-team approach, we successfully launched the product, which continues to receive positive feedback from guests and team members.

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?

There can be this expectation that when you get to the C-suite, suddenly, things change, and you don’t have to do what every other leader does. You don’t have to run your business. You don’t have to manage your people. You don’t have to do performance reviews. On the contrary, you still run the team in the same way, and you’re still accountable for results in the same way. You’re still responsible for motivation and inspiration, like any good leader at any level in the organization, whether a team of five or a group of 5,000.

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

The real work of a C-suite executive is managing down to your team and what they deliver versus managing or focusing up. Taking the time to listen, ask questions, and let your team lead based on their subject-matter expertise will help you build a motivated and empowered organization. Further, allowing team members at all levels of your organization to have the spotlight and showcase their unique contributions is much more powerful than just one leader’s perspective.

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?

When joining a new organization or leading a new team, some executive leaders conclude that they know the answer already and act before listening.

At Hilton, we are a team of people serving people. And the key to our success and what drives our innovations at every level and across our 7,100 hotels is recognizing the power of listening loudly to our guests, customers, and strategic partners and reacting fast to changing needs.

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

One of the mistakes that people make when getting to the C-suite level is thinking that everything changes and that it’s just strategy. Execution and driving performance remain critically important. You must stay accountable and ensure you are executing your plan to achieve your goals.

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. 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 . First, you need to know yourself. I am a huge introvert and am very analytical. Therefore, I know the activities that are going to drain me and make it harder to be at my best. As such, I manage my calendar accordingly and ensure I have the time and space to recover to be effective in whatever I do next.

2 . Second, manage up, but focus down. When I started reporting to Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta, I had a misstep. I spent too much time focusing on him instead of also focusing on building connections and trust with the rest of the C-Suite. The smaller the gaps between you and other leaders, the more significant the positive impact on the organization. Suppose you are sitting around that executive table, and there is even a millimeter of doubt between you and your colleagues. Resolving these doubts and taking the time to align and come together is critical to ensuring gaps don’t unnecessarily trickle down into the broader organization.

3 . Third, communication, whether with your direct colleagues or, more broadly, with the entire organization. Being a good communicator also means being an active listener who asks informed questions to learn and understand the proposed business strategy or tactics, providing clarity for your entire team.

4 . Fourth, connection. Take the time to create and maintain relationships that enable and support you and enable you to support others. This concerted effort requires paying attention to your calendar and how you are spending your time to have the most significant possible impact from a business and organizational health perspective.

5 . Finally, humility and the willingness to recognize a wrong decision or direction, and then change accordingly. One of the mistakes people make as they rise in an organization is that they believe they’re always expected to know the answer and be right. That is never true for anyone anywhere. That ability and willingness to admit when you’re wrong, and be open to learning from constructive criticism, is a huge advantage for yourself and for setting the tone amongst the entire team and organization.

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?

Be the example. Whether taking a proper holiday (fully offline), demonstrating the importance of recognizing others, or driving accountability, your team will pick up on those cues and follow suit. An example of this is how we recognize team members in our Commercial Services organization. We have ongoing recognition tools that anyone at any level can use, as well as an annual recognition program sponsored by our leadership team. For the latter, we solicit nominations from across departments for both individuals and teams, and then prominently spotlight and celebrate all nominees and winners. These recognition efforts tie back to our Hilton values and the business goals in our organization, which helps create a very purpose-driven and motivated team culture.

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. :-)

Every day, I’m guided by Hilton’s purpose to fill the earth with the light and warmth of hospitality by dreaming big and spreading hope to our communities. Conrad Hilton started that movement 100+ years ago, and it continues to drive my thoughts and actions today. Within that purpose and mission is a passion point: the essential power of the personal holiday. As a leader, I reiterate the importance of taking time off, extending your holiday, and disconnecting from work. From my experience, you often return to work as a better person, partner, and employee if you can close the laptop, reconnect with yourself and those closest to you and experience the importance of travel first-hand.

How can our readers further follow you online?

I can be found on my personal LinkedIn and Hilton social media accounts, including LinkedIn and Twitter.

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

About the Interviewer: Douglas E. Noll, JD, MA was born nearly blind, crippled with club feet, partially deaf, and left-handed. He overcame all of these obstacles to become a successful civil trial lawyer. In 2000, he abandoned his law practice to become a peacemaker. His calling is to serve humanity, and he executes his calling at many levels. He is an award-winning author, teacher, and trainer. He is a highly experienced mediator. Doug’s work carries him from international work to helping people resolve deep interpersonal and ideological conflicts. Doug teaches his innovative de-escalation skill that calms any angry person in 90 seconds or less. With Laurel Kaufer, Doug founded Prison of Peace in 2009. The Prison of Peace project trains life and long terms incarcerated people to be powerful peacemakers and mediators. He has been deeply moved by inmates who have learned and applied deep, empathic listening skills, leadership skills, and problem-solving skills to reduce violence in their prison communities. Their dedication to learning, improving, and serving their communities motivates him to expand the principles of Prison of Peace so that every human wanting to learn the skills of peace may do so. Doug’s awards include California Lawyer Magazine Lawyer of the Year, Best Lawyers in America Lawyer of the Year, Purpose Prize Fellow, International Academy of Mediators Syd Leezak Award of Excellence, National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals Neutral of the Year. His four books have won a number of awards and commendations. Doug’s podcast, Listen With Leaders, is now accepting guests. Click on this link to learn more and apply.