So hotelier Donald Trump has been President for some time now – who would have thought it and who said our industry doesn’t provide opportunities? Well at least it does in the United States of America, the land of the free and home of the brave!

With his unorthodox style of operating he consistently ruffles feathers on a daily basis but has proven to be the President made of Teflon, where nothing ever seems to stick!

We, the citizens of the world have been part of his history. An election campaign that was bizarre, controversial, regularly outrageous, unbelievable and occasionally entertaining in equal measure. His time in the office so far has been even more astonishing with all the ups and downs he has faced (or more accurately, caused).

The next spectacle will be to see how he tackles the new election campaign and how he works the media and his opponents to his advantage. No one thought he would win the last election, so just imagine if he wins a second term… The world looks on aghast, but no one is writing him off this time.

Having spent some time in the US during the Ross Perot election campaign in the early 90s and having attended one of Perot’s fundraisers, the extent to which Americans go to elect their President seems absolutely amazing to the outside world and can probably only be understood if you are an American at heart!

While I’m not interested in political commentary, I watch with interest the way Trump handles his opponents and in particular, the current impeachment situation; another potential speed hump that he just seems to glide over, impervious to the chaos all around. Politics is a dirty business at the best of times (the world over) but who knows what will happen in the coming months as we head into the election later this year. It’s a bit like the new GM with a reputation for being different arriving at the hotel, with no one quite knowing what to expect!

Now, here is a thought for the people in the hospitality industry; how about you use your experience in our industry and become President? There are plenty of similarities, starting with those you need to please…

As a hotelier, you are supposed to satisfy your customers, the people for whom you promised you would make everything better (think voters); You similarly need to satisfy the needs of owners, delivering on the assurances you gave in the job interview (think election campaign).

As a politician, you are supposed to make sure the economy is doing well, ensuring everyone makes money, can afford a new car, take regular holidays etc, whilst never saying the wrong thing, (so equivalent to meeting customers, staff and owner needs and requirements…)

At the end of your term you either get reappointed or you are let go because of your perceived ability to achieve those results and meet expectations (so everything is the same – elected official or hotel employee).

As we all know, hotel executives from a certain management level upwards are politicians by default, and we also know plenty that survive in the industry by being politically correct (rather than by having any particular ability). This sounds very similar to a number of Presidents who survived that way for quite some time before being given their marching order by the voters.

So, this is a call for the people in the hospitality industry to stand up and show the world that the old (hospitality) image still exists. A world where the dishwasher can become GM/CEO and now perhaps even President! (although today it helps to have a BA, MBA or lots of money and 20+ million twitter followers to promote your cause!).

So, if there is a future President, Prime Minister or Premier out there amongst our industry readers please make a note. Elite Search is happy to offer a free recruitment service to help fill the various ministerial positions once you are elected.  We believe this is the least we can do to ensure that the hospitality industry takes its rightful place at the forefront of democracy, after all, if you can survive in hospitality, politics should be a breeze…

About the author

Karl Faux is a veteran Hotelier and Managing Partner with Elite Search – a leading hospitality recruitment firm.
For more information about Karl and Elite Search visit http://www.elitesearch.com.au and The Elite Hotelier http://www.elitehotelier.net