Leadership Scholarship 2017
The Art of Leadership at Lausanne Hotel School
Gary Hume, Head of Property, 7 Hospitality Management

A couple of years ago I was lucky enough to visit Lausanne Hotel School for the Art of Leadership Scholarship.  I applied because I wanted to gain a better understanding of leadership styles, and how to use them within our industry.

After a varied career in Sales, Leisure and Retail I had settled in Hospitality and felt it was where my future lay.  I have been lucky enough to gain valuable experience, skills and knowledge in areas such as communication, management and leadership everywhere I have worked, but I believe there is always further room to grow and continue to develop as new and unique situations crop up every day.  Learning from a world renowned hotel school had to be a good opportunity!

Working in a hotel opens you up to various pathways and I wanted to give myself every opportunity possible to succeed in this industry.  That’s what the HIT Scotland scholarships help you to do - they give you new skills and confidence to help progress within this industry.  When I applied I was Rooms Division Manager at the Doubletree Hilton Dundee, and then moved on to be Facilities Manager. I was entering a stage of my career where I was moving into a strategic management role, whilst balancing an operational role and I felt it was the right time to add some further personal development in order to support the transition and future career progression.

The course looked at leadership thinking and behaviour, putting the theory into practice, with methods for building relationships through effective communication. I now have a better understanding of the different ways a leader can be and how each scenario needs a different style, with different types of people needing to be “managed” in different ways to ensure you get the best from them.  Spending time with industry professionals from around Scotland was also a learning experience, as we got to discuss our roles, issues and experiences, so we got to learn from each other.

Since the scholarship ended, I have progressed from my role as Facilities Manager for DoubleTree by Hilton Dundee to Head of Property for 7 Hospitality Management who operate and asset manage properties across the UK. My role is very much strategic now and I oversee the Health & Safety, Facilities, ICT, Property, Leisure and CAPEX strategy for the properties we manage. Due to the model of asset management we use I am still very involved in operational aspects of the hotels and regularly use my experience and learning from my time at Lausanne. Every hotel has a different need, with different personalities and levels of experience throughout the various teams so being able to utilise the leadership qualities gained from my scholarship gives me confidence in what I am doing and a chance to pass on my experience and knowledge to others.  

For anyone thinking of doing the leadership course at Lausanne, go for it! The quality of EHL is second to none and the standards they set are outstanding. You will come back full of ideas, wanting to be better.

Apply for the Leadership Scholarship via the Scholarships page of our website, it’s in the Business Empowerment section