

Why Hospitality Excellence Depends on Leadership Excellence - Ryan Magnon & Scott Rohm, Ithaka Hospitality Partners
Sep 4, 2025
Ryan Magnon, COO of Ithaka Hospitality Partners, and Scott Rohm, CDO, share pivotal lessons on the connection between leadership and hospitality excellence. Both seasoned leaders honed their skills at The Ritz-Carlton under Horst Schulze. They discuss why selecting the right leaders is crucial for operational success and how slight cultural shifts can transform organizations. Their insights on servant leadership, team alignment, and creating thriving environments resonate deeply for anyone in the hospitality industry, enhanced by a compelling story from a Shanghai dining room.
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Leadership Is The Insurance Policy
- Leadership excellence and hospitality excellence are inseparable and must be cultivated jointly.
- Leaders must prioritize pouring into people daily to create operational excellence.
Select, Develop, Then Improve
- Use selection and development systems to put the right people in the right seats on the bus.
- Operate with a quality-management loop: execute, evaluate, ask why, and improve.
Hire For Talent And Attitude
- Hire for natural talents and attitude, not just experience or technical skills.
- Use validated tools like Talent Plus to place people where their wiring creates the most success.