Richard the Great

Every once in a while, I meet a person on my travels who captures a special place in my heart. I want to introduce you to one; let me call him Richard “the Great”.

A couple of years ago, when we were opening our first Willow Stream spa in China at the Fairmont Yangcheng Lake, we had an exceptionally good group of colleagues as the opening team. They were quick to learn, enthusiastic about the brand and the spa and very technically proficient. Ruth (who opens our spas) and I could not speak a word of Chinese, so there was a lot of sign language and luckily many people on this team were also learning English.

Amongst this already terrific team there was one person who stood out to us. His name is Richard and he is our Fitness trainer and leader in the fitness area.

We saw his enthusiasm and his natural leadership abilities immediately. As an example, he noticed that we needed some extra help and organization for cleaning and set up in the days leading up to the opening. He simply took charge of a whole group of people not really in his department, without being asked, and he organized and led them to help us. His English was limited at the time but communication was easy regardless. Among the words he knew were “yes”, “ok” and “great”.

Last time I was back, he had organized teams to do presentations for me about the brand (we have a secret dance that we teach). It was fun. This time I learned from the General Manager how much the guests liked him as a swimming teacher for their children. All these things are outside of his regular job.
This trip I also noticed how much his English had improved. He is a quick learner and determined in this area. I know he is reading this as he tells me that reading my blog is one more way he is learning English!

The fun part for me was that his improved English allowed me to learn more about his family, leadership, his extensive background of athletics and his future goals. Oh, by the way, he is a talented personal trainer. I learned a lot during my sessions with him. He is encouraging and uses the word “great” a lot, not surprising given his attitude in general.

There are many examples of people just like Richard on all of our teams and in the next few months, I will introduce you to others.

In the meantime, “HI RICHARD – I know you are reading this. Please say hi to the rest of your GREAT group of colleagues”.

Question: I would love to hear about other GREAT Willow Stream colleagues that you have met. Please let me know of someone special we could recognize.