Alison Styles, Partner at Maze Hospitality
Through her own hospitality consultancy, Topaz and as a Partner at Maze Hospitality, Alison works in collaboration with companies to develop solid, foundational processes and strategies to grow revenue performance and brand equity.
Alison’s career in luxury hospitality, technology and airlines, spans Europe, Asia and Australia, with extensive on-the-ground experience in North America, Middle East, Russia and China and includes senior leadership roles with Grace Hotels, Raffles, Fairmont, Mandarin Oriental and The Langham Group. A dual British/Australian citizen, Alison currently lives in Oxfordshire, UK.
“… when you reflect back in your life, often you will see that those instances that took courage and represented a risk, turned out to the most rewarding. So, don’t underestimate the potential of taking risks…”
Alison
What is your current role?
I am one of the 4 founding Partners of Maze Hospitality, a decision I consciously took after 20 plus years in hospitality in a variety of senior leadership roles. Maze, a global hospitality advisory company, specializes in asset management, brand equity and project management. In parallel, I also established my own commercial and brand strategy consultancy Topaz, supporting companies that require a level of reinvention and a recalibration of their strategies for improved business performance.
What was your very first job after school and the overall start into your professional life?
Very first job was as an Au Pair and my first paid job with an organization was as a waitress with Hilton International in Zürich. After college, I could read and write French but could not speak it, thus I wanted to go to the French speaking part of Switzerland. However, the family I worked for lived in Zürich, so I had to switch to German and Swiss German. I loved Switzerland so much, I would have done anything to be able to stay, which was challenging due to work permit restrictions at the time. This was my segue into hospitality, borne out of love for a country.
So, you entered hospitality by chance because you wanted to remain in Switzerland? Or did you already know that hospitality could be a professional path?
Unlike some, I did not have a clear career goal other than the desire to travel. I really did fall into it, into hospitality. Being a waitress, is demanding however it was a lot of fun and I realized I loved the 24/7 operation and therefore knew rather quickly that I wanted to progress further in this industry.
When you took the decision that hospitality is your fate, did you then have a clear career goal what you wanted to achieve in this industry?
I knew I wanted to move into a management role, and I knew that would be in Sales & Marketing, even though I did not know how to get there. I just knew I wanted to progress into that area and my leaders at Hilton at the time inspired me to do so. I completed two seasons in Zürich and then transferred with Hilton back to the UK as Receptionist in a new property of theirs. Whilst I really enjoyed the fast-paced and dynamic environment of operations, after a short while I was invited to join Sales, which I subsequently realized had a huge impact on my future career direction and set the foundation for future milestones.
Speaking of milestones, what would you say were the milestones that impacted your career afterwards, which ones were particularly formative.
Thinking back, I would say there were 5 key milestones. I left Hilton after 6 years and joined an international airline for a short period of time exposing me to marketing and yield management. Yet, I then for personal reasons moved to Australia where I joined ITT Sheraton (as it was then known) in a regional sales role, then moved into a pre-opening that led to my appointment as Director of Sales & Marketing. A first real milestone as it allowed me to lead a team and have P&L responsibility. This role had a significant influence on my future.
Second milestone was a move to Jakarta, Indonesia as a pre-opening Director of Sales & Marketing. This milestone was particularly formative being my first expat assignment and first experience leading a diverse and multi-cultural team where I soon realized my western leadership style, would not suit. So, I stopped in my tracks and allowed my team to teach me how to lead them effectively. I can’t underestimate the value of that experience. It was here however; I felt a little discrimination being a female. Not from Sheraton, but from the owner side during a time when women were not typically respected in business. Whilst it was a difficult time, I realized this was not personal but cultural, so I allowed the numbers to speak on my behalf.
The third milestone was moving back from Indonesia to Australia to take time to reflect, despite being offered opportunities aboard, for example in Russia, Thailand and China. I returned and joined a technology company; this was a tech start up and I worked in Business Development and that led to my first global role as Director of Marketing Communications. At first, I needed to earn respect from a bunch of “techies”, so I emersed myself into wiring and learned how broadband infrastructures were built. So, this was a steep learning curve indeed.
Next milestone was taking on a global role with the Hong Kong based Langham Group as Vice President Sales, where I was once again part of an emerging brand. This gave me the opportunity to lead global sales teams and take a hands- on approach to develop the brand’s footprint. After almost 6 years in Hong Kong, I became quite sick which was the catalyst to rethink my future in terms of quality of life and soon after, I secured my dream role with Mandarin Oriental as Vice President Sales & Marketing, Europe, Middle East and Africa, based out of London. Those were my key milestones I would say.
Is there any role that stands out, a role that you are extremely proud of?
I am particularly proud of developing a relatively new market for Mandarin Oriental and that was the Middle East including Saudi Arabia. This required overcoming several obstacles however by working collaboratively and strategically, we grew like for like revenues by over 30% and the region became the most profitable for the group.
Did you ever experience and deal with any (career) obstacles, apart from what you mentioned earlier about your leadership style and how you needed to change that?
Looking back on my career, I have been pretty fortunate, so no, not many. I love a challenge and am not easily deterred however one that does stand out and became a learning experience for me was the ability to find my voice in male dominant environments which often felt like I was swimming against a tide. As you know budget reviews are a stressful time for everyone that participates and two occasions that were particularly difficult, this lack of voice manifested itself into raging sore throats.
How did you overcome this?
I learned how to improve my influencing skills, and the art of presenting something actually in a more constructive way to engage and create curiosity. It was finding the right tone for my audience and learning how I wanted to be perceived by others.
In your rich and diverse career, I am sure you had some mentors that guided you. Can you share some insights into mentors, role models or superiors with special influence?
I was very lucky as I had many excellent leaders. Whilst there were no direct mentors, one person stands out. This was back in Australia. Her name is Katie Benson and whilst it was only for a short period of time, she demonstrated a genuine interest in my well-being, which was the key difference. She would encourage you and be truly interested in your career decisions. When I was considering the opportunity in Indonesia, Katie encouraged and believed in my ability to take on this big move. As a leader, she always had my back, she recognized my potential and openly acknowledged my positive contribution the business and you don’t often find that. It’s interesting that 10 years later, she introduced me to The Langham Group where we worked together once more.
So, would you say, even if she was not a “formal” mentor, that she was a role model in the way she behaved as a leader?
Yes. Absolutely.
Speaking of leadership, one sometimes hears that men, compared to women, have a different approach to career planning, the path to becoming a leader. Would you agree with this or not?
I do think there is a difference, in the sense that men often demonstrate more confidence in the way they promote themselves, whereas women might hesitate if they don’t match role requirements 100%. Versus “I got this” approach, women can unnecessarily hold themselves back. I don’t want to be too generalist, but I believe there is certainly a degree of this. From a leadership perspective, women are natural born nurturers and we typically invest more time taking a coach and mentor approach. Women are more intuitive and empathetic when it comes to management style and, they get the job done!
So many women I speak to mention this confidence and (not) coming forward issue. Could this be one of the reasons why there are more men in leadership roles?
I know for myself, that I often held myself back and having someone to nudge me would have been helpful. I attended a networking event recently and during this event we were asked to complete ten sentences that began with “I am remarkable because….”, I, along with the majority of the women really struggled to answer. It was very insightful, so I say, be remarkable, acknowledge and honor who you are and be proud of your achievements.
What do you think is the key to successful leadership; what are the characteristics of a good leader?
I have been fortunate to work with very culturally diverse teams and proud to have achieved colleague engagement scores that were always higher than the company benchmark. For me the starting point is to understand each individual and to ensure they spend their time focusing in areas that gains the best out of them and supports their career aspirations. This approach kept engagement levels high avoiding unnecessary turnover. Secondly to demonstrate the role each member plays in achieving company financial objectives and highlight how valuable their contribution is. Furthermore, instill a sense of purpose, align teams to the company vision, so everything fits together for them, understanding the journey they and the company are on and allowing mistakes too as long as one learns from that. Create a culture of innovation, encourage team contribution and act with integrity and respect at all times.
An important topic is always ccombining work and family life; work life balance theme. What are your thoughts on this?
I have to laugh, obviously hospitality and startup businesses take an enormous number of hours and involves significant long-haul travel, so my scales were always tipped towards “work”, vs “life”. A lesson that took me a long time to recognize despite friends reminding me and something I later became very much aware of when it came to leading my own teams. As a Partner of Maze Hospitality and having my own consultancy, plus having recently moved to the country, I believe I have now created the balance that was previously missing. It takes effort, and we often learn it too late.
What are your recommendations/tips for career starters; and emerging leaders on the topic of professional life in general; especially on establishing themselves as managers
First of all, to have self-belief and to visualize yourself in the role you desire, setting an intention. Embrace and accept opportunities and challenges, create a group of like-minded colleagues, build long-term relationships and take networking to another level. Build your profile early on in your career and if you believe in something take the leap. Take the opportunity to experience different sectors to broaden your skill set and help you discover your passion.
I recently came across a poignant poem by Charles Finn “Don’t be fooled by me” it really resonated with me and I recommend reading it. It’s all about the “imposter syndrome” and in reality, most people experience an element of it at some stage of their career.
You sometimes come across the sentence “Its lonely at the top”, meaning the higher you get in the career ladder, the lesser women you come across. Have you experienced this?
I can relate a 100%. This is not easy to manage and can be quite isolating. What helps, is to have a go- to- person, someone you can just talk to which is also helpful to keep you in check and in tune
Finally, do you have other insights to share?
Perfectionism is overrated. It took me a long time to realize this. Be comfortable being vulnerable and accept it is OK to allow your team to see that side of you – we are all human after all. And when look back in your life, often you will see that those instances that took courage and represented a risk, turned out to the most rewarding. So, don’t underestimate the potential of taking a risk.
Thank you Alison, for sharing your story. What a career. An encouragement for many!