GM & AGM Careers at White Lodging

Hello, my name is Chuck Collins. I’m the General Manager of the Indianapolis Marriott Downtown. I’ve been with White Lodging somewhere in the area of 30 years. I think every single role that I’ve been in has helped me for the next role. I think that it’s given me tools and a foundation and a base to have a higher level of confidence as I’ve gone into the next role. I think that we challenge our leaders, and the tools that we gain along the way help better prepare us for the next roles. We’re best when we’re leading from the front. As the General Manager of the property, you are responsible for the three promises — the promise to our associates, our guests, and our owners. It’s being able to help people achieve their goals, personal and professional. It’s getting to know the team members and what’s important to them. It’s helping them grow and develop. But you can’t do that from an office. You do that from leading from the front. I’d like to start the day understanding what we have in house and meeting our contacts and meeting our clients. So that would entail moving throughout the hotel, working through the kitchens, the restaurant, front of the house, back of the house, walking through our meeting space. For the last 30 years in this organization, we’ve always started our days with a great standup meeting, and it sets the tone for the day. I think that if I had an opportunity, I would tell my younger self: it’s important that you engage your coach, engage your mentor, and ensure that they’re keenly aware of what your goals are, and then work really hard to get exposure in those different departments. I think everyone’s path, everyone’s journey, is different. There are certain skill sets that you want to have when you move into that first General Manager role. And if you want to be a full-service General Manager, you’re going to have to have an understanding around rooms operations and food and beverage operations and sales and strategy. And if you want to be a General Manager in our organization and you’ve predominantly gone up and down that rooms department, it’s probably important that you cross over to food and beverage and get some great experience there, where you’re able to work in one of our restaurants for a period of time and grow your expertise there. We used to look at it as a vertical; Jean-Luc spoke more along the lines of a jungle gym. And that career path might move someone from department to department. Don’t be afraid to ask what’s next in the career journey. And don’t be afraid to ask how that is going to help you achieve your long-term goals. When you have great conversations, and you have a great mentor and a great leader, and you’re aligned on what’s important to you, then you’re going to have a much faster path to that goal.