“I could not do this role if I had not been in operations – I understand what it takes, every minute of every day,” says Christian Clerc, worldwide president, Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, headquartered in Toronto.
“Leaders need to be trusted, and know what they are talking about. I see my main role as inspiring our 48,000-strong workforce, although obviously I cannot communicate on a one-to-one basis with everyone,” he explained.
He is, however, in regular touch with the 10 who report to him direct. There are weekly video conference calls with three area presidents, wherever they happen to be (one will be somewhere in The Americas, one at a property in Europe, Middle East or Africa, and the third will be in Asia Pacific). Connectivity, knowing what is going on at all times, seems to be unusually important to Clerc, who does a lot of texting as well.
And this ambitious leader certainly travels a lot. In 2017, his diary shows he was away from Toronto for a total of 230 working days, and this year looks similarly itinerant. “We have 110 hotels and resorts open and a confirmed pipeline of 50,” he said, adding that although he may not be able to attend every grand opening celebration, he will have visited each new property several times before that date.
He also reckons that a third of his time is spent with owners.
“We do encourage them to visit us in Toronto. They are often very excited by our Research & Development Studio, where they can see the full ranges of equipment and supplies, from brandy glasses, bathrobes and working showers through to beds – here, in one place, are all the items already in use, in any hotel, and here, too are such prototypes as living walls in bedrooms, still at the planning stage,” he enthused – is it true that the R&D Studio also builds entire models of bedroom layouts, using 3-D printers, so developers can see what a room might look like?
In general, Four Seasons looks about six years ahead when it comes to furnishings and fittings. “We are guided to a great extent by what our regular guests want. They, and their travel advisers, are not shy about putting forward ideas, including where new hotels are badly needed (Barcelona and Rome top the urban wants). Our established loyalists, especially baby boomers, share their enthusiasm for new products, new restaurants, and our private jet tours, which start and end with bespoke transport from and back to home,” he shared. “The Four Seasons app is tremendously useful and its Chat allows guests to connect before, throughout and after their stay – Chat is an exceptionally personalized and simple service, powered through real Four Seasons people, not chatbots, in real time, at any time of the day.”
“Ask our company’s most frequent guests what they like best about Four Seasons, whether it is a city-center hotel, an island resort or a tented camp, and the answer is invariably unscripted service, but to achieve what might appear as genuine and authentic improvisation demands that endless structural training is put in place beforehand,” he said.
Yes, he admits hotel mega-groups have tremendous resources but, instead of benchmarking with them, he studies lifestyle companies that exhibit exquisite craftsmanship (in the photo, his suit is Brunello Cucinelli, and his shoes are Gucci).
Back home in Montreux, Switzerland, he never thought of following his father into medicine. “My best friend used to help his father in his restaurant and by the age of 12 I could do all the roles there, and the tips were marvellous,” he remembered. Some years later, following his now-wife to Washington D.C., his first proper job was on the front desk of The Carlton Hotel.
“Thanks to such successive mentors as Hans Bruland and Stan Bromley, who enticed me to Four Seasons in 2000, I stopped moving around different groups and began moving up the Four Seasons ladder,” he recalled with a grin.
Every one of his properties is unique but the company culture is always there (he believes you can tell a Four Seasons, blindfold). “As we continue to grow, I am confident that we can cope with the pressures of size, and the only thing that worries me professionally is where the talent of the future is going to come from. This is one reason I am on the board of my alma mater, EHL Lausanne. I just hope my own sheer excitement for every day at work will rub off on some of today’s students. Will my inspiration spread that far?” he asked, his face unusually serious for a moment.