Santa Marta Ibiza

08/06/2026

Here we are. Monday night, and instead of having the day off to think long and hard about what to write. We are busy looking after a 60th birthday party for some super guests of ours 🤩

So here it is, in between courses.

4. Praise publicly, criticise privately.

It’s true, this can be elaborated, and brings up a thought from something that happened this week. But the essence of the lesson, which was taken from an interesting book ‘the rule of management’ by Richard Templar, (Worth a read. I don’t agree with it all but some yes, and this point 100%), is exactly what it says on the tin. Why is it important? First and foremost because you want your message to get across. Criticism is never easy to hear, and often results in defensiveness. Say it in front of a room of people and you are likely to achieve frustration and resentment. Say it in a private environment and you are likely to achieve by in, and hopefully progress.

So why praise publically? For me, it promotes positivity. Something that is vital for productivity and engagement. Especially in our industry, where the product is customer interaction.

And the elaboration…It is perfectly normal to get frustrated and sometimes that can come out in the form of shouting, being short or treating someone badly. Behind that frustration is likely to be something that needs addressing. My suggestion…don’t leave it in a bad way. Come back to it later in the day, with calm and tranquility. Be honest about the reasons behind the frustration and hopefully you’ll turn a negative into a positive.

06/06/2026

06.06.26
Santa Marta Saturday Six Km

I know it might look exactly the same as last week, but we are 1 week older. And 1 week smarter 🤩

01/06/2026

Fear not! Here it is. Your random weekly reflection. In case you wondered, the picture is of me trying to explain my system of service, and confusing everyone, including myself, in the process. Here we were, serving a group of 60. Back in the day, I used to run the passé for events of up to 450 people during the busy British Christmas season. Which is a nice link to this weeks thought.

3. Have fun

The credit for this goes to an old manager of mine. Steve TF. We worked together for a couple of years in a busy city centre hotel. During the Christmas season, we’d host multiple events at the same time. It’s fair to say, we were always slightly different in our styles, and me being the useless follower I was, probably spent more time being frustrated and less time embracing the moment than I should have. But he repeated one thing that has stuck with me ever since…,have fun.

I’ll accept. Maybe this isn’t applicable to more serious lines of work, such as hospitals or the army. Maybe it is? I don’t know. But for sure in hospitality, it is not only important but can be the clear different between a good business and a fantastic one.

Listen. We’re not fantasists. We know that almost everyone is working because they have to. In exchange for money, which in exchange gets them things they need or want. But the point here is, if you’re going to do it, and let’s be honest, it is a huge proportion of your adult life. Then you might as well enjoy it. And if you don’t enjoy it you should probably consider if there is something else that you would. As my grandma used to regularly say, ‘a job worth doing is a job worth doing properly’. Or to translate into my theory, ‘a job worth doing is a job worth having fun at’.

We think there are too many people taking too many things too seriously. Managers included. So do the serious stuff when it is needed, but the rest of the time try to have fun. And thank you Mr TF for you inspiration on my journey to where I am now 🤩🤩

30/05/2026

30.05.26

Santa Marta Saturday Six

With one of my longest reigning running companions 🙂

No long rants about people not saying hello. Although it’s still true 😂

25/05/2026

Actually on a Monday! But we’ll save the lesson of consistency for another week. For now I’ll bore you with another important lesson I learnt. This one from an international leadership training school whilst working with IHG. It was a fascinating two days and a few things resonated with me. Here is one, although I can’t remember the actual name of the theory.

3. Be careful of the silent approval.

You made it into a leadership. You thought it would be easy. Feet up on the desk whilst everyone else runs around working hard. But the reality is different and you are now setting the standards for all those around you. It might seem obvious. Lead by example, delegate well, and the rest should be easy. But remember that you have to maintain the standards, consistently. And that means correcting people when they do something wrong. Not just once, but every time. And the times you don’t say anything, you silently set a new standard and a bad habit.

The easy thing here is to let it slide. The difficult thing is to say something every-time. Let’s face it, we don’t like conflict, and we’d probably rather not tell people they’re doing something wrong, but it’s a responsibility to correct bad habits and set the standards. So saying nothing is to be a bad leader. In my opinion, feedback is almost always better delivered calmly. But that’s another post for another week.

So for now. Set your standards, stick to them, don’t let them slide. Consistency is not usually the easy path, but it almost always is the right one.

23/05/2026

23.05.26
Santa Marta Saturday Six KM Solo

To run alone is a gift. Although I am considering partitioning for a law that makes it compulsory for runners to say hello to each other. When did the camaraderie die? That sense of community, of being part of the pack, brings a boost and a bit of extra energy. I think that is more important that people realise. So next time you run past a runner, say hello 👋🏻

19/05/2026

Santa Marta Management Mondays (Tuesday 🤦🏻‍♂️)….’phew’ I know you are thinking. ‘We thought he’d forgotten after only one week’. Fear not! And the thought for the day;

2. Followership

The unspoken brother of the famous ‘leadership’. And probably the area I failed at most spectacularly during my career. Why? Because I thought I knew it all, that I was better than anyone else and as a result, I constantly worked in frustration.

So what is followership? At least to me, and defined by my understanding rather than the Oxford dictionary.

It is the ability to follow as opposed to lead. What is the point in having a team of 100 leaders and no followers. Nothing would get done!. Even the leaders are followers. They are followers of their senior managers, followers of the company vision & objectives.

In basic terms, it is how well you follow simply instructions or your expected scope of work. But in more complex terms it is how well you buy into the bigger picture of your team, a project, or the business that you are working for. Of course, you are entitled to see work as just that, work. An exchange of money for time or effort. But is it not more fun when you are ‘involved’ in something rather than just turning up and counting hours.

I know first hand that it is made easier or harder depending on your direct management. Each and every manager you have will have a unique style. In my first management post, I talked about it being the responsibility of the leader to control the relationship. But here we talk about you, not your leader. And you also have a responsibility to get the best from your relationship with your management. So adapt. Adapt as best as possible to the style of your senior management or company. Embrace the company. Embrace the project.

Where did I fail? I spent large parts of my career frustrated by my managers. Or frustrated by the company I worked for. In the end, it was me that looked bad, not them. I stand by that I was right to expect high standards, and right to question things I did not agree with. But the level of frustration was not worth it and acted as a negative impact, not positive.

My final advice. Think about followership as a skill. Can you improve it? Do you have weakness in some aspects of what it takes to be a good follower? What is in your control.

16/05/2026

16.05.26
Santa Marta Super Saturday Six KM
Run club 🏃‍♂️ 🏃🏻 🏃🏼‍♀️

16/05/2026

11/05/2026

How better to lose followers than to talk about management/leadership?! 😂

But it is a subject that is close to my heart. A skill I have tried to learn from a very young age and is now the cornerstone of what Santa Marta is about. When people ask us, ‘what do you specialise in?’, they expect us to respond with the type of cuisine you offer, but our speciality is different. It is leadership. And as a result, a culture of service. At least that is the hope. And how? Well this is where I’ll share my 20 years of hospitality management experience.

Reflection no. 1: The step from employee to manager.

This is something I’ve seen very often in our industry. The best employee is promoted to a leadership position. And the result is not normally as positive as what anyone expects. Why? Because not many people understand the role of a leader before becoming one. How do I summarise the change from employee to leader? Simple

The performance of an employee is your responsibility.

As the leader, it is your role to define, teach, organise, oversee, motivate, discipline. If one of your team is not performing, it is not longer acceptable to blame them. You must help them. You are the one who must adapt, at least as far as is considered reasonable and within your role and responsibilities. And if that person continues to have poor performance, then it is your role to follow performance management process to either force an improvement or build up grounds for a dismissal. Either way and every way, your teams performance is your responsibility.