How I Thrived for 30-Years at a Company That Didn’t Want to Hire Me

I retired from the Radisson Hotel Group on June 30, 2018 after exactly 31 years and 1 month with the company. The post high-school gap year in Europe that I embarked on in 1978 ended after 40 years when my wife and I relocated to Canada in the summer of 2018.

In late May 1987, having left university with an unfinished Masters Degree in Psychology, I was working as a ticket taker in a movie theater when an ad in a newspaper caught my eye: “Security Guard — Five Star Hotel”. I knew nothing about hotels or security, but the hotel was owned by an airline and I wanted to work in travel.

Approaching the entrance on the day of the interview it dawned on me that I had never really been in a luxury hotel before. Visions of characters from “Wayne’s World” were in my head yelling “You’re not worthy!” I couldn’t force my feet to walk through the door. I walked straight past it.

Fortunately the hotel had a shopping arcade attached. That’s where I went in and made my way to reception where I was introduced to the Security Manager.

“You’re too old and too educated” he said, looking not at me but at my CV. When I started to defend myself and my capabilities (which were hardly suited to the job since I was clueless about both hotels and security), he added: “You have too many opinions, too!”

Let me admit right off the bat that more than planning, more than working hard, more than tooting my own horn, more than almost anything, luck has played a key role in my career. A week or so after my interview, the boss that really didn’t want me, called and said the only other candidate for the job had withdrawn his application.

The security guard job was the only one I ever applied for in the company.

A few curious contradictions have guided me along during my three decades of service. I’ve chosen some inspiring quotes to help illustrate them:

“If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity but you are not sure you can do it, say yes — then learn how to do it later” — Sir Richard Branson

SAY YES TO EVERYTHING…

Although I was hired as a security guard and have always had safety and security as my core function, security wasn’t always “important enough” to be a full time job. In the early years I combined it with work in operations as well as with loyalty programmes, reservations, e-commerce and travel agent commission payment programmes. Once you figure something new out, you become better at your own job.

“You don’t need permission to do the right thing. No one can give you permission to do the wrong thing.” — “Jeb the Bootlegger” to Brooke Allen

… SAY NO TO THE BOSS

One of my first days on the job a manager asked me to take some crayons and paper from the hotel store room so he could take them home for his children. I said no.

A competitor that offered much higher salaries seduced my boss and a number of my colleagues. The boss wanted me to join them. I said no. Money was never my motivator. Maintaining integrity by remaining loyal to our vision and purpose has always been much more important.

“The art of advocacy is to lead you to my conclusion on your terms.” — Adam Grant in Give and Take

FLEXIBLE and STUBBORN

Someone once said to me “What I like best about you is that you have no ego, you’re completely flexible.” I guess they thought I just say yes to everything. Maybe, but it is almost always a “Yes, but…” or “Yes, and…”

I actually have both an ego and a spine. I was born and raised in a country with stereotypes that say we are very polite, tolerant and are always saying sorry. That’s not the whole truth though. It is also a country where dropping gloves and swinging fists is part of our national game. Instead of physically fighting for my ideas, I am a very strong advocate of our corporate credo.

Giving up is not an option, but flexibility can help you find a door in the wall you are banging your head against if you are willing to step back and take a broader look at things.

“Don’t think of introversion as something that needs to be cured.” — Susan Cain in Quiet

A SQUEAKY INTROVERT

“Paul, you should know by now, that no matter what, the squeaky wheel will always get the most grease.” Even top HR people have told me that. However, you can’t just change your personality in the hope you’ll advance your career. As an introvert that is not a big fan of “public squeaking”, I have found other ways to be heard.

I once wrote a memo to our senior management group on staying true to our core ethical values. The headline was “What if we’re the bad guys?” First thing the next morning our CEO was in my office. Pink slip and boot out the door? No, he stuck out his hand, shook mine and said, “You’re the only guy that could ever write something like that. We need it. Thank you!”

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

PROMOTION DOESN’T MAKE YOU MORE IMPORTANT

Without hotels, we would have no corporate office and I would have no job. People think “headquarters” is the most important part of a company. It’s not. We’re a link in a chain. Every link has to be strong. My role is not to protect others, it’s to support others so they can take care of themselves so we all become stronger links in the chain.

When I was Security Manager at a hotel in the early ’90s a refugee was hired as a cleaner. His life experience caused him to fear security people. When he came to my office to empty the wastepaper bin, he was nervous, apologetic and shaking as he crept in and out as quickly as he could. Over time, he learned that I was just his colleague and I learned that we shared a liking for country music. Last year on a brief visit to that hotel, he was vacuuming near the lobby when I walked in. He dropped the vacuum, ran over and gave me a huge hug and said. “Look at you! Still headed for the stars! And look at me! I am still alive!” Two colleagues, two links in a chain.

“Problems aren’t solved by heads stuck in sand,

We need to engage and reach out a hand

For we live in a world that we all have to share,

And that my dear friend is why we must care.”

If luck played a big role in getting my career underway, caring passionately about the family that backs me up, the people I work with and the guests and employees we work to support is what keeps me going.

At the Carlson Fellows awards ceremony in Minneapolis on June 23, 2014, each award winner was introduced with a famous quote. At one point Carlson Chair Diana Nelson didn’t have a quote from famous person, just the couple of rhyming lines above from an annual greeting I had sent to friends, family, colleagues and counterparts. The company that didn’t want to hire me in 1987 had just given me their highest individual achievement award.

Stay safe, Always Care

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Connect with Paul:

For more about storytelling, presentations and general consulting, you can find me at www.alwayscare.ca.

Paul is also a managing partner at www.northpointinternational.com, where you’ll find unsurpassed expertise in the world of hospitality security consulting.