Hotel industry veteran Chris Green is closing one chapter of his life this week as he retires from his role as president of third-party management company Remington Hospitality.
But new chapters are opening as Green embarks on an advisory role and publishes his own book on leadership.
He officially retires April 5.
Prior to joining Remington in 2022, Green served as CEO of third-party management company Chesapeake Hospitality for 22 years. Chesapeake and Remington merged two years ago. Before that, Green was involved in various other hotel industry roles.
Looking back on his 30-plus years in the hotel industry — with much of that time spent in leadership roles — Green reflected on just how much a leader must cram into a 24-hour day.
"Especially if you have a family and you're as committed to your family as I am and have a demanding job, and my work has always been my family, too, so I care deeply about our teams, about our hotels and about our guests," he said.
In entering this new stage of his life, Green said he feels like he's untying all these lines attached to him.
"You imagine yourself in a boat, holding ropes at a pier ... and I'm starting to be able to drop some ropes, so it's a lot of fun. I've found a little space for some things that I have wanted to do ... but also for sure it's a little weird that my email when I wake up, it doesn't have 300 new emails," he said.
Not being involved in the business day to day with the people he cares about will create a bit of a void in his life, Green acknowledged, "but if you know me at all, I'm not somebody that's just going to sit around."
Some of that void will be filled through an advisory role with Remington.
"It's going to be sporadic work but the work I'll be doing is continuing to support [Remington CEO Sloan Dean] and his team as they build out their third-party vertical. The whole genesis of the Chesapeake acquisition, which is now two years ago, was to really accelerate Remington's growth in third-party," he said. "With all the years [of experience] I have in third-party [management] they asked me to stay and speak to that business as they grow it out."
When Chesapeake was looking to merge, Green's team talked with four companies. Remington was the best fit because of its strong emphasis on culture.
"I think it says a lot that Sloan offered me a role. A lot of times in mergers — I was CEO at Chesapeake, he's CEO at Remington — normally somebody goes away. But he thought it was valuable, and I really do appreciate that generosity," he said.
Green's book, "The River Guide to Leadership: Lessons Learned from a Life of Leading" is a project he's proud of as it helped him articulate turning points in his life and career.
For more insights from Chris Green, listen to the podcast below.