Leading by example for some traditional corporate executives means being the first to arrive and last to leave, expecting everyone in the company to do the same, and having a zero-tolerance policy for any sort of hybrid or remote-work scenarios.
That’s not the case for BWH Hotel Group’s Larry Cuculic.
Cuculic, who became president and CEO at the Phoenix-based global hotel membership company in December 2021, believes strongly in the value of work-life balance and connecting with people. He also knows that in order to convey those values to the BWH enterprise, he has to lead by example.
That means walking the corporate campus, chatting with people about their families and current work projects, greeting employees during lunch and even hosting the regular “lunches with Larry” that have characterized his leadership tenure.
“I walk from table to table, asking people what they got for lunch, what I should get, and just enjoying it,” he told Hotel News Now. “I really enjoy interacting with people. I’ll walk up to the marketing department because they always have candy up there, and then we talk about what everyone’s working on.”
Now just about one year into Cuculic's tenure, the company will finish 2022 with 2,509 hotels in North America and 4,115 globally.
Earlier this week, BWH launched its latest brand at its national convention in Cleveland, Ohio, Home by BWH.
Building Culture Amid Remote Work
Regular interactions like the ones Cuculic has around the company's campus are what build strong culture, and they don’t necessarily require everyone being in the office together every day, he said.
“Culture at the workplace is so important, and at the same time, you will have people who want remote work, and it can be a challenge because it’s difficult to maintain a culture if people are remote,” he said. “But what I’ve learned is the importance of every personal encounter, and making each count” whether that’s daily, weekly or even less, he said.
“I love interacting with people, and remote work culture just makes every personal interaction that much more important,” he said. “I often think about that from the guest perspective at hotels, too.”
The West Point grad and former military judge served as BWH's senior vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary since 2009 before rising to the leadership role — a job Cuculic took not because he felt like it was the culmination of something he had aspired to for his entire career, but because it felt like he could be himself.
“I was at the point in my career where I can love what I’m doing because I want to do it,” he said. “I’m not doing it because I have to, or because someone else thinks I have to. I can enjoy it, I can be myself and I can lead by being myself.”
Work-Life Balance
Work-life balance is one important element of himself Cuculic models for his employees, and he’s the first to admit he wasn’t always good at it and had to be encouraged by some of his own managers to not forget about living his own life.
“I used to have a personal belief that I couldn’t leave the office until my boss left. Was that a military thing, like you can’t leave your wingman? I thought that’s what would make me successful,” he said. "We can get caught up in what makes a leader successful, and we think it’s just hard work, hard work, hard work, and we lose sight of the fact that we have loved ones who need us as well.”
Cuculic said while his son was growing up, he was fortunate to have managers who encouraged him to take the time to coach his sports teams and just spend time with him.
“I look back at those times as the very best of times,” he said. “Now I don’t expect young men and women to be in the office after me. I want them to realize and appreciate their families and children and be well-rounded. It makes them better people and gives them better perspective on life.”
The Value of Diversity
Cuculic said he can’t stress enough how important it is for leadership and any decision-making to involve different viewpoints that are borne from our differences as people.
“When we talk about diversity’s importance, we recognize that people have different backgrounds and different context for decision-making, and that’s the beauty of diversity,” he said. “It creates a culture of collaboration — everyone may look at something differently, and you can hear opinions, make a decision, then you all own it.”
Embracing diversity on all levels — whether that’s cultural, ethnic, generation and more — is what builds a caring, inclusive culture in any organization, Cuculic said.
“Without that, you’ll be hiring replacements constantly because people will leave,” he said.
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