The iconic founder built the foundation for a highly successful company. As the inventor of the boutique hospitality industry, he was the most important figure in this early stage, fast-growing hotel and restaurant company. Classic challenges abounded, including a “cowboy” culture of creative mavericks, conflicts among top leaders, and upcoming growth challenges without a strong digital platform.

The organization had been acquired. It was expected to run autonomously, but during the acquisition, a new senior leader was brought in. Her command-and-control style wreaked havoc on the company culture, damaging morale and the team’s ability to produce high-quality product.

A recently promoted SVP was given the responsibility of uniting two previously independent teams. The main issue was that the two groups couldn’t see the value in collaborating with each other. The newer group’s former leader led by a “reign of terror,” so employees were traumatized and unable to make decisions independently.

Our job was to build the client’s culture from the ground up, based on the wisdom and practice of their inspirational founder. This was a multi-decade, labor-intensive project that required working closely with every leader in the organization throughout their diverse properties and businesses.

This fast growing SAAS company found it difficult to build and maintain organizational alignment while scaling so quickly. Given the viral growth, agility was required to navigate the extreme internal and marketplace complexities.