I am fortunate to travel to Louisville, Kentucky,†quite frequently, and I am equally fortunate to often stay at the 21C Museum Hotel. Click on their link and you will understand why they are not just an ordinary hotel.

As I was I checking out one early morning following a recent stay,†one of the many delightful front desk staff looked at me, gave a great big smile, and said, “Oh, I just LOVE how you did your hair this morning!î† I am including a picture of my hair here so you understand the brilliance of this remark!

Following a stay there last week, I received an e-mail from the CEO of the hotel.† It said, “Dear Dr. Secretan, Thank you for staying at 21C Museum Hotel. We just have to knowÖDid you love us? And more importantlyÖWill you be back? You see, for us, thatís a biggie. Each day we strive to win new fans for 21c and we always want to ensure our loyal fans keep coming back”.

These are†times where those in the travel industry – especially the hotel and airline businesses – are reducing service levels (one of the largest chains recently removed the daily delivery of USA Today) and†are cost-cutting wherever they can. They blame the economy, a reduction in travelers, and how little travelers†are spending.† But as leaders, we get what we expect, and what we intend. So if† you are 21C Museum Hotel, you simply invest more, train more, innovate more and†please customers more.

And – VOILA! – you win the Conde Nast “Best Hotel in America” Award.

OK, let’s review this one more time:† slash costs, lay off people, and reduce service levels = a decline in fortunes.† Do the opposite and we achieve increased levels of excellent performance on top and bottom lines that flies in the face of naysayers. QED.† Any questions?