What Leaders Really Do In the article Four Seasons Goes to Paris we learned about the ins and outs of Four Seasons’ transition into a market they were not in until 1999. The transition was extremely smooth and, as the article showed, that was due in large part to their rock solid approach to international growth. While it didn’t hurt that Four Seasons was already the world’s leading operator of luxury hotels and that their revenues increased at a compound rate of 22.6% per year from 1996-2000 (Hallowell, Bowen, & Knoop, 2003), for a company as deeply committed to customer service as they are, the real success of the Paris venture would not have been possible without their exceptional leadership and human resource management. Former Harvard Business professor John P. Kotter has done extensive research in the field of organizational change and development. His article What Leaders Really Do examines the role of leadership and human resource management in the transitions of an organization, which closely relate to the challenges that Four Seasons faced.
Introduction
Kotter promoted the theory that management and leadership are different but complementary and that, in a changing world, one cannot function without the other. While each have their own functions and specific activities, in an increasingly complex and volatile business environment, they are both necessary for success. He found that US corporations tend to be overmanaged and underled and that successful corporations aren’t waiting for leaders to come along, they are actively seeking out people with leadership potential and exposing them to career experiences that are designed to develop that potential (Kotter, 1990). Kotter said that smart companies value both strong leaders who are not strong managers, and strong managers who are not strong leaders. Four Seasons not only differentiated between