“Be open to Creatively building relationships. Leaning into relationships that can encourage, come alongside and build you up is necessary to sustaining energy. We weren’t meant to lead alone!”

Identify those that prefer to be visionaries and those that prefer to focus on the facts, data and details. You need both perspectives on a team, like I mentioned in the story above about the different preferences Tess and I have. The visionaries will keep things exciting and often motivate the team to keep going, even when times get tough. Those that prefer the facts and data also help move business forward by focusing on all of the little details and creating systems to keep business organized and aware.

Ask good questions and keep the dialogue open. Ensuring your team feels heard and understood is paramount to your success. Asking clarifying questions and welcoming the opportunity for further dialogue will actually prevent misunderstanding and even negativity down the line. We work remotely with our team so there is a lot of virtual dialogue on a daily basis. We consistently ask if the team needs further clarification on goals, support in getting their work done or motivation to keep them moving forward.

Self-care — be consistent, every day. Whether it’s a simple and quick act of self-care or a more focused and lengthier one, just do it! There are no days off when it comes to taking care of yourself.

TC&A values our TEAM, our TIME and our CONTRIBUTIONS. We are mindful that every team member has a family and values their time with family. We structure our work environment so that our team members can find their “equilibrium” between work and family. We focus on projects that fit within our main goals and strategy for the company within a time frame that is realistic, motivating and moves us forward towards the best of outcomes.

Growth Mindset — having a growth mindset enriches our life and allows us to live in the flow of gratitude. This means we are committed to being lifelong learners and seeing life as an opportunity to learn the lessons presented to us.

Be present and prioritize. When you focus on the here and now, you can experience true gratitude in the moment. Prioritizing gratitude and your overall well-being will provide you experiences and benefits far greater than you ever experienced when you were chasing the perfectionist, short-lived high.

For a decade, Chelsea Cox Gillman managed operations for some of the finest hotels in Los Angeles, NYC and Nashville. Currently a hospitality veteran, Chelsea spent the last few years stepped away from her day-to-day operations to focus on serving the hospitality community in a unique way that has provided her a greater reach.

At TC&A we lead with our character at the core of everything we do. Character is the foundational piece that allows us to strengthen our skill sets, build consistencies in our positive behavior, cultivate relationships that will support us, and ultimately gives us the ability to thrive with confidence. This focus of character, competence, consistency, creativity, and confidence guides us to be the leaders of ourselves, first. With this confidence, we are able to better serve our clients. We support them as they become the leaders of themselves, first, so they can better lead their teams in the workplace and those in their personal lives as well.

Listen in as we talk about how Tess liberated herself from her childhood experiences, which naturally led to her living life in a way that is constantly healing, and this took her to working with leaders on the 5 C’s. Tess also speaks to the importance of staying connected to yourself and others, and how family can be a place where we can truly feel connected plus her work supporting women with Single Mother’s Outreach.

Being a leader in any industry is challenging. It can be even more so in the hospitality sector because of the pressure to take care of guests and employees. With lots of pivots in the past two years, many hospitality leaders are seeking change and looking for it through professional development.

In her interview, Tess not only shares the 5 C’s of leadership, but also redefines the term leader. She stresses the importance of work-life congruency and aligning both to fit our personalities. Above all, Tess discusses the need to have a well-defined personal philosophy in order to continually make more confident decisions.