I was scrolling through LinkedIn waiting for my flight to take off when I saw a posting from @TomBoyer.

Tom is one of those rare individuals you meet in your life that you never forget. His genuine and authentic Leadership style is something I have tried to emulate and more importantly, is something I use as an example of what good looks like when explaining the difference between good and great.

Some background…

I first met Tom when he was the General Manager of the Alpharetta Marriott in 2011. Back then, I would travel there at least once a month and usually stay for a week. Every morning, Tom would be in the lobby greeting guests and asking them about their stay, and every afternoon, after everyone would come back to the hotel, he’d be in the lobby and bar area interacting with the guests and again asking them how they were doing and if there was anything that he could do to make their stay more comfortable.

At first, I didn’t know what was going on to be quite honest. I didn’t understand how everyone who came into the hotel knew this man and what where they were talking to him about. He was asking about their families, their work, their health, anything and everything. In addition to the guests, you could also see how he interacted with his staff who simply adored him. Although he was their manager, it was very clear that he was the leader and they followed him because they believed in him.