Delegation Tips for Hospitality CEO Managing General Managers
Managing General Managers is the most important and most nuanced delegation relationship a hospitality CEO has. Get it right, and a strong GM layer delivers consistent property performance, builds strong teams, and contributes to organizational culture. Get it wrong, and the CEO either micromanages capable GMs into disengagement or fails to hold underperformers accountable until damage is done.
Tip 1: Route GM Management Through the COO
The CEO should not manage GMs directly as a standard practice. The COO is the primary management contact for the GM layer. CEOs who call GMs directly about operational matters bypass the COO, create unclear reporting lines, and signal that the COO does not have real authority.
Exception: The CEO may manage flagship hotel GMs directly for particularly strategic properties. But this should be explicit and understood by everyone in the structure.
Tip 2: Be Clear About What GMs Own
GMs should fully own: all aspects of their property’s daily operations, their team’s performance management, their property’s guest satisfaction outcomes, their property’s financial results within approved budgets, and owner relations at the property level.
GMs should not own: strategy decisions above the property level, decisions that commit significant capital beyond their authority, or decisions about their own employment terms.
Clarity about ownership prevents both over-delegation (dumping too much on GMs) and under-delegation (retaining operational decisions that GMs should own).
Tip 3: Give GMs Genuine Authority
Delegation without authority is not delegation. If the CEO or COO regularly overrides GM decisions, GMs learn to check before deciding rather than deciding. This creates an exhausting cycle of escalations.
Define clear decision authority for GMs (as documented in the delegation matrix) and resist the urge to override decisions made within that authority, even when you might have made a different choice.
Overrides should be reserved for genuine mistakes, significant ethical issues, or decisions that will create serious harm. Stylistic disagreements are not override territory.
For context on how GM authority connects to the broader CEO delegation framework, see hospitality CEO delegation.
Tip 4: Set Annual Goals, Not Weekly Directives
GMs should have annual performance goals that define what success looks like: revenue targets, guest satisfaction benchmarks, employee engagement goals, quality compliance targets, and operational efficiency metrics. The COO or CEO reviews progress monthly.
If the CEO is providing GMs with weekly operational directions, the goal-setting approach is not working. Set the annual direction clearly and review progress at defined intervals, not continuously.
Tip 5: Develop GMs as Leaders, Not Just Operators
The best GMs are leaders who build strong teams, develop talent, and create cultures where service excellence is the norm. CEOs who focus exclusively on GMs’ operational performance miss the leadership dimension that determines long-term property success.
Invest in GM leadership development through:
Leadership development programs that address the people management dimensions of the GM role.
Peer network opportunities where GMs learn from each other.
Mentorship relationships with senior executives who model excellent leadership.
Feedback conversations that address leadership behaviors, not just financial results.
Tip 6: Differentiate Your Management Approach
Not all GMs warrant the same management approach. Experienced, high-performing GMs need lighter management: strategic context, clear goals, and space to lead. Newer or developing GMs need more structured support, clearer guidance, and more frequent check-ins.
Map each GM’s experience, capability, and performance level and calibrate your management approach accordingly. A uniform management approach treats every GM the same, which is neither effective nor fair.
Tip 7: Address Underperformance Quickly
When a GM is underperforming, the temptation is to provide more support and wait for improvement. While support is appropriate, waiting too long to address persistent underperformance is unfair to the GM (who may not receive clear feedback until it is too late), unfair to the property team (who are managed by an underperforming leader), and unfair to guests (whose experience suffers).
Address underperformance directly: clear feedback on specific performance gaps, a defined improvement timeline, and honest accountability if improvement does not occur.
Tip 8: Recognize and Celebrate GM Excellence
High-performing GMs are valuable organizational assets. Recognition for excellent performance, shared publicly with the leadership community, reinforces what is valued and provides motivation for other GMs.
The CEO’s personal acknowledgment of GM excellence carries particular weight. Even brief recognition in a leadership communication or at a leadership conference resonates significantly.
Tip 9: Build a GM Community
GMs across a portfolio can learn more from each other than from any training program. Annual GM conferences, regional GM meetings, and digital collaboration platforms create community and shared learning that improves performance across the portfolio.
The CEO’s visible investment in the GM community (attending GM conferences, engaging with the GM peer network) signals its strategic importance.
Tip 10: Know When to Engage Directly
Despite the advice to manage GMs through the COO, there are situations where CEO direct engagement with a GM is appropriate: flagship property strategic matters, major crisis response, personal development conversations with high-potential GMs, or recognition of exceptional performance.
Develop a sense of which situations warrant CEO direct contact and which should be routed through the COO. Consistency and predictability in this approach prevent confusion about the reporting structure.
See the hospitality delegation guide for additional context on how GM performance connects to portfolio commercial outcomes.
Conclusion
Managing General Managers effectively is the most important delegation skill a hospitality CEO can develop. By routing day-to-day GM management through the COO, giving GMs genuine authority, setting annual goals, investing in GM development, and addressing underperformance promptly, CEOs can build a GM layer that delivers consistent property excellence across the portfolio.
Great GMs are the CEO’s most important leverage. Managing them well is the highest-return investment in delegation quality.
Related Reading
For further context, explore Delegation Tips for AI Startup CEOs and Delegation Tips for Automotive CEO: Digital Teams.