Jolyon Bulley, CEO, Americas & Group Transformation Lead, Luxury & Lifestyle, IHG Hotels & Resorts

Jolyon Bulley shares the ways in which working internationally has shaped his career and the role one particular mentor/champion had on his path. He discusses why it's important to not underestimate yourself, have courage, and develop others around you. Jolyon talks about his evolution in thinking about work life balance, why and how he has developed a strategic mindset and the importance of data driven decision making, and one thing he's curious about right now.

Transcript

Rachel Humphrey: 0:02

I am Rachel Humphrey with DEI Advisors. We are a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering personal success within the hospitality industry, and I'm really excited today to be joined by Julian Bulley, the CEO of the Americas and Group Transformation Lead, Luxury and Lifestyle from IHD. Welcome to the show.

Jolyon Bulley: 0:21

Rachel, thank you. Good afternoon. Looking forward to spending a little bit of time today. You've had an incredibly exciting and accomplished journey so far and get to hear about a few of the things that you think have really been pivotal in that journey for you. We will jump right in and get started. started. The people who listen regularly know that one of the things I love about the hospitality industry is that no two paths to leadership have to be the same. So tell us a little bit about your path to I. H. G. What makes it such a good fit for you and some of the steps along the way that you think were maybe pivotal in getting to where you are today. Thank you. And look, I'm I always wanted to be in the hospitality industry. My, my grandparents on my mother's side were innkeepers in, in, in England, many years ago. So maybe that's where the, where it came into my genes. And then it skipped a generation. But, as a young boy growing up in Australia I really enjoyed it. the opportunity of being, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to go on holidays with my family, but one of the thrills for me was staying in a hotel and I just loved it. Just I was fascinated by that sort of hospitality, the home away from home and how a hotel worked. So it was a real thrill for me. And built over a period of time. And I used to pester my father when he'd go on a business trip and I was on a young teenager going on school holidays. I'd pester him to take me with him along on the journey. And just again, to stay in the hotel. So he felt that I wasn't going to leave the compound of the hotel. He could go off and do business and I'd follow the staff around the hotel. So it was always what I wanted to do. So there was no question of, When I graduated from school that I'd go to hotel school, which I did in my hometown in Melbourne, and then, I joined one of our formidable competitors Hilton, and I did their sort of what, out of college, they do a management development program, which is three years working around the hotel and different functions, different levels of the organization. And growing up through there. So that was a great extension of my, my educational learning to get the practical learning on that. And that was, that was my journey. And one of the other things that fascinated me was the way this industry would provide you an opportunity to work in other locations away from your home. And my journey is certainly being part of that. I've had the opportunity to live in the industry. live in eight countries and work across probably 100 countries over my career. And here I am, in the Americas. I didn't think from those days that I was a young boy that I'd be living in the U. S. But also doing a job that I do now. And there's been so many pivotal moments on that. I think one of the things Rachel was the opportunity to work internationally. And and I had that opportunity In my company with IHG I moved from Australia to Southeast Asia and took on a role there. And we were setting up our business in Southeast Asia at the time. So it was pretty, pretty intrepid territory for us as a company, but also For me as a, I guess a young hotel executive. So that was a big move. And then that sort of triggered off a whole lot of other elements of my journey. And I pinged around Southeast Asia and Australia and New Zealand and China, and eventually to the U S that's, that's been my journey along the way. I've been fortunate that people have seen potential in me. I've had that opportunity and flexibility and support by my family to take on roles that. required us to relocate, initially as a couple and then as a family. So one of my Big platforms for my leadership journey had been my family in the way that they've been supportive of me and flexing along that journey as well. Having a strong support system is so important. You touched on a couple of themes that I definitely want to focus on a little bit more, and one of them is working internationally. We hear from so many great leaders in this industry, not just from a cultural competency standpoint or from risk taking or learning the industry. What would you tell people who are considering that option for you? What types of factors did you take into consideration when you were presented with each of those opportunities? Yeah the way that I see our industry is that It's a passport to the world. And we are a global business and we operate the principles of our business, particularly in hotel operations are pretty consistent across the globe. It's a big step to make because it's not like going. Internationally could be from the U. S. To Canada or Australia to New Zealand and, similar type of countries. But if the opportunity comes for those that do get that opportunity to go and work in a country which is completely foreign in regards to its culture, its diversity of culture and it's evolution off the industry. And I took that first step. And as I said, I went to Southeast Asia. I went to a country called Malaysia to a pretty exotic island destination. Once you get there, reality steps in. There is cultural cultural adaptation. There is different methods. There is different philosophies. There's different regulatory environments. But again, the principles of our industry remain the same. And that was a big learning curve for me. I probably at the time I wasn't ready. I took it on the chin and learn from my mistakes. And I think that's, a really good platform to build upon. And then, once I got the appetite for that I, we went on to to Malaysia, sorry, from Malaysia into Thailand. my wife and I were expecting our young family. So we went back to Australia for about five or six years. So I would advise if you're starting a family, go back to home base because the infrastructure and support is there. And then we then we set off again and went back to Southeast Asia. But and that and in that time when we went when we returned to that part of the world, we were, I was still in hotel operations. Excuse me. And, I went from being an assistant GM to a hotel GM and reached a big milestone in my career and then made that pivot of working into the corporate environment again, still in sales, marketing, revenue, but also in hotel operations. That was another step. We were living in Singapore and stepping out of hotel operations into a corporate environment. It's pretty foreign turf as well. But with that came a broader exposure to different countries. Eventually I was looking after Southeast Asia, which is probably 8 to 10 countries, India and the Southwest continent and then Korea. So again, those were just such diverse cultures in which to work from. But if you build that muscle of respecting local environments, really contributing to the local business, to developing local talent there and playing within the rules of those those countries is it's challenging. It's not complicated, but it's incredibly stimulating. And honestly, it provided me, a deeper appreciation of our industry. But also a big learning curve. And you've got to have, I guess I always come back to the word sometimes you've got to have the courage, the conviction and the open mind approach to be able to adapt to those environments. I love that and the opportunity to say yes. As frequently as you did when opportunities were presented. You mentioned though, in that learning from your mistakes, and we all make plenty of them, and they are for most of us great learning opportunities. What is the strategy maybe that you use when something doesn't go how you thought that it might, or you encounter an obstacle you weren't expecting? And what is your takeaway at the end of the day from those? One of the big learnings, Rachel, was just, Dealing with the unpredictability. Because, there are different plays out whether that's again, a regulatory environment, whether it's a cultural environment, whether it's a business environment, things that are influencing business in different parts of the world, whether they're politically stimulated, there, there are natural disasters, there are different Things that you just do not foresee coming into the industry. And, in that part of the world, there was always that level of unpredictability and uncertainty. So being prepared for that, but then also being in a situation where you were making sound advice, sound decisions or sound directions into the business or the situation that you felt was right. for the owner, for the guest, for the community, for the brand and with respect to the country that you're in. So being decisive, but doing it in a very measured manner was really important. And you do learn, particularly the time that I was in China, you learn that countries move at different speeds, right? Some are much more bureaucratic and traditional and slower. Other countries like China, where the pace of change and the maturation of our industry was so rapid, you had to move with the speed of the country to succeed. But, keeping the balance of strategy, execution, speed and what's best for the stakeholders were always at the front of my mind. And again, just learning from them, learn fast. Make sure that you're not being careless in a decision that could disrupt, the environment in which you're in. But also, growing the business within the opportunities that surround you as well. So it decisiveness. Speed measured and being really understanding what your, the core value of your brand, your company are trying to achieve in those environments that move at different paces. I can really relate to the focus on preparation and gathering the information, but the decisiveness is such an important factor, taking what you know and doing what you think is the right decision at that moment. Some will work out and some may not work out like you wanted them to, but then learning from that. To take it into consideration when you're preparing the next time you mentioned when you were talking about your original journey that you had a lot of people who believed in you and who supported you along the way, talk a little bit about the emphasis and importance of mentors or champions in your career and then to those searching for that type of relationship today. Maybe some suggestions on really developing those. Yeah, and thank you again. And look, I'm in the. advanced stage of my career. So I've had those sort of opportunities all the way through that someone has believed in my potential or someone's had the time to invest in providing me that candid feedback. That's outside of the day to day transactional piece of the business. But look, there was someone that I met, and is very familiar to IHG and familiar to our industry. A guy by the name of Keith Barr, who, you know, extremely and the industry knows well, I met Keith, gosh, probably 20 plus years ago, and Keith's wife Diana is is from New Zealand originally, and he was working in the us I was working in Australia. We were growing our careers and we got this affiliation with each other and the only thing we had in common really is we worked. for ISG at the time, little did we know that would create a really great, friendship and partnership between Keith and I. And he moved to Australia. I moved at that point in time to Southeast Asia. We kept in touch. We were on the Asia Pacific team. He was certainly the rising star at ISG, and he proven that in his career. And then over the years, we got to know each other and just had that type of. that mentorship coaching type of relationship. He was, he was one level up from me. What ended up happening is when Keith went to China as our CEO for greater China he used to prod me every now and again, Jolene, are you thinking about China? Would you like to ever experience China as a big future in the industry? And he, he was providing me some of the learnings that he had. Little did I know that Keith would then ask me to go to Greater China as his Chief Operating Officer, and we worked together for for a number of years in Greater China. So that sort of mentor, coaching, friendship, relationship built into a big career step for me. And, I'd never regretted making that decision. I guess a couple of years on, Keith then came, went to the UK and took on a role. Chief global marketing and commercial officer. I was in China. The opportunity came up for me to come over here as the chief operating officer in the Americas, and he played a big part. big role, not so much in recommending me, but providing me counsel and reassurance that a big step like that is worth making. And he saw the potential for me to be able to adapt. I was very grateful for that. Excuse me. A few years later, Keith became the global CEO for IHG. We went through a transformation back in 2016 and 17. And he again, that relationship went on that he asked me to take on, would I be willing to take on, join his executive committee and take on the CEO for Greater China for ASG, which is our fastest growing region. We had a lot of things happening there, but he needed someone that knew the business, that he could trust in the business and had the potential, to, to lead us through that That period in time. So he pointed me the CEO for Greater China. So that's just a many year example of being coached and mentored by Keith and, we built a really great rapport. as peers, as a boss, a relationship developing our careers, growing our careers and building our careers together. And that type of communication was always two way. He would always take really valuable feedback from me just on things that I was seeing in the business and how that could help him be successful in his role. So I think probably the key message is there. It's got to be two ways. It's got to be a really in full, but with some form of structure relationship. The power of listening is just so important. Where we're trained to be sort of 16 2nd listeners. And I have that as one of my derail us from every now and again. But to be able to listen and have thoughtful conversations that are not transactional around the business, but also then applying principles that build your insight, build your confidence, answer your questions that you don't normally get in, in, in the day to day transactional side of the business. And, I've tried Rachel many times, and I've got good examples of it where I've played that role for many others in the organization, but it's reflective behavior of some of those experiences that you have. And I, I use Keith because he's had a successful career in himself. He's an ISG through and through. And, he was one of those guys that played a big part of my development and gave me the courage and conviction to take on these trans pacific opportunities. What an incredible lesson to that. What started as a friendship among peers, you never know where you or others in this industry will go or end up. And so you built a genuine relationship with Keith that then ultimately ended up playing a lot of different roles. roles for you and vice versa. The mutuality is such an important part. I want to switch gears for one second. One of the things I've been really interested about in a lot of the interviews that we've done is how many leaders have identified their curiosity as they think one of the big drivers of their success or of their leadership. I'm wondering if that is something that feels relatable to you. And if so, what's something that you are curious about today? Wow. We're in such a dynamic environment, I think coming, coming out of the pandemic and then seeing how we've, we've all had that post pandemic surge in our industry and our business and the demand. But it's changed the mindset of a lot of people's thought, thoughts about professional, personal life, work life balance, etc. And that's, again, that level of change that's upon us all the time is something that just keeps me curious. Of course, there are in the moment, in the month, in the year, things that we have to deal with. And this year being an extraordinary year, not only domestically but internationally, with all these unforeseen things happening around the world. And I think just having that level of what does this mean? How can I influence These elements, whether they're short term or longer term, that, that will help us build our business that's best for our guests, best for our owners, best for our stakeholders, best for our shareholders over a period of time. But, that level of curiousness you can ponder on, you can analyze, you can get too deep into it. But I think what we've got to, what we've got to take into consideration is, and again, that level of, of agility, decisiveness, fact based decisions enables you to have, I think, look over the fence and not, not ponder too much on those curious moments. And also, one thing that I'm certainly very acutely aware of is in this unpredictable environment, Short term is important, but play the long game because fundamentals of our industry, both here in the U. S. And globally are really positive just through the demographic profile of our people, the rising middle class. Our industry is strong and it's got a great future. So never underestimate the potential of what we've got. Be curious, but don't ponder on it. It's interesting because at the beginning you said, it may change today or next week or next month or next year. And so that adaptability. to curiosity as well. When you were coming up first through the hotels and then as you changed roles, you then pivoted, of course, over into the corporate side. In each of those opportunities, we all can encounter something that we either didn't learn in school. We didn't learn it in the job before, but we quickly identify that this is a skill that we are going to need to really develop or work the muscle on to be successful in the new role. Do you have an example of one of those and how did you set out to try to develop or master it? It's a really good question. And I, I think we're always looking to develop or strengthen skills. There's no question about, again, I'm a hotel guy, right? I grew up in hotels, grew up in operations. And therefore, you build that, leadership or general management skills. And, but you're also very execution focused. You're always focusing on, what you can do, for the business today, tomorrow and next week. And one of the things that I really did find is I brought, went into the corporate environment, which is many years ago now. But and as I developed in my career, excuse me there were two things really that I needed to do. One, one was, Jolene, you need to think a lot more strategically, right? And I've heard that so many times in my career. And honestly, I must say, I've said it so many times. to people so many times in my career, but you can thinking strategically is not a learning skill that you read a book and then you become strategic from it. But building muscle, building awareness about it, thinking about the longer term, getting an end state in mind and working backwards from it. Is some of the, some of those muscles that I had to build over a period of time. And Yes, I did take some external learning. Yes, I did. I did follow some people's great examples of it. But really having that self awareness and discipline around it was something that was very important to me in it. And again, That was a turning point. But I still, question myself. I put myself in the room of mirrors as we all do and say, Am I thinking strategically here? Am I thinking emotionally? Am I thinking short term? So I would suggest that is something that anyone needs, in life. And sometimes a bit of age and experience helps you on that journey. The second thing, Rachel, is a really strong appreciation for the work Of data and making sure that you're getting the right level of data, the one version of truth, the insights for you to be able to make the right decisions about the business and once again, I guess that's part of my muscle that I had to build with that strategic thinking muscle. Is use data, use facts, those facts inform the insight for form informs the action going forward. But one thing I will never do is I will never drown myself in data points because I think we can sometimes get too much data, get wallow in the data and not be able to see what the outcomes will be. They're the two areas that I have always received feedback into my career that I've always built muscle on, and I try to impart those qualities on other people as well. And having that self awareness is such a critical part of, as you were mentioning it to the strategic looking inside and saying, Am I being strategic here? So I think that also shows one of the good leadership traits is being self aware or reflective in the moment. to really decide if you're working that muscle or not. You mentioned a couple of times your family, whether it was in context of moving around different times, your support system, things like that. It used to be we only asked women about work life harmony, and I won't use the word balance. But in reality, it is something that everybody who has interests outside of career, I'll even say has to learn to adapt to. Talk a little bit about that process for you. Obviously, starting a very demanding career before you had Children and other interests. And then have you learned any lessons over time? Has that adapted in any way? Yeah, I think, we all in young in younger stages of our career probably put work over life harmony. There's, there's no question about that. We are in an industry that's never closes. It's open, seven days a week, 365 days a year. And, a room sold is not sold as a room lost. So it's a very, very I guess our industry is, is a daily business. It's demanding. There's no question about that. Any career these these days is one of the lessons that I did learn, Rachel was, I had a very supportive family. They were always willing to Change schools, change countries, change homes, change friendship bases. And come along this journey with me and it's built them as a stronger family. It's built us as a stronger family. Probably one of the things that I guess in regards to that work life harmony was that when I was going into new environments, probably didn't spend enough time settling them in and making sure that they were set up for success. I would run off and, start that new role and start that new job. But that's just I think that's just natural for people that are, that are growing in their careers. But it certainly has given me a greater appreciation of family and my three Children are all adults. Now they're here, in the U. S. In some of them in Atlanta and one of them in New York. When I was in China during the pandemic, I got stuck there for 10 or 11 months. I just couldn't leave the country because we're, in the throes of the pandemic and albeit they were adults and they were here at the time in Atlanta. Yeah. I just suddenly, had all these moments of what I've done well as a in my work life balance decisions that I've made. Here I am in China focusing on trying to represent our company and our industry and our owners and that type of thing. Why don't I just get on a plane and come home? But it was really, they were very understanding in that regards video video conferencing and that type of thing certainly helped a lot. When that 10 month came and I came home, it really did give me a greater appreciation of one, that work life harmony, making sure that you've got time for yourself, time for your partner and time for your family and doing it in a way that's natural. And not overburdening. And it, it took me a long time to, to appreciate that. And now I try to keep that in balance. And one thing I really do these days is I'm very selective on travel. And that's for professional and personal reasons. But, you can get caught on that, that airline travel bug or traveling for the right things in the business. I'm very thoughtful about when I travel, why I travel, how I can be my best when I travel, but also having that time to be, at home and around just replenishing mental state, but also being there and being present for family. And it's a hard balance for us all to make. So I've learned some hard lessons. I've learned some lessons that I didn't learn from, and it took me, a little bit later to realize how important that is. Just. for the individual, but also the people surround you love you the most. I appreciate your sharing that. And I think, as you mentioned, we are all works in progress. So as we continue to reflect and grow, and some of that certainly is going to be in how we evaluate choices and the choices that we end up making. I want to turn just to the last year very briefly and ask you, just like our personal lives are works in progress. Of course, is our leadership work in progress. What's one of the biggest lessons you've learned just generally in the last year? And how do you think that will be incorporated into your leadership style moving forward? Look, I think we, coming back this, last year, I came back into familiar territory. But, our business was different and the environment that was surrounding us has been different and has been difficult for our owners. It's been difficult for our hotels. It's been difficult for us, personally. And, there's been some headwinds blowing in the industry that have, that have, that have, that are hurting many of our stakeholders. And I guess when I came back here I was on that sort of relearning curve and saying where are we at? What are we doing? Listening to a lot of people. And I was, getting to the stage and comes back to the strategic, think the long term game. I got back into almost a Wow. This is not overwhelming, but what can I do to change the course of the direction of things that are happening and realizing that our external factors, that most of the things I couldn't change. So therefore how can we help our constituents and stakeholders, navigate their way through this? How can I ensure our business is stabilized and we're providing the right level of support to our hotels, how we've got the right organization deployment in place. But also then once you've got that sort of level set, think the long term. So I went back to the fact that the fundamentals of the industry are great. We're going to come through this together. We're going to come out of it stronger. There's no question about it. But this unpredictability that we're seeing in the business and these headwinds that are blowing, it's cyclic. And, Jolene as the CEO speaking to myself was saying, think the long term, believe in the future of what we need to do and make sure that all of us come through these uncertain times, bigger, better and stronger as an organization and as an industry. And also then playing a role in advocating for the industry as well, supporting. Through our owners association, through the HLA and through other supportive networks, what we can do together, stronger as an industry to advocate for the future and the potential that's ahead of us. And that's such a great thing to really focus on. Here are the things I can't control. But then how do I adapt to really look for the long term for the things that I can? We have talked about reflection and life as an evolution a bit. And this always ties into my favorite question to ask, because I do think we're all works in progress sitting here today, knowing how Your career plays out for you. Your family plays out for you. What would you tell your 21 year old self that you either wish you knew then that you know now, or about how things turn out for you? I guess some of it comes back to that work life balance, me giving advice to a 21 year old about work life is probably that's, that's an older generation. That's dad talk, right? Look, there are probably three things that really resonate to me. One of them is never underestimate your potential. People will recognize you, tell you the good, the bad and the ugly. Some people won't. That was one thing for me was never really underrated, under recognize your potential. And with that, comes the second piece and that's courage. Have courage. My mother says to me all the time, when I pick up the phone and say I'm off here and I'm going there and I'm doing that and got a new job and whatever it may be. She said, You're a courageous young boy, Jolion, and she's 91 now and I'm You know, not far behind, but, as you can, as I said, it's my mother, but, really, and that resonated with me a lot is to say that, if you don't underestimate your potential, be realistic, but when the potential opportunity comes around, have the courage in yourself have the confidence that somebody is recognizing you for an opportunity here, you doubt yourself, or you're not sure if you're going to have the capacity to do that. But if you've got that level of underlying courage, that'll help you on the way and really push you along. And the third thing I would say, Rachel, and it's a really important part of my role now. One is to model the way, but I probably should have recognized the potential of others. And I talked there about, the D. E. And I environment, the diversity of talent in our organization, very anglo saxon male dominated early in my career. And where we are today, really making sure that we're developing talent all the way up through the organization, making sure that there's a really sensible modeling of the way in, in regards to your developing of talent, you're recognizing of talent, you're appointing a talent, having the courage around that. And I've had a lot of examples in the last five to 10 years where I can be proud where we've, gone in, say for example, in China, where it's a very male dominated environment, just that's cultured way, bringing, a balance of female talent through the organization. And when I left China, our leadership team was all male. When I left China as my CEO there, it was 50 50 in regards to male female leadership. Localization of talent was something that's really important to me. And we have a role to play in that with IHG here in Atlanta. And there's parts of those things where, as I said, you need to model the way you need to recognize The capacity and the opportunity within talent, but also I'm absolutely committed to leaving a legacy in this business of being someone that has modeled that way and made a big difference to people's lives and careers. Don't underestimate yourself. Have courage and develop and support others. Certainly great advice and nice to see that it's something that you are incorporating in today. As we wrap up on time here, we've covered a lot of different ground. But as you think about the motto of D. I. Advisors to empower personal success. Is there any final piece of information or advice you want to share with our listeners. I first and foremost, thank you, for advocating, this agenda for our industry and for the broader agenda as well, because, are a people serving people business and, people's lives matter. We're there to serve people. customers providing them the most, personal needs to eat, to sleep, to be recognized, and that's the, to me, I always think about the hospitality industry. It's not complicated, but we are a people to people serving business and we rely upon people to provide those services to our guests or to our owners. So really thinking about the environment in which you live. The role that you need to play in your community and some of the principles that really set the foundation, one of your organization, but your personal values. And as I said, my, my commitment to that is for me in this business. And in this time is to model the way and provide opportunities for people, whether they're interns, we have our summer intern graduation program here tomorrow to people joining the hospitality industry for the first time to growing their careers in our business and developing their careers in their business. And everybody has a role to play and everybody has a right to play in that role. Wow. What a great way to wrap up today. Julian, you have a lot of ways you can spend your day. I'm really grateful that you chose to spend a little bit of it with me. Also appreciate your sharing with our audience and to our audience. You also have a lot of ways that you can choose to spend your day. So I appreciate you joining us and listening in. If you liked what you heard today, we hope you'll head over to deiadvisors. org to hear from nearly a million people. industry leaders that have shared their paths to leadership and the insights they've learned along the way. But Julian, thank you so much. Thank you, Rachel.