On the up
In 1999, Taylor was appointed president worldwide business operations — followed eight years later by her promotion to president and chief operating officer.
She refers to this eight-year period as a “wonderful time” in Four Seasons. The company focused on expanding its portfolio of resorts through the 90s and introduced the brand to a number of new destinations in Europe and Asia. By the turn of the century, the operator had 50 properties and was present on every continent except Antarctica.
“Issy often referred to the role of COO as ‘the CEO in training’ — it was a new position the company had never had before and he viewed it precisely as an opportunity to continue to develop my leadership skills.
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“As COO, the entire company reported to me and I reported to Issy — so it really was [CEO in training]. I was doing a lot of that role, we shared a lot of CEO duties in the period leading up to my formal appointment.
“He saw very clearly that I was a culture carrier and cut from the cloth — the golden roll — that’s how I was raised as a child,” she says.
So it didn’t come as a surprise to Taylor when in 2010 she was appointed president and chief executive officer effective August 1. However, she didn’t underestimate the task she was undertaking either; her job would be to oversee 50 new projects within seven years — the most aggressive expansion in Four Seasons’ history.
“I’m the first CEO after the founder — this is not the same as any old CEO — the first CEO after the founder in any organisation has a huge responsibility, not only to ensure that the company continues to fulfill its founder’s vision, but also to figure out how to continue to evolve and improve the business going forward.”
Evolution
In addition to expansion, part of that evolution has been to help to encourage and develop women to excel within the business. Today, half of the corporate senior management team is female, a long way from the days when Taylor was the only woman. However, on the operational front — counting hotel general managers — the story is a different one.
“It’s an area we have major focus on at the moment. We’ve done a couple of things — the first was to try and educate ourselves around the source and root causes of the problem. So we engaged with a number of key academic experts in this area — women who are writing and learning about the advancement of women, not just in the hospitality industry, in general,” explains Taylor.
“We’ve learnt a few lessons. One of the main teachings beyond what women themselves happen to do differently is what the company needs to do differently. This is what I’m focused on.”
Taylor and her team have devised a sponsorship programme to nurture women through the ranks.
“It seemed clear that sponsorship needed some focus so we have taken a number of our top female leaders and instituted a quite formal sponsorship programme with a signed sponsor and sponsorship agreements being put in place. So we’re going to pilot this and see if we can gain some traction moving their careers along,” she reveals.
“We’ve picked sponsors who are highly successful leaders within the company, have great networks of influence and who will take responsibility for the careers of these young women,” Taylor says of the initiative.
Globally, she says around 20 women are currently on the pilot scheme which is being headed up by the group’s executive vice president, human resources and administration Nick Mutton. Industry-wide, Taylor believes a “dynamic change” will come from an “attitude shift”.
“There needs to be an attitude shift that this is not a place that is the exclusive arena of men.
“You can see there are all kinds of successful female general managers today and many companies like us are promoting from within, so it will just be a short while before we see some of these women reaching the top. Fairmont president Jennifer Fox is a great example,” says Taylor.
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