President of Coakley & Williams (C&W) Lodge Administration Firm Mark Williams is on the helm of the enterprise that has been in his household since its founding in 1961 with a handshake between his grandfather Fred Williams and his companion Neil Coakley. He described for LODGING how he and his firm have developed over time, together with the formation of a strategic partnership with Lodge Equities, the place his title is at the moment SVP enterprise growth for the Northeast.
Whereas the unique companions centered on growing warehouses and workplace buildings, the corporate finally advanced right into a developer of resorts, with their first property opening in 1971 outdoors Washington, D.C. Providers expanded from development to in-house resort administration, property administration, and leasing.
In 1996, Mark Williams’ father, Gary, who labored carefully with Coakley, assumed possession of the resort administration division and commenced working resorts up and down the East Coast.
First Encounters With Hospitality
In accordance with Williams, early jobs at his household’s resorts didn’t encourage goals of a hospitality profession. “Once I was between 10 and 12, my dad had me coming to work at our Vacation Inn in Maryland, first simply choosing up trash however later working at different jobs together with the entrance desk. Beginning off, I felt like this was not going to be the profession path for me,” he associated.
Initially turning away from a profession at C&W, Williams began school in western Maryland, majoring in theater; nonetheless, a summer season within the Disney Faculty program prompted him to take a second have a look at hospitality, and finally, the household enterprise. As an alternative of returning to varsity in Maryland that fall, he continued to work at Walt Disney World in Florida, the place he remained for greater than 4 years. “Working there, particularly in numerous hospitality segments from points of interest to lodging, shifted my mindset in regards to the potentialities with hospitality, together with issues I needed to be part of,” he stated. It was there in Central Florida that he met his spouse, Stephanie, who was within the hospitality program on the College of Central Florida’s Rosen Faculty of Hospitality Administration, the place he subsequently enrolled and accomplished his diploma. Upon commencement, each went to work at C&W—she on the human assets aspect and he in operations.
Increasing the Skillset
Williams stated he got here to like the resort enterprise, the place “there are a lot of elements to understand, and daily is an journey.” When his spouse stepped again from her HR place to lift their youngsters, he moved from operations into the coaching and growth aspect of the enterprise. Then, when the corporate’s enterprise growth director left, his father, who was then president of the corporate, urged him to tackle that a part of the enterprise, which he discovered particularly thrilling. “I spent a few years doing that. It allowed me to grow to be concerned in all sides of the corporate and work together with all of the totally different folks/departments that had been a part of our enterprise,” he stated. “What I’d say I really like most about enterprise growth is engaged on the long run alternatives, serving to folks clear up issues, and seeing visions come to life.”
Ascension to President
In April 2017, his father handed him the reins of the corporate, naming him president of the general enterprise whereas nonetheless retaining possession.
The youthful Williams served in that function within the years previous to and thru the darkest days of the COVID pandemic, which he described “like being in a battle,” explaining, “We had been preventing for the survival of our enterprise with all fingers on deck, struggling to determine what we would have liked to do to cut back bills whereas additionally sustaining the boldness of our group members and purchasers.”
Unable to have information of—and far much less complete management over—what lay forward, he stated he turned to his religion, deciding to not concentrate on outcomes however to “belief God and to not fear about immediately or tomorrow.” He referred to as this method “my largest takeaway from the pandemic, and my method with no matter I’ve performed ever since.”
Williams stated that after the corporate got here out of the worst of COVID in 2021, they made the choice to type a strategic partnership with Lodge Equities (HE), an alliance that has allowed C&W to remain intact whereas benefiting from HE’s assets, operational oversight, and nationwide assist to all resorts throughout the C&W portfolio. The alliance additionally locations him in acquainted territory: Though he stays president of C&W, as SVP of enterprise growth with HE, he focuses on new growth and enlargement within the northeastern United States—together with an expanded concentrate on rising the midscale extended-stay phase this 12 months.
Williams described his management model as “servant management,” explaining, “This can be a journey that you would be able to’t and shouldn’t really feel the necessity to take alone. Leaders are solely pretty much as good because the group that’s round them, the group they’re serving.” Williams included in that group not simply employees from C&W and HE, but additionally his household and colleagues. “I’m so grateful I’ve received an excellent assist system round me. I may by no means do all of it on my own,” he concluded.
The ‘Servant Management’ Mindset: Prioritizing Folks, Not Simply Income
Mark Williams, president of Coakley & Williams (C&W) Lodge Administration Firm and SVP enterprise growth of Lodge Equities, stated he subscribes to the “servant management” administration philosophy. The aim of servant management, a motion based by Robert Kiefner Greenleaf within the early Nineteen Seventies, is to serve the wants of staff first, to assist them develop and ship their greatest efficiency, which, in fact, advantages the group. Consistent with this, Williams stated, “I don’t see greenback indicators by way of what I do, however quite the folks. My perspective is one among creating alternatives for folks to assist enhance their lives and achieve the issues they need to do.”
This method has confirmed profitable in all kinds of companies, however, as he noticed, in hospitality, “serving and taking good care of folks is on the core of what we do. In our enterprise, we get to be a constructive affect on all stakeholders, which incorporates our purchasers and group members. We get to be an instance of sunshine and like to the folks we work with and serve.”
