He looked me straight in the eye.
“Do you want to hear a CEO’s confession?” he asked.
I nodded, still in disbelief that someone like him would tell me what no one else ever heard.
“I made it to the top,” he began.
“But not through wisdom. Not through purpose.
Through pure ego fueled by fear.
Nobody knew this, but I was terrified.
Of being overtaken.
Of losing control.
Of showing weakness.
So I pushed.
Harder than anyone.
I outpaced my team, cut corners, masked control as leadership.
And for a while, it worked well.
I cared only about my climb.
I branded myself with words like ‘integrity’ but I wasn’t living them.
I wasn’t building. I was winning. At any price.”
Now retired, after I lost my job, I can tell you this:
“My old friends? Gone.
Nobody lends you an ear when you’re no longer the guy with the corner office and the sky-high view.”
Why tell you all this?
“Because your posts made me think.”
He gave me that look, as if he wished he could go back in time.
“I’m an old man now… but I’ve got to be honest:
Somewhere along the way, I lost my heart.
I know you recruit in hospitality worldwide.
I read your posts on LinkedIn.
I never hit like. Never left a comment.
But man, those posts made me think.
You talk about heart, connection, real hospitality.
And that’s exactly what I gave up chasing numbers.”
Then he paused.
And gave me the line I’ll never forget:
“I thought kindness would cost me.
But it’s the only strategy that builds something that lasts.”
We can be profitable and still be human.
In fact, we’re more profitable when we are.
So I ask every leader reading this:
What’s driving you?
Fear, or something greater?