A cheerful, amiable person who loves cracking jokes, it’s easy to see why Hans Sebesta is good at motivating staff and ensuring that his guests have an enjoyable time at the Hotel Baltschug Kempinski. The Leader spoke to him about his career to try to discover the secret of the hotel’s success.

The Leader: What inspired you to go into the hotel business?

Mr. Sebesta: The Hospitality sector brings with it a unique quality of life, and it knows no borders. If I wanted to, today I could work in South Africa and tomorrow in Honolulu. The other thing that appeals to me is my love for communication; I really enjoy the contact with customers and staff.

The Leader: You are not a university graduate. Has this ever proven to be an obstacle in your career growth?

Mr. Sebesta: After finishing high school, I went through a two-year course in hotel administration, which was a mixture of time spent in college and time spent learning on the job. I do not regret not going to college, as it has never been an obstacle to me. At one point I started an MBA course to catch up on the academic side of things, but I didn’t manage to finish it due to illness.

The Leader: What made you decide to come to Russia?

Mr. Sebesta: Arriving in Moscow was like coming home. I didn't plan to stay so long at the beginning, but the longer I stayed, the more I fell in love with the country.

The Leader: Could you describe your main responsibilities?

Mr. Sebesta: My main obligation is to inspire the team with the Baltschug spirit, to guide our staff and improvise solutions. It is my responsibility to care for the staff and to communicate with them. Basically, I am a manager — I am paid to let other people do their work and to create a framework where they feel responsible for what they do, and can reach their targets. I am not a dictatorial decision-maker; I moderate things. I only make decisions if there is a controversial decision in the managing team. If they come to a decision on their own that I can live with, that’s fine.

The Leader: How many people do you manage directly?

Mr. Sebesta: A manager cannot organize the work of more than seven people successfully, so I deal with departmental managers. But of course, when I am at the service station and I see that something’s not right, I say so.

The Leader: What kind of differences have you noticed between Russian and non-Russian styles of work and management?

Mr. Sebesta: Non-Russians are more focused on content and Russians are more focused on form. A Russian will be given a task and, if the instructions are not complete, he or she is more likely to say "you didn’t tell me to do that" when something goes wrong. Under communism, people were discouraged from feeling responsible for their work. This has to be taught, lived and learned.

The Leader: What do you think it is about you that makes you good at your job?

Mr. Sebesta: I am interested in human beings and I think I’m a good listener. I also think that I can inspire a team and give clear guidance. These soft skills are the most important things.

Also, I try not to fall under the living standards of 95 percent of my customers. This places me in the best position to judge the standards of the hotel. I have to keep them so high that whoever comes to the hotel thinks that it’s something special.

The Leader: What kind of hours do you work?

Mr. Sebesta: That is a hard question to answer — my work is my life. One day, I may get up at 3 a.m. because I want to check on the security guard’s work. Another day I might go to bed at 2 a.m. because a VIP has arrived in the middle of the night and he needs special attention. The first two years I was here I worked 18 hours a day. It’s an around-the-clock job.

The Leader: Given these erratic hours, how do you balance your work and private life?

Mr. Sebesta: You can never ask a boss this question; for him there is no difference between work and private life ¾ I even live in the hotel. Even when swimming in the pool, I have my eye open for unfolded towels and any staff that are chatting too much. I can be in Honolulu, London or New York, but I’ll never switch my mind off the hotel. It’s the same for the top people in any company. I do of course however love my family and I visit my wife and son in Germany as often as possible.

The Leader: You have worked at the Baltschug Kempinski for 10 years; how have you maintained your interest over such a long period of time? What do you do to find new challenges?

Mr. Sebesta: As soon as I reach one target, I set myself another one. There will always be room for improvement as long as there’s a single customer leaving the hotel with a complaint. The company’s values are in sync with my own, so why should I leave it?

The Leader: What was it like setting up a luxury hotel in Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union?

Mr. Sebesta: The fall of an empire that had ruled half of the world for over 70 years is a monumental thing. You cannot compare the setting up of a luxury hotel opposite the Kremlin — the symbol of this empire — to anything else!

We were faced with many challenges when setting up the Baltschug: not the least of them, it was initially hard to get the kind of service and attitude that we needed out of staff. I had to overcome a great cultural gap when managing.

The Leader: Did you feel guilty about polluting Moscow with materialistic values that it had not been to exposed to previously?

Mr. Sebesta: How could I feel guilty about providing stable jobs for 400 people and paying them salaries that they can feed their families with? As an honest company we pay taxes, and with this money roads are built and teachers are paid.

The Leader: What advice do you have for someone who wants to be successful in the hotel and catering business in Moscow?

Mr. Sebesta: Sit on my shoulders and watch! No, seriously — look around the Baltschug and catch the spirit and try to understand why we are successful here. I probably have a different opinion on this than other hotel directors, in that I think that it is important to have had a good childhood and good education and that these experiences will give you the necessary principles and values in life. You have to be professional, persistent, consistent and clear with other people.

The Leader: Where are the best places to study in this field in Moscow?

Mr. Sebesta: At the beginning of the 90s, I would have said that the best way is to get an apprenticeship at the Baltschug. But the Plekhanov Academy now has a good hospitality department and so does Tsaritsino.