Jonathan Humphries is in conversation with Alphy Johnson, a legend within the hospitality industry. He has had an incredible career and now heads his own consultancy International Hospitality Advisor.

Alphy Johnson is an expert in managing hotels, around the world, and he has had his fair share of managing hotels and leading through crises. In Part 1, we covered North America, his time in San Francisco during the earthquake of 1989 and the 1992 Los Angeles riots. We’re now in Asia, in Indonesia during the financial crisis of 1997/1998.

During this time of crisis, rising from the coronavirus pandemic, we look to others for inspiration. Although we’ve never had this kind of situation, for many of our leaders, and many of us as industry professionals, the opportunity to have a conversation with Alphy Johnson about some of the crisis that he has faced in his career is invaluable. He describes himself as the humble Inn keeper which is really not a true reflection of the amount of responsibility and ability that he has shown.

At the time when leadership was all around command and control, charisma and being on stage, and selling a message, his management and leadership style now seems extremely relevant and was not in tune with the typical leadership styles of the time. Yet he was [is] highly regarded, highly respected by his colleagues, his friends and his community.