Issy and Katie: changing an ‘O’ for an ‘E’

So what's going to change, now that Isadore Sharp is handing over the job of CEO of Four Seasons Hotels to Kathleen (Katie) Taylor? The move was no surprise, since Sharp clearly indicated his intentions when he made Taylor president and COO three years ago.

Was the change just a formality, exchanging the  ‘O' in COO for a ‘E'?

In many ways Taylor has already been functioning as leader.  In a June 26 article by Simon Haupt in the Globe & Mail, Sharp noted that she had already faced some of the toughest challenges in the company's half century of operations, namely the high profile dispute with the owners of the Aviara Resort in Carlsbad, California. Four Seasons and resort owners parted ways last week. A note on the Four Seasons website now reads, "Thank you for your interest in Four Seasons Resort Aviara. Effective June 21, 2010, the resort is no longer managed by Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts."

As COO, all departments in the 82-property chain reported to Taylor, and she, in turn, to Sharp. She spent much of her time travelling the world to oversee all 82 properties, and she oversaw all 50 developments currently underway around the world.

Both Taylor and Sharp came from humble beginnings. The widely-publicized photo of a young Sharp wielding a hammer while building his first hotel on seedy Jarvis Street in Toronto in 1961, contrasts with the image of the same man in a three-piece suite operating some of the most highly-rated luxury hotels in the world. Sharp moved 15 times during his childhood, as his father renovated and sold homes to make a living.

Taylor came from a family of five in Oshawa, Ontario, and was the first in her extended family to attend university. She had never flown on an airplane until her family took a trip to Fort Lauderdale, Florida when she was in college. When she joined Four Seasons' two-person legal team in 1989, she had no idea her employer was one of the world's foremost luxury hoteliers.

"I didn't know anything about the hospitality business...like a lot of people I thought I'd stay there for two-three years, and see where my career takes me," she told Tara Kilichand, in an online article titled, From Oshawa to the World.

But there are differences too. She came to the hotel business with a background in law and business administration; Sharp came from an architectural background. Indeed, Sharp will retain the title of chairman, and says he wants to keep his hand in the public part of their operations, "controlling the aesthetics, and the design and concept of new and existing hotels."

Their public personas differ.  Whereas Sharp is outgoing, inspirational and eminently quotable, Taylor has a quieter, though equally effective, management style.

"I'm a little bit low key," Taylor told Kilichand in a 2008 interview. "But for sure, employees in the hotel know who I am, so if I'm inside the four walls, the word gets around."

Taylor explains her role on the company website: "The Four Seasons brand is what happens a thousand times a day between our guests and employees all over the world. All I do is make it possible for our men and women to do what they do best."

-Colleen Isherwood, Editor