Travel and Tourism

Sue Trizila

By Kristy J. O’Hara

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"Common sense is way underrated. Many times, it’s more important than the book smarts." - Sue Trizila, CEO, Wyndham Jade

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Sue Trizila has a sign in her office that reads, “The real leader has no need to lead. She is content to point the way.” This guides her daily as she empowers her team to achieve together, and she can’t even remember doing anything solely on her own in recent years. As president and CEO of Wyndham Jade LLC, a corporate travel and event company, her style has helped propel the company to $150 million in sales last year. Smart Business spoke with her about how she’s always right — unless her employees convince her otherwise.

Plant real people in your organization. I’ve worked for companies where there were a lot of smart people, but they couldn’t relate at all. There’s a real balance in getting smart people but also getting people who are street smart.

Common sense is way underrated. Many times, it’s more important than the book smarts. Pull it out in an interview. Ask questions that will give them the opportunity to get excited about past accomplishments. It’s easy to see if someone is programmed or if they can talk about accomplishments with a spirit.

Ask them what they are most proud of in a nonbusiness situation. You can find out then if people are real. They don’t expect nonbusiness questions to come out.

One of my employees, I honestly hired him because when I asked the question, all he could talk about is that he’s a kayaker. The way he got excited and the way he articulated what it meant to him, I said, ‘Wow, you really are a balanced person.’

The other I hired because he did a foreign exchange program in Japan, and I sat back for 10 minutes and listened to him tell me all about it. Those were two of the best hires I ever made, but you’ve got to get them off the other questions. You’ve got enough other people in your organization that will ask those questions.

Listen and care. Human nature will trump logic every time. If you’re not tuned into the human nature, then you’re going to miss out. You can feel the personality and the temperament of your organization if you walk around.

Don’t just talk to your direct reports. Talk to everyone, and you’ll find the things that matter.

People nod their head and even look into your eyes, and you know that they just aren’t with you. You can talk to them all day long, but if you aren’t addressing the things that are important to them, it is just wasted time. Set the stage for it and be engaged.

Ask what’s going on with a client. It could be a new technology program that’s come out — I ask them to show it to me and ask how it’s working. Then ask them personal questions. Ask how their family’s doing.

Do you remember something they told you before? Find ways to remember things that matter to people. I come back and make notes, so the next time I see them, I’m right there with a question. People have to know you genuinely care about what they think. If they believe that, and that comes with talking to them over time, they’re going to open up and want to talk to you.

Sell your ideas. You constantly have to sell why you believe the way you do and get the buy-in. Sometimes it’s easier to sell one on one.

It’s an easy way because you talk to employees and hear what they’re thinking, and you can counter back with your ideas and have an opportunity, one on one, to understand why they think the way they do, and you can express why you feel the way you do.

I like to direct. I don’t like to do. If you know how to sell an idea, and you can get someone else to embrace it and take ownership of it, you can avoid having to do everything. If they don’t buy it, then you’re going to end up doing it, if you want it done.

Have a passion about it first, and you have to have thought it through. Think of the objections you may have to overcome, and in the selling process, you’re going to hear objections.

Be able to overcome those. There are so many good ideas out there that never get acted on because they were not sold properly.

Train others to express themselves. Every time I talk to someone, I hope I’m teaching them how they can express their ideas. I’ve often joked that when I have someone who does-n’t really want to open up to me, I look at them and say, ‘I’m right. I’m always right 100 percent of the time unless you can take the time to convince me that I’m not, so you have to work at it.’

That’s what business is all about. Be focused on the next generation and always hire people that are smarter than you. The smarter the people you have around you, the more you have the opportunity to go out and let them do the job.

Put things in perspective. Most things are not catastrophic, and people tend to overreact. Sometimes I’ll look at someone who’s taking it so seriously and remind them, ‘This is the travel business.’

Show people the worst that could happen. If it’s a big hole, plan how you’re not going to step in it. Then remind everybody we have a team — there are people around to help everyone with whatever they’re doing. No one should be out on an island.

Look back and laugh about things that have happened to you along your career path. The things we laugh about are holes that we have stepped in, and I’m not afraid to talk about those. Some of the toughest challenges, if you can turn it into a story to tell the next generation, are the best learning opportunities.

If you build that kind of atmosphere, that makes everyone feel more secure, and whatever they do, it’s not going to be the end of the world.

Don’t focus too much. One of the business terms I absolutely hate is the word ‘focus.’ I think it has been so overused, and so many people have taken the word ‘focus’ to mean fixation.

You can lose sight if you are so targeted on something that you’re missing what’s going on in the big scheme of things. As a CEO, that’s our responsibility.

HOW TO REACH: Wyndham Jade LLC, (972) 349-7300 or www.wyndhamjade.com