Emily Chang - Intercontinental Hotels Group

AN INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY

AN INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY

While I loved working at Apple, the opportunity to serve as Chief Commercial Officer for a hospitality company like IHG was irresistible. I was honored at the belief my boss showed in me, given that up until then, I’d never led a sales force, call center, loyalty teams, or digital product team.

But with Kenneth’s support and an incredible team, we turned around market share, and transformed our sales team. We dramatically accelerated our loyalty and channel contribution. What an incredible ride!

A WINNING TEAM

I learned so much about leadership, and about myself in this job. We built an incredible leadership team, and invested in nurturing a culture that transformed a group of outstanding leaders and experts into a tightly-knit team.

I learned to let go and trust leaders to do what they do best. That I didn’t always have to have all the answers, if someone on the team knew the subject matter better. I learned to nurture and respect a wide variety of leadership styles, adapting my own to bring out the best in others.

INVESTING IN PEOPLE

Having the opportunity to lead a large team pushed me to thoughtfully consider my leadership style and hone my communication skills on a regular basis. It struck me that the most important thing I could do each day in this role, was to ensure my partners felt heard, valued, and clear in their mission. That we were aligned against a common goal, and motivated to succeed behind a shared purpose. And of course, that alongside working hard, we also played hard and rested well. This meant intentional communications planning with weekly vlog, monthly leadership connects, quarterly town halls, and countless roadshows. It meant getting over myself and my discomfort with presenting in Mandarin. Opening up to sharing my vulnerabilities, humbling myself to admit when I was wrong, and generously giving credit and praise where due. I’m incredibly proud of my team and grateful for the breadth of our shared experiences.

‘best of’ moments…

All 200+ of my corporate team did a Neon Run around the Shanghai Bund… amazing!

We sealed an important partnership, paving the way for a new level of seamless travel between IHG and Didi

We won Top Employer 2017, and I had the honor to receive the award with our CFO Jun and CHRO Raymond.

Our leadership team introduced these butterflies all over the office to remind our teams how much we supported them and had their back.

With my fun, thoughtful partner in crime: Justin Channe, COO

My leaders organized a special farewell ferry tour, ending at the iconic Hotel Indigo on the Bund. Truly unforgettable!

I was humbled and delighted when my amazing EA and good friend left IHG to join Starbucks with me.

We were thrilled when global CEO, Richard, awarded our team with the CEO Award for launching the HUALUXE brand!

Our sales transformation had us doubling down on Meetings & Events… we literally all “got behind” that initiative!

One of my favorite partners, Andrew, was global SVP distribution. We took the stage together to make a point and get a few laughs.

Susanna, Jayne and I became known as Keith’s Angels.
A powerful trio who loved partnering on brand, marketing, loyalty and China!

It’s hard to have more fun than our Revenue Strategy team – these guys work hard and play hard!

Our GC leadership team together in Hong Kong after a day of planning, team engagement and owner meetings

In China, Chinese New Year involves lavish celebrations where leaders don costumes and perform for our teams. Always great fun!

I’ll never forget the day I flew into D.C. for a quick meeting with Kimpton as we coordinated the merger… only to run into my brother-in-law in the street!

Pollution in China was often bad enough that we’d hand out masks to protect our employees. Chang Ayi (left) was one of my favorite cleaners – she’s joyful and lovely.

Man, I had a killer view from my IHG office.

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