The General Manager of Pan Pacific Hanoi Hotel Shares His Own Hard-Earned Lessons with VinUniversity Students on The Journey to Become Future Leaders

“What are your goals?”, Mr. Andrew Kim – General Manager of Pan Pacific Hanoi Hotel started the session by asking VinUni students about their lifetime goals – the factors that will dominate many important decisions of their future. If the goal is to “become a Hotel General Manager”, there are lessons they cannot afford to miss in this talk. All journeys to becoming a General Manager are always inspirational stories for students, but each real-life story of General Managers sends different messages.

Mr. Andrew’s story started from his position as a bellman – the hotel’s front desk baggage helper to the front desk position with a series of challenges when he first entered this service industry. At the beginning, there was a time when he could not help leaving the industry because his job was not enough for him to support his family. However, after a short time working another job, his love for the hospitality profession brought him back to the industry with more stability in both finance and confidence in his goals. “You can change your goals, but make sure when you do, it’s for a better one,” he said.

The toughest challenge for Mr. Andrew Kim on his journey to becoming a General Manager is leadership – a skill that took him years to acquire. There was a time in the past when he could not lay his full trust on his his partner, hence he usually had to work overtime to complete the job himself: “For me back then, it was more difficult to trust my partner than to fill more rooms.” Ultimately, he hopes VinUniversity students understand that a great leader is not someone who performs everything better than everyone else, but ensures that people who are better than him in different aspects of work are coordinating effectively. Such leadership lessons marked a new milestone in Mr. Andrew Kim’s career, taking him to his goal of becoming a General Manager.

This activity is within the scope of the Industry Speaker Series – where industry leaders, managers, and experts are invited to share experiences with VinUniversity students. The honest and insightful sharing from experienced leaders like Mr. Andrew Kim has provided a practical perspective to help the students of the College of Business and Management prepare for the fast-changing job market in the future.

(*) Article written by Le Trung Kien, sophomore of College of Business & Management