Luxury Hospitality: Captains & Senior Crew Self Development

The yacht industry is growing. Not only are more ships being built, they are also growing in size. A 140-meter yacht is no longer an exception. However, the larger the ship, the more crew ar needed onboard. Captains and senior crew are opening up to learning effective methods to manage this extended crew.

Until several years ago, a captain led ten to twenty crew members. Today, it is more common to have forty to sixty crew members on board. This means that the captain has many more people on board that he has to manage.

When leading a larger crew, different skills are needed. Self-Management Leadership, a method used to manage and lead a large group of people, has often been used onshore. It has now been discovered as a highly effective method on ships as well. However, this method means that most captains and senior crew will have to learn new skills, something most of them enjoy and see as an investment in themselves.

New Trend on Board

Peter Vogel, hospitality specialist and co-founder/CEO of Luxury Hospitality Academy, has signaled self-management leadership as being a new trend on board. “We have been providing training for service crew for quite some time now, but more and more often we get requests to train with captains and senior management.”

Sometimes a captain moves to a different, larger yacht. Sometimes the owner of a yacht buys a bigger yacht. This is the case with captain Sebastiaan van de Burg. “We are currently working on a 25m M/Y with only three crew members (Captain, Chief stew Daphne and a stew/deck), but we are growing along with the owner and are building a 46m M/Y with ten crew members (Chief stew Daphne, eight crew and me). This is going to be a big change, hence we felt the need to prepare ourselves. Both Daphne and I have studied Hospitality Management as well.”

Captain Van de Burg has registered for the Leadership & Management for Captain’s & Senior Crew which starts at the end of October. “I look forward to being motivated but also to learning how to become a good leader. I expect to be challenged and learn new or better ways to lead and motivate my crew. It is also important to me to learn from the people that have been in this industry who speak from their own experience.”

Inspiring Environment

“And that is exactly what we do”, Peter Vogel adds. “We bring captains and senior crew of different yachts together for the training at The Waterland Estate in Velsen-Zuid, The Netherlands. Not only are they in a new and inspiring environment, they are also surrounded by like-minded colleagues. They can talk about their experiences, the issues they encounter on board. Sharing brings out new solutions or ideas.”

The Self-Managing Leadership course for Captain’s & Senior Crew is similar to the leadership training for the interior, which Peter Vogel launched back in 2014. “The first day is all about understanding yourself before we can focus on others. The following days, the focus is on team building and communication using the newfound perspectives. We will learn to identify different leadership styles and how they affect individuals and teams. It’s a practical day with lot’s of light-bulb moments for everyone.”

The Waterland Estate in Velsen-Zuid

One difference between the Self-Management Leadership training for Captains and Senior crew and the Interior version is that Vogel has added a financial management day, substituting the Interior Admin Toolbox day. “We will look at the bigger picture of financially managing the operation. We will provide the tools in order to effectively manage the financial side of a luxury asset.”

Class Given by Asaro

A highlight of the course will be the contribution given by Kirsty and George Brooks of Asaro Ltd. They will show senior crew how to create the most wonderful events. “Whilst going through the exercises you are learning a systematic approach to event production and destination management”, Vogel adds. Is the Self-Management Leadership training something for you? Have you become inspired and are you ready to develop yourself, to learn new skills and become an even better leader? Do you want to learn more about yourself and your talents? Then join us for the course that starts on October 30th, 2017. There are still some places available.