Leaders cannot motivate others. They can only build the conditions in which employees motivate themselves.

That is the central, counterintuitive claim Dr. Sébastien Fernandez makes in a new push to reshape how hospitality operators think about workforce performance. Fernandez, an associate professor of organizational behavior at the École hôtelière de Lausanne, said the long-running "leader-as-hero" model no longer fits how hospitality operators run frontline teams today.

"In workplaces of the past, the leader was the hero of the story, but nowadays we recognize that the leader is one element of the story but all the followers are part of that story too," Fernandez said in an interview on human-centric leadership.

What does the new framing actually change for operators?

It moves the manager's job from pep talk to environment design. Hospitality runs on small teams executing under pressure — a host on a Friday night, a bartender on a Saturday. The choices those frontline workers make to upsell, recover service, or flag a problem depend less on a manager's charisma and more on whether they trust the person in charge.

"Organizations do not outperform because employees are motivated," Fernandez said. "They outperform because people feel safe enough to contribute, challenge and innovate."

That is where psychological safety enters the picture. A server who feels comfortable flagging a wrong order before it reaches the table saves the table, the tip, and the comp. A cook who feels safe admitting a mistake on the line saves the kitchen from a bigger problem later.

"Psychological safety is extremely important to prevent repeating the same mistakes," Fernandez said.

Why does culture now sit next to scheduling and inventory?

Two EHL publications anchor the argument:

• The executive Insights Research Report on Hospitality Leadership Skills, co-authored by Fernandez with Dr. Sowon Kim and Dr. Bertrand Audrin, found employees place significant weight on trust, recognition, meaningful workplace relationships, and development opportunities.
• The EHL Insights Hospitality Outlook 2026 ties that finding to long-term competitiveness, arguing organizations must now compete on culture as much as cost.

Fernandez is blunt about where the industry stands. "I think that currently, human-centric skills are still treated as 'nice to have' rather than essential," he said. His prescription: "Human-centricity should be embedded in the organization, right from the onboarding process."

What does a "human-centric" leader actually do on a Tuesday night?

Build trust first. Model the behavior expected. Admit your own misses. Ask staff for input. Listen before reacting. Fernandez argues authenticity starts with self-awareness: the effective leader knows their blind spots and adapts to the room.

Tools such as coaching, peer feedback, and personality assessments support the work. The discipline stays the same: make it psychologically safe to speak up, then let teams carry the result.

What is the long-term bet?

Fernandez's underlying bet: as automation handles more routine work, the differentiating capabilities — empathy, communication, trust-building — rise in value. Hospitality, where every meal and every stay depends on a human interaction, sits at the front of that line.

The real question for leaders, in his framing, is no longer how to motivate people. It is how to build the conditions in which motivation shows up on its own.