The general manager role has quietly become one of the most complex jobs in service business. It sits at the intersection of operations, culture, finance, and experience — and the people asked to hold it are rarely given the frame to do so.
We work with GMs across boutique hotels, residential communities, and founder-led hospitality brands. The pattern is consistent: they are extraordinary operators who have been promoted into a role that is fundamentally about design.
Design of the schedule. Design of the standard. Design of the meeting cadence. Design of the escalation ladder. Design of the culture. The best GMs we know spend the first hour of every day not fighting fires but adjusting frames.
The organizations that get the most from their GMs give them two things: air cover and architecture. Air cover to make the calls only they can make. Architecture — SOPs, dashboards, rhythms — so they aren't rebuilding the operation every morning.
Written by
Angelieque Pelle
Founder of InOrder. Writes on the craft of running things well.