GRAMMATICAS CONSULTING LTD
Briefing Note
By Dominic Grammaticas FCA
August 2026
It is a question that deserves an honest answer. When was the last time you stood in the kitchen during a breakfast service? Sat in on a guide briefing? Rode along on a guest transfer? Walked the staff quarters? Watched how your team handles a late arrival, a dietary request, a complaint?
Running a business and knowing how it runs are not the same thing. The view from behind a desk, however well-informed, is filtered. Reports tell you what happened. Numbers tell you how much. But neither tells you how it felt, how the team behaved under pressure, or what your guests actually experienced.
The best CEOs in this sector are the ones who are visible. Not micromanaging. Not second-guessing their teams. Simply present. Watching, listening, and absorbing the reality of their own operation. That presence does two things. It gives you information you cannot get any other way. And it sends a message to your team that you care about the details, not just the results.
This is where company culture begins. Culture is not a policy document. It is not a set of values printed on a wall. It is the behaviour that happens when nobody senior is watching. And the only way to shape that behaviour is to be close enough to see it, recognise what is working, and address what is not.
The CEO sets the tone. If you are engaged, curious, and present, your team will reflect that. If you are distant, your operation will eventually reflect that too. Not immediately. Not obviously. But steadily, in the small erosions of standards that accumulate until a guest notices.
High season is the ultimate test of your culture. When the pressure is on, when the team is stretched, when every room is full and every vehicle is out, what your people do instinctively is what you have built. If you are not sure what that looks like, it might be time to step away from the desk and find out.
If you would like to talk about company culture and how to build one that delivers consistently, I would welcome the conversation.
Dominic Grammaticas FCA
Managing Director, Grammaticas Consulting Ltd
