Every so often a deal gets tense. A hotel drops the ball, a detail falls apart, or something lands wrong at the worst possible time. It happens to everyone in this business. What separates the people who last from the people who burn out is what they do in that moment. At HPN Global, we have two words for it. Be cool.
It started as one of Bill Kilburg‘s sayings, the kind of line he drops so often that it stopped being a phrase and became a way of working. BK does not only say it, he wears it. On his wrist he keeps three small reminders, be cool, be present, and gratitude, right where he can see them all day. When your blood is up and you want to fire back, the first one is sitting there looking at you. It sounds simple. In practice, being cool is one of the hardest and most valuable habits in hospitality.
What being cool actually looks like
Here is the version we live. When something gets heated, do not put your anger in writing. A sharp email feels good for about ten seconds, and then it travels. It goes to the hotel, to the director of sales, to the regional, up the chain of the brand, and it has a way of following you long after the issue is resolved. Once it is in writing, you do not get it back. So we do the old-fashioned thing instead. We pick up the phone.
Picking up the phone is close to a lost skill, and it is still the fastest way to solve almost anything. A two-minute call settles what thirty emails cannot. You hear the other person’s tone, they hear yours, and the human part of the problem gets handled the way humans handle things. If you are too hot to make that call cleanly, that is exactly when you loop in a teammate. Say what you need to say, get it off your chest, even write the angry email if it helps, and then do not send it. Let someone with a cooler head help shape the real response.
Why it is the whole strategy
None of this is about being soft. It is about protecting something that matters more than winning one exchange. We built this company on relationships, and relationships do not survive people who need to be right in the moment. Our values say it plainly. Be nice to people. Let go of negativity. Life is all about relationships. Be cool is simply what those values look like when the pressure is on.
There is history behind it too. HPN was started by people who came from the other side of the table, who had seen how some third parties behaved and decided to be different. Being the calm, straightforward, decent company in the room was the whole point from day one. Every time one of us chooses the phone call over the angry email, we are keeping that promise.
So the next time a situation gets sticky, remember the two words. Be cool. Step back, pick up the phone, and if you need backup, ask for it. The problem almost always gets smaller, and the relationship almost always stays intact. It is a small choice in the moment. Over years and hundreds of relationships, it is the whole difference.
Be cool. Be present. Gratitude. Three reminders worth keeping close, on your wrist or otherwise.
