”Drawing a successful plan also means adapting along the way to chase your objectives” Patrick Apostolo Corporate Operations Manager EMEA for RHG
Coming from an already international environment, Patrick has moved quite a lot over the years and has now settled with his family in Brussels, Belgium. Highly experienced in the hospitality segment he is in charge of the Radisson Hotel Group Operations within the EMEA region, which involves a fair amount of travels on a monthly basis.
Being Brussels among the top cosmopolitan cities in the world, the strong mix of cultures, ethnicities and different approach is a matter of fact that sometimes can represent a barrier or create misunderstandings between people, just because of their background or simply different way of thinking, as Patrick highlights. Building relationships and networking is a major part of his job though, and it’s all about making them long-lasting ones: ’’At the end of the day what you have is just a title. What stays is the network you have built over time made of your professional connections, that sometimes turn into your personal ones as well’’, he says.
Having attended a course on Leadership and Change Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology he picks a nice story to paraphrase his definition of success achievement:
a group of army gets lost on the Swiss Alps and after finding a map in a shelter they were using to protect themselves from a storm, they start following it but finally realise that the map was leading them to a place in the Pyrenees.
Hence, his suggestion is breaking down a plan with method while taking the variables into account, while adapting yourself to the changes along the way. Also, over time our plans and priorities will change, as we face different phases of life but it is important to keep your personal growth as a constant throughout the journey.
Provided that you have a stable plan or not, as someone wrote on a garage near Patrick’s house, remember: ”Freedom starts where your comfort zone ends!’’