Welcome to Leader 9 - Mark Norris

I trust this has been a successful summer for you, hopefully with the chance of a well-deserved holiday for yourself as well.

The Lanesborough welcomed summer with a sensational new suite bearing its name. Seems MD Geoffrey Gelardi’s quest to be the best never ends. He talks to Gina McAdam.

When it comes to the future of the hospitality industry, some of today’s leaders aren’t leaving things to chance. Peter Lederer CBE and David Cochrane, two of the guiding lights behind the Executive Masters in Hospitality and Tourism Leadership, spoke to Gina McAdam about something new.

Elite Hotels celebrates its 25th anniversary this year having opened its first property, Tylney Hall, in 1986. Today, Graeme Bateman is Managing Director of the country house hotel group and taking Elite into its next quarter of a century

Very much at ease in both east and west, the suave and genial General Manager of Mandarin Oriental, Manila jogs to energetic 90's music, reveres his old boss in Thailand, and thinks that a campfire picnic would do nicely for a last supper.

As the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, prepares to launch its first Integrative Thinking Programme in London this September, Dean Roger Martin describes the difference between a brilliant and conventional leader.

No less than the World Bank has said that "Life Long Learning is essential for individuals to keep pace with the constantly changing global job market and technology". Nina Lovatt and Rosemary Bannister of HT Training describe how the right psychometric tools can help enrich the process.

Some institutions are built to last. CEO Philippe Rossiter charts the history of the Institute of Hospitality, and says its future rests on assisting the industry face the challenges of the 21st century.

Naomi Crossley, no stranger to the extraordinary, is enthralled with Asia. She recalls an unforgettable trip visiting Profile's friends in four places

A hotelier-turned-customer’s candid jottings expose his humility and generous heart. But for that kind of money, he has every right to expect the best.