Blog & News
Blog
What an Executive Assessment Report Actually Contains
An executive assessment report answers one narrow question: will this person succeed in this seat, right now? Here is what each section needs to…
How Long Does a Senior Hospitality Career Transition Take?
A senior hospitality career transition usually runs nine to eighteen months from deciding to move to being settled. The search is the shortest part.…
What Makes a Top Hospitality Executive Search Firm
The top hospitality executive search firms are separated less by name than by method. Indeed, the difference shows up in the shortlist. By Florian…
Retained vs Contingency Executive Search for Hospitality Hires
Retained vs contingency executive search is the first decision in any senior hospitality hire, and it settles who carries the risk. By Florian Kittler…
The Hospitality Industry’s Leadership Skills Gap in 2026
The hospitality leadership skills gap is a divergence between two rates rather than a shortage of people. Here is what it is made of,…
The First 14 Days After a Senior Hospitality Exit
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~10 min. read The first fourteen days after a senior hospitality executive exit are the…
Internal vs External Candidate Assessment: Where Boards Get the Most Lift
Internal vs external candidate assessment has to answer two opposite questions. This is why one generic process answers neither of them. By Florian Kittler…
From Property to Corporate: The Identity Shift That Catches Even Great Leaders Off Guard
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~10 min. read The move from a property to corporate hospitality leadership role is the most…
Team Coaching for Hospitality Leadership Teams: When It Works
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~11 min. read Team coaching hospitality work, applied to the right senior team at the…
Board Relationship Review: Why Aligned Leadership Teams Still Get Blindsided
Why a board relationship review catches the silent misalignment individual leadership assessments miss, and how boards get ahead of it.
Executive Outplacement in Hospitality: Senior Exits, Handled with Dignity
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~11 min. read In practice, executive outplacement in hospitality is the work of taking a…
The ROI of Executive Coaching for Senior Hospitality Leaders
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~12 min. read A board or a CEO may sponsor coaching for a senior hospitality…
Executive Recruiting Explained: 12 Questions Business Leaders Ask Before Starting a Retained Search
Featured first on LinkedIn This article was first featured on LinkedIn by Dan Heiman, Global President and Managing Partner of Cornerstone Executive Search, a…
How Long Does It Take to Hire a Hotel General Manager?
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~10 min. read Owners and operators almost always ask the same thing before they set…
Hospitality Talent Shortage 2026: Why Top Leaders Are Harder to Find
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~10 min. read Ask any owner, board or group executive who has filled a senior…
Executive Assessment in Senior Hospitality Hiring: Making Better Leadership Decisions
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~11 min. read Executive assessment is what turns a strong shortlist into a confident decision.…
Career Transition for Senior Hospitality Executives: How Cornerstone Supports You Through the Move
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~12 min. read Hospitality career transition coaching exists because a senior career move is rarely…
Personal Branding for Hospitality Executives: Five Surfaces, One Story
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~10 min. read Personal branding for hospitality executives is not a marketing exercise. Instead, it…
Compensation for the Next Hospitality Role: Three Layers, One Walk-Away Number
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~11 min. read Hospitality executive compensation is rarely lost in the negotiation, and overall the…
How Hospitality Boards Make Better Leadership Decisions: A Guide to Executive & Board Search Done Well
A guide for hospitality board chairs and owners on navigating the obstacles of senior leadership decisions: the calibration approach, the 5-stage methodology, and the…
Hospitality Leadership Development & Coaching: How Senior Leaders Get From Good to Great
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~11 min. read Hospitality leadership development and coaching is the work that takes a senior…
Inside Cornerstone International Group 2026 Global Partner Meeting: Where Global Hospitality Executive Search Is Headed
How the 2026 Cornerstone Global Partner Meeting in Warsaw shaped the launch of our Hospitality, Travel & Leisure Practice, plus what the AESC keynote…
Hospitality Executive Search: Why the Specialist Difference Matters
When a hospitality CEO chooses between a specialist hospitality search firm and a generalist with a hospitality desk, the decision is rarely about price.…
The Next Performance Gap in Hospitality Won’t Be Technology; It Will Be Leadership
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~2 min. read Hospitality owners are investing heavily in technology such as artificial intelligence, digital…
The Role of a Career Coach in Executive Transitions
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~3 min. read Challenges Executives Face in Transition Over the years as an executive recruiter,…
Hospitality trains exceptional operators. So why are so many CEOs coming from outside the industry?
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~2 min. read A pattern I’ve been noticing in hospitality searches for a while: A…
Boutique vs Large Executive Search Firms: Which Is Right for Your Business?
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~2 min. read This post originally appeared on the AESC’s Insights & News When a…
News
The Future of Hospitality: Florian Kittler in Travel Daily Media
Florian Kittler speaks to Travel Daily Media as a returning judge for the TDM Travel Trade Excellence Awards 2026 in Malaysia, on experience design,…
AI Is Quietly Destroying the Hotel Leadership Pipeline
Florian Kittler’s new CoStar column, part of ISHC Global Insights, warns that as AI removes entry level hospitality roles it is quietly eroding the…
Cornerstone Convenes Global Network in Warsaw for the 2026 Global Conference
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~3 min. read Originally published by Cornerstone International Group on 17 June 2026. Republished here…
Partnership Spotlight: Capitum Connect, Capital Meets Hospitality Leadership
Cornerstone Hospitality partners with Capitum Connect, a specialist hospitality and real-estate advisory platform connecting capital, operators and brands across the UK, Europe, the Middle…
Partnership Spotlight: AP Hospitality Advisors, Decisions That Matter Across Asia-Pacific
Cornerstone Hospitality partners with AP Hospitality Advisors, a RICS-certified hospitality real-estate, operations and finance advisory firm founded in Hong Kong by Dan Voellm, with…
Partnership Spotlight: PHAL, Where Operator Insight Meets Hospitality Talent
Cornerstone Hospitality welcomes PHAL, Prakash Hospitality Advisory, into our partner network. Built by an operator for operators, PHAL integrates Agentic AI, People Architecture and…
Cornerstone Recognized Among the Top 40 Global Executive Search Firms in Hunt Scanlon 2026
Cornerstone International Group has been recognized among the Top 40 Global Executive Search Firms in Hunt Scanlon 2026, a reflection of our clients trust,…
Masterkey Lab Dubai: Florian Kittler on Leadership in the Age of AI
On 15 April 2026, Florian Kittler led a Masterkey Lab session in Dubai with senior hospitality leaders examining whether leadership is keeping pace with…
Cornerstone International Group Opens New Office in Frankfurt
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~3 min. read This post originally appeared on Hunt Scanlon Cornerstone International Group has opened a…
Cornerstone Appoints Global Hospitality, Travel & Leisure Practice Leader and Strengthens Sector Capabilities with Frankfurt Expansion
By Florian Kittler · Managing Partner, Cornerstone Hospitality · ~2 min. read Frankfurt, Germany, January 5, 2026, Cornerstone International Group today announced the official…
