INTERVIEW WITH PAUL RINKENS
Creator of Qbic, the affordable design-led hotel
What superpower would you grant your 14-year old self?
I’d like to answer this question with a quote of Viktor Frankl, an Austrian neurologist and founder of Logotherapy, which is a form of existential analysis.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”
I would grant myself the power of asking for help more often and say goodbye sooner to the illusion of my ego.
What one moment in your career defined your future?
My burnout at the age of 40 really defined the path of my life. It completely changed my vision about leadership. Instead of ‘providing the help, structure and direction’, I changed my behaviour to ‘finding the help, structure and direction’. This attitude created an enormous space for my colleagues and me to investigate our growth potential and the way we could realise a positive difference.
Which people and places are exciting you about the hospitality industry right now?
I find inspiration in people who live their dream to be the positive difference. In hospitality Jamie Oliver is a great game changer. Every day he helps people to find a healthier life with simple and modest changes of behaviour. Elon Musk from Tesla Motors is another great inspiration because the impact that Tesla Motors has on the daily life of so many people in the world is, and will be, enormous.
What advice would you give to me-toos?
Find a work environment where you can live your own values. Feed Forward instead of Feed Back. Ask yourself what you can do to make a positive difference for yourself and the world instead of what the world needs to do to make a positive difference for you. Try to become a facilitator and not a boss.