I met Cav. Diego Masciaga OMRI MCA MAM at 7 am sharp at my hotel’s coffee shop in Crans-Montana while he was using a knife to precisely cut a croissant and applying some apricot jelly on it. He has a stellar career in #hospitality spanning decades. He has multi countries and multi functions expertise. His organization in London provides consultancy in the #customerservice excellence domain.
The man can make you feel like the most important person in the world 🌎. You’ll feel younger (he complimented me with a “I thought you’re an 80s born!), respected, in his company while both of us were sharing the 30-minute lunch break yesterday.
We spoke about the finer aspects of people stories, development areas for the hospitality professionals, different business models, restaurant P&Ls, and our families in our respective countries.
“CAV.” before a name = Cavaliere (Knight)
A prestigious Italian civilian honor, equivalent to being knighted in the UK (like “Sir”). Diego (we call each other by our first names) has done a lot of work on young leader development in his country. He shared that only when I wanted to know more about his knighthood.
The man is humility personified. He is flying back to his country by the afternoon today. I asked about his weekend plan once he’s back. He smiled, “I’m meeting my granddaughter who’s 7 months old. And all of us will go out, and eat pizza 🍕. ” Simplicity touches hearts 💕, easily.
We left for our respective classes and meetings.
A great leader empowers others to lead.
“A good leader is who makes the other person feel like a leader.”
This reflects #servantleadership – the idea that true leadership isn’t about control, but about inspiring confidence, giving ownership, and creating more leaders, not followers.
Cav. Diego Masciaga, OMRI MCA – was a legendary GM at The Waterside Inn (3 Michelin stars for years). He was known not for barking orders, but for making every staff member feel valued, trusted, and capable – like they were running the room.
He led by lifting others up. Now he teaches at World’s leading Hospitality business schools.
#collaboration #networking beyond tasks.