Winner HIGH
2026 CHART Training
ASCENT: A 6-month Leadership Development Experience Travis Smith, Senior Training Manager, People Development and Culture | Pyramid Global Hospitality
Objective Pyramid Global Hospitality recognized a gap between operational expertise and enterprise leadership readiness. Many high-potential leaders excelled within their departments or properties but had limited opportunities to develop strategic thinking, build cross-functional relationships, or gain exposure to senior leadership. The solution was ASCENT, a six-month leadership development experience designed to build a stronger internal leadership pipeline while simultaneously creating real business value.
Travis Smith Pyramid Hospitality
How it Works
ASCENT brings together high-potential leaders from different hotels, disciplines, and geographic regions for a cohort-based development experience. The program combines monthly learning tied to leadership competencies with executive mentorship, peer networking, and cross-functional collaboration. Participants are assigned to teams and spend six months working on executive-sponsored business challenges with the potential to influence future organizational decisions. While teams advance their capstone projects independently, executive leaders remain actively involved as mentors, guest speakers, sponsors, and final project reviewers. The experience culminates in a formal presentation to executive leadership, where participants share actionable recommendations while demonstrating their growth as leaders and their ability to think strategically about the organization as a whole.
Results
ASCENT has become more than a leadership program. It has created a connected community of emerging leaders who are invested in the future success of the organization. Participants develop greater confidence, broaden their perspectives, strengthen relationships across the company, and shift from thinking primarily about their individual departments to thinking like enterprise leaders.
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