I recently went one-on-one with Geoffrey Toffetti, CEO of Frontline Performance Group.
Adam: Thanks again for taking the time to share your advice. First things first, though, I am sure readers would love to learn more about you. How did you get here?
Geoffrey: I began my hospitality career at a hotel in St. Pete Beach, Florida. I started as a valet, then bellman, before I landed at the front desk. If you wanted to get into management, you had to go through the front desk. And had a lot of success upselling there, even though it wasn’t common practice back then. I ended up making more money in upsell commission than I did in my pay, so much so, I was making more than the supervisors. So they promoted me to the night audit manager, my first move into a salaried position. The night audit operation was poorly run, so I transformed it, downsizing a team and saving a bunch of money. I then leapfrogged my supervisors and progressed to Guest Services Director. Five departments were combined under me; I didn’t get paid for it, necessarily, but it was a big step. I had about 40 employees. I was then recruited to join a startup called ZeroChaos in Orlando.
I was the first employee of this company, other than the founders, and was there for 11 years. We decided to take all my operational knowledge and put it into sales engineering, channel partnerships, and special projects. I worked my way up from operations manager to VP of Operations. We created a department called Strategic Solutions, and I was there until I met Ziad Khoury, the founder of Frontline Performance Group, a defining moment in my career.
I joined FPG in 2011, taking a pay cut in exchange for some equity. When I joined, we had 27 employees and just a few clients. Car rental was 80% of our revenue, and one of my mandates was to find another vertical with a background in hospitality; hotels were a natural fit, but we actually started with a theme park. After strong results, a sponsor introduced us to an executive at a major hotel brand. They sent us to their flagship property, expecting us to fail. But through professional persistence, never pushy, just consistent, we exceeded expectations.
That executive became our champion, rolling us out across their managed properties. One hotel led to five, then 30, then 60, and here we are today with 2,500+ hotels in 100+ countries. Our reputation for results and being easy to work with, plus two key acquisitions, fueled our growth. In hospitality, relationships are everything.
Adam: What experiences, failures, setbacks, or challenges have been most instrumental to your growth?
Geoffrey: Some of the most defining moments in my growth have come from leaning into the unknown. Early in my career, I was in operations, and there was a need for data analysis, something I’d never done. Instead of shying away, I volunteered, saying, “I’ll figure it out.” That decision led me to become the go-to analyst for the CEO, getting me into high-level meetings and building a new skill set. It made me invaluable and opened new doors. I’ve seen too many people miss out on growth because they’re afraid to step into the unknown. For me, this taught me saying “yes” to challenges, even when they’re daunting, creates opportunity.
One example of navigating a major challenge was during COVID, when on-site hotel visits became impossible and we lost 90% of our business overnight. We had to completely shift to a virtual model. During this time, we made a bold move to acquire TSA Solutions, our biggest competitor, securing a creative and fair deal that added significant value to the company. The transition was tough, especially integrating and retaining their clients. But looking back, it was like the Great Depression; those who had the foresight and resources to invest during a downturn came out stronger. A well-timed opportunity, combined with strategic decision-making, turned a risky move into a major success.
A final example that stands out is when I started at ZeroChaos, and the dot-com bubble burst a few months later. I had hired two former colleagues and relocated them to Orlando. The CEO gave me a choice: let one go, or we all take a one-third pay cut. I chose the pay cut, which put a lot of pressure on me and my fiancée, who was still job-hunting. It was tough, but it worked out. Our pay was restored, the business recovered, and both team members became incredibly loyal; one stayed for 18 years, and the other is still there today.
Adam: In your experience, what are the key steps to growing and scaling your business?
Geoffrey: Early on, the most senior leaders need to be deeply involved in sales to truly understand how clients perceive the product and to determine what kind of people are needed in sales roles. You must immerse yourself in the details. You don’t stay there forever, but you do need to be there long enough to recognize when something is breaking down or someone is pulling the wool over your eyes. You need to be able to troubleshoot.
Once you’ve scaled, infrastructure and leadership can manage these things. But in the early stages, scaling demands you go neck-deep into the minutiae. You have to put yourself in front of clients to understand firsthand how they are perceiving your product. That’s when you can start building your team, based on real insights, not assumptions.
If we’re talking specifically about technology, there are additional considerations: What’s your tech stack? What’s the acceptable level of quality for your product at this stage? But from an organizational development standpoint, it’s all about leaders immersing themselves deeply, then stepping back quickly to form strategy and build a capable team based on what they observed in the field.
Too often, leaders sit around theorizing, then they run into unseen obstacles. If they’d just spent time ‘in the field’ for a few weeks, they would have known what was coming.
Adam: What is your best advice on building, leading, and managing teams?
Geoffrey: I would say one of the best strategies is having a direct leadership style. We encourage one-on-ones with our team members, and when we promote a new leader, we spend time with them and try to teach them to be direct. You can be kind, you don’t have to make someone feel bad, but you can be forthright and give transparent feedback. And I think a lot of the time, team members are craving honesty; the truth is one of the best gifts a leader can give. Be authentic. Give transparency in communication and communicate often. It’s really important. I’ll share an anecdote about one leader’s style, that was making people feel bad. It sounds small, but it was seriously affecting productivity and culture across a large group.
It was clear something needed to be addressed. A one-on-one conversation followed, where I shared the feedback. It was uncomfortable for both of us, but it had the desired effect. They gained insight into their behavior, something they were previously blind to, and were able to correct. Often, people are trying to be strong, direct leaders, but end up coming across as abrasive without meaning to; it’s a subtle art.
And one final thought: do not micromanage. Micromanagement is one of the fastest ways to destroy a healthy culture. It signals a lack of trust in someone’s judgment or capability. If you genuinely don’t trust someone’s work, coach them or move them out. But if they’re on your team, let them own their work.
Adam: What are the most important trends in technology that leaders should be aware of and understand? What should they understand about them?
Geoffrey: Agentic AI. If leaders aren’t immersing themselves in this, they are falling very far behind. It’s transforming productivity, especially in white-collar, intellectual work, most notably in software and technology development.
These AI agents are accelerating at an extraordinary level, and companies adopting them are going to jump ahead. If your developers aren’t paired with an AI agent at all times, you’re already losing 30–40% productivity based on just the past year.
If you’re not aware of what’s going on in agentic AI, you’re already behind. The tools available now are mind-boggling. A person with no tech experience can build software on their desktop to help do their job in a matter of hours. If no one in your company is doing this, and you’re not encouraging it, you’re already failing.
Two years from now, I don’t know if there will still be software developers or accountants. That’s how fast it’s moving. Unfortunately, maybe writers, too. The one thing a human writer still has is the ability to interview a human. But copyright, marketing, routine content? That’s already shifting to generative AI.
Even moviemaking, look at VEO3, it looks like a real film. Voice acting, sound, music, editing, all AI-generated. If you’re a leader, you need to be spending an hour a day learning about AI.
This is advancing faster than any innovation in human history. The internet took 10 years to integrate globally. This has taken two. And if you dig in and listen to the experts, it’s clear: the world has already changed, and most people have no idea. From a business standpoint, if you’re not actively trying to keep up, you’re going to find yourself outpaced.
Adam: What do you believe are the defining qualities of an effective leader?
Geoffrey: I believe effective leadership starts with trust. Leaders must extend it before they can expect it in return. When a leader says, “You have to earn my trust or respect,” they’re unintentionally signalling doubt, and that creates a shaky foundation.
Leading with trust sets the tone for a strong, cohesive team. It’s the primary responsibility of any supervisor, manager, or leader. When people trust their leader and each other, they’re more likely to stay, even when things get tough or higher pay is on the table. People follow leaders they trust. That’s at the heart of how I lead.
Adam: How can leaders and aspiring leaders take their leadership skills to the next level?
Geoffrey: Young leaders need to learn how to step in front of danger, look for opportunities to show courage by taking the slings and arrows to protect your team. It builds fortitude and puts you in the more challenging position so you can hone and adapt your skills, but it also signals to your co-workers they’re the most important thing and you’re willing to ‘take one for the team.’
Adam: What are your three best tips applicable to entrepreneurs, executives, and civic leaders?
Geoffrey: Number one is a common theme for me: give trust first.
Number two, keep learning. Never stop seeking new knowledge, especially in your company’s field, but also in related areas. Stay informed about emerging technologies and the broader world. Learn history. Study philosophy. The more diverse your learning, the more perspective you’ll gain.
Number three, keep putting yourself in difficult, uncomfortable situations, because growth doesn’t happen in your comfort zone. The only way to truly develop is to lean into discomfort and take on challenges. The Airborne have a saying: “The brave are those who are afraid but go anyway.” That mindset builds fortitude and over time, transforms your capacity as a leader.
In a business setting, it could be seeking out opportunities if you’re afraid to speak publicly. Or if you’re afraid to discipline an employee or have an uncomfortable conversation, get some coaching and go do it anyway.
Adam: What are your best tips on the topics of sales, marketing, and branding?
Geoffrey: For sales, know your product and believe in your product or you’re not going to have any success selling it, and that’s true of your sales teams. Make sure when you hire salespeople, they genuinely buy into the product, or they’re just going to take up space.
With regards to branding, we have a formula. Your relationships and your results equal your reputation. So focus on what it is you’re trying to achieve for your customers, do it in a very relationship-focused way, and your brand will grow naturally.
And on marketing, this advice is especially relevant for small to mid-sized businesses. Invest your marketing dollars with your biggest customers. Most of them host their own conferences and internal leadership meetings. Sponsor those events, because your marketing spend will go ten times further there than it would in the broader, open marketplace.
Adam: What is the single best piece of advice you have ever received?
Geoffrey: I was given some great advice when I first started stepping into sales and corporate meetings: listen more than you talk. But not just in the cliché sense of “you have two ears and one mouth.” In a sales environment, if you ask the right questions and genuinely listen to the answers, your prospect will often tell you exactly how to win their business.
Too often, salespeople walk in and launch into a pitch without ever asking real questions or engaging in a meaningful conversation. But if you’re truly listening for clues, they’ll reveal what matters most to them.
There’s actually a concept, I think it originated at Harvard, called Negotiation Jiu Jitsu. The person who shared this with me explained it’s about using the other party’s own momentum and leverage, just like in Jiu Jitsu. But the key is: you have to be listening. And it works.
