A 30-day guidebook for hospitality professionals who want to lead with purpose — not just manage with habit. Each day builds on the last, grounded in real experience from the field.
"I was recommended this book by a friend in the hotel field. I am not but I am in a leadership role and it gave me a whole new perspective on how I should lead my team. I can't recommend this enough. Anyone in a leadership role should read this."
Gabe
Verified Amazon Review
★★★★★
"I walked through the book a bite at a time, and it wasn't just fluff, I was able to take the lessons someone else learned the hard way and prevent me from ever having to deal with them. Wish this book came 10 years earlier!"
Sandy
Verified Amazon Review
A Glimpse Inside
Leading with intent means deciding before the moment arrives
The best hotel leaders I have observed don't react to their day — they have already decided how they will show up before they walk through that door. Intention is not a feeling. It is a choice you make before the pressure tests it.
The 30-day structure makes this ideal for onboarding programs, leadership cohorts, and team development initiatives. Bulk pricing available for orders of 10 or more.
About the Book
A 30-day framework for intentional leadership
Not a theory textbook. Not a checklist. This is a practical field guide built from 15+ years leading hotel teams across the country — organized into 30 daily readings you can act on immediately.
Six Themes · Thirty Days
What's inside
Each of the 30 days belongs to one of six leadership themes — a structure that builds on itself so the growth compounds as you move through it.
Theme 01 · Days 1–5
Leading Self
Before you can lead a team, you have to understand how you lead yourself. Mindset, habits, and the decisions no one sees.
Theme 02 · Days 6–10
Leading the Team
How you communicate, how you develop talent, and how you show up for the people counting on you.
Theme 03 · Days 11–15
Leading the Operation
Systems, accountability, and the daily decisions that separate a well-run property from a reactive one.
Theme 04 · Days 16–20
Leading the Culture
Culture is built or broken in the small moments. Learn to shape it deliberately instead of discovering it after the fact.
Theme 05 · Days 21–25
The Leadership Legacy
What kind of leader do you want to be remembered as? This theme challenges you to lead with that answer already in mind.
Theme 06 · Days 26–30
Leading Forward
Sustaining what you've built, growing into your next level, and building the leaders who will follow you.
Day 26 · From the Field
The Two Places I Need to Show Up
“The same presence your family needs from you is the presence your team needs from you. It is not two different skills. It is one capacity, asked for in two places.”
I used to think leadership was something I did at the hotel and fatherhood was something I did at home — two roles, two skill sets, two versions of myself that occasionally overlapped on a bad day. Becoming a father of two changed that. Not because the roles merged, but because I finally saw what they had been asking of me all along: the same thing.
The patience I was learning to find with a toddler who needed the same explanation for the fifth time was the same patience a team member needed when they were still learning a new process. Leadership and fatherhood were not two different jobs. They were the same capacity for presence, being asked for in two different rooms.
On Grace
“A toddler does not care what’s next. A toddler wants you here, now. There is no version of being present with a two-year-old that allows your mind to be three steps ahead. They simply will not permit it. And somewhere in all those moments of being pulled back into right now — I started to notice that the muscle was getting stronger. Not just at home. At work, too.”
On Standards & Care
“Care without expectations becomes indulgence, and the people on the receiving end never get to discover what they are capable of. Expectations without care become pressure, and the people on the receiving end never feel safe enough to actually grow. But together — that is what allows a person, or a team, or a child, to become more than they thought they could be.”
“My team is not my family. But the way I try to lead them — with high standards, genuine care, and the commitment to actually show up — is the same way I am trying to show up for the two people who call me Dad. If I can get that right in both rooms, more often than not, I think that is what this entire book has been about.”
Wes Santos has spent more than 15 years leading hotel teams across the country — from Connecticut and Washington D.C. to Charlotte, San Jose, Savannah, and Sarasota. He's led full-scale property repositionings, built leadership development programs from scratch, and been recognized as a Diamond GM of the Year.
Today, Wes serves as Regional Director of Operations at Dreamscape, overseeing a portfolio of lifestyle and boutique hotels throughout the country. He brings the same leadership philosophy behind this book to every property he supports.
He serves as VP of Lodging on the executive committee of the Suncoast FRLA board and as Treasurer of Visit Sarasota County. 30 Days to Better Hotel Leadership is his first book, published under his own imprint, With Intent Publishing.
Diamond GM of the Year recipient
Regional Director of Operations, Dreamscape
VP of Lodging, Suncoast FRLA Executive Committee
Treasurer, Visit Sarasota County
15+ years leading hotel operations across multiple states
The Map
Worked with Wes somewhere along the way? Add the city where your paths crossed.
The Book
30 years of learning condensed into 30 days
Every principle in this book came from a real moment — a mistake made, a lesson earned, a conversation that changed how Wes led the next day.
Every property is a team, and every team is part of this book. If you worked alongside Wes somewhere along the way, add the city where your paths crossed.
The 30-day format is designed for team-based learning. Whether you're onboarding new managers, running a leadership cohort, or building a culture initiative — this book gives every leader a shared language and a daily practice.
Why Teams Use This Book
A leadership development tool, not just a read
Leadership Cohort Programs
Use the 30-day structure as the backbone of a monthly leadership development series — each day becomes a discussion topic for your team.
New Manager Onboarding
Give every promoted or newly hired manager a copy on day one. It sets a standard for what leadership looks like at your property.
Company-Wide Culture Initiatives
Distribute across a portfolio to align leadership culture — one shared set of principles, one shared language.
Conference & Event Gifts
A signed copy makes a meaningful gift for hospitality conference attendees, award ceremonies, or executive retreats.
Inquire About Bulk Orders
Stay Connected
Let’s continue the conversation
Wes shares leadership insights, field stories, and what’s next in hospitality on LinkedIn. If this book resonated with you, connect and keep the dialogue going.
