Leadership series: Thomas Sorcinelli

Our Leadership Series showcases leading figures in the industry through detailed, insightful interviews.

In this edition, we speak to Thomas Corcinelli, an experienced international C-suite hospitality executive.

You started as a sommelier, Harvey Nichols, then The Ritz London, before moving into general management at The Savoy Grill with Gordon Ramsay Restaurants. What made you choose to move off the wine floor and into full operational leadership?

I fell in love with wine very early in my career, working in a Michelin-starred restaurant with one of largest restaurant wine cellars in Italy. For a wine lover, it was essentially a toy shop.

My perspective changed during my time as Head Sommelier at The Ritz London, when I was selected for a newly introduced Management Development Programme. It was an inspiring three-day experience covering leadership styles, emotional intelligence and innovation. More importantly, it made me realise that what truly motivated me was managing and developing people, rather than managing wine.

That experience gave me the confidence to move into general management and was a defining turning point in my career. It also reinforced a lesson I still believe in today: never underestimate the power of knowledge, innovation and continuous learning.

You've now led across fine dining, a country house hotel, a Caribbean beach resort, a multi-venue hospitality group, and now live entertainment in Saudi Arabia. What's the one thing about leading a team that's stayed exactly the same through all of it?

Cultures change, environments change and business dynamics change, but one thing remains constant: how you treat, inspire and develop people.

Every business requires adaptation. The leadership style and incentives that work in a fine-dining restaurant may be very different from those required in a resort, a multi-venue group or live entertainment. Different objectives, cultures, regulations and operating environments demand flexibility from a leader.

But people, wherever they come from or whatever business they work in, share some fundamental needs. They want to be respected, treated with empathy and, above all, feel valued.

For me, that is the foundation of effective leadership: being a servant leader when your team needs support, a transformational leader when change is required, and an empathetic leader every day. The environment may change, but the human element never does.

Looking back at nearly 20 years since Harvey Nichols, is there a version of this career you had in mind at the start, and how far off is where you've actually ended up?

I think one of the biggest challenges for young people entering hospitality is that they often have limited visibility into just how many career paths this industry can offer.

Hospitality is a vast world. You can build a career in operations, whether in the kitchen, service or wine, but also in HR, procurement, technology, finance, corporate functions and many other areas. It is also an industry where you learn continuously by doing, so the career you imagine at 20 may evolve significantly as you discover new strengths and opportunities.

Looking back, my own journey is a good example. I started as a sommelier, and I certainly didn't imagine that I would eventually become an international hospitality executive, develop expertise in entrepreneurship and innovation, and become the author of a book.

So, how far am I from the career I imagined? Probably quite far but in the best possible way. The unexpected turns have been some of the most rewarding parts of the journey.

At Heckfield Place you led Food & Beverage for a property built around regenerative farming and slow luxury, about as far from a West End dining room as it gets. How did that change how you define "luxury" for the rest of your career?

My experience at Heckfield Place was a turning point. It completely reimagined my traditional perception of luxury.

Guests weren't necessarily there to receive everything they expected; they were there to absorb what the place had to give them: the environment, the food, the nature, the sense of place and, ultimately, the feeling it created.

There is a lot of discussion today about what luxury really means. We have moved from luxury being the pinnacle of an experience to almost everything being labelled “luxury”, with terms such as “ultra-luxury” now commonplace.

For me, luxury hospitality means delivering the highest standards consistently, so the guest knows what to expect. But I would take it one step further with what I call Pure Hospitality: when the guest isn't simply receiving a standard of service, but an emotion.

It is about giving them something they didn't know they were looking for.

How do you prioritise tasks when everything feels like a priority?

When everything is flagged as a priority, the first thing a leader needs is discipline and clarity. Urgency should never be confused with importance.

I use a simple A and B approach. A - priorities are critical to the business and require immediate action and, often, my direct attention. B - priorities are important but not business-critical in the immediate term; the business will continue to operate effectively while the decision or action is managed at the appropriate time or delegated to the right person.

The real skill is being analytical enough to separate noise from what genuinely matters, and disciplined enough not to allow every issue to become a crisis.

Ultimately, leadership is about creating clarity when there is complexity. Mastery is when complexity sounds simple.

What do you hope your legacy will be both for your organisation and for the hospitality industry more broadly?

Legacy is something handed down from the past that has an impact on the future. But today, I believe legacy has as many shades as success.

In a world evolving at extraordinary speed, with new generations valuing different things, I believe legacy starts with how you lead in the present: with purpose, intention and a genuine commitment to people.

Beyond the organisations I have led, I want to contribute to the future of hospitality by supporting emerging talent, developing future leaders and raising awareness of the opportunities and challenges within our industry.

Ultimately, for me, legacy is every person who has been inspired, developed or made better by having worked with me. That is the legacy I want to leave behind.

If you could change one policy, trend, or misconception about the sector, what would it be?

I would change the perception that hospitality is simply a hard industry to work in. Yes, the industry can demand long hours, difficult schedules and personal sacrifice, but we have never shouted loudly enough about everything it gives back.

Hospitality can take you around the world, expose you to different cultures and languages, teach you resilience, and give you the opportunity to meet extraordinary people. Few industries offer that level of human and cultural exposure.

This is also one of the reasons I wrote Hospitality 101: Unveiling the Hospitality Frontier – Tales of Passion and Resilience. I wanted to capture the reality behind the industry. The unexpected stories, the daily lessons and the experiences that teach us about leadership, empathy and resilience.

Sometimes, the crazy things that happen in hospitality are the most beautiful. We should talk about those stories more, because they are what make this industry so unique.

What advice would you give emerging leaders who want to shape the future of the service industry?

My advice is simple: don't expect leadership decisions to always be black and white. In reality, most of the leadership exists in the grey, where judgement, experience and emotional intelligence matter.

An organisation may survive poor leadership, but great leaders make the difference. They create environments where people can grow, perform and believe in what they are doing.

Don't take everything personally. Leadership is about making the right decisions for the business and the people within it, even when those decisions are difficult.

Most importantly, stay curious to grow, stay aware to lead and stay kind to inspire. I believe those three qualities will remain essential, whatever the future of hospitality looks like.