A Finance Professional Turned into an Award-winning General Manager; Gurnoor Bindra Emphasizes No Ambition is Insurmountable
Being a female General Manager of a well-established hotel can be intimidating. Still, it is fulfilling for Gurnoor. She underlines the significance of business management which is a silver lining for any organization.
"Everyone deserves a chance," says Gurnoor Bindra, who recently won a gold award for the Best General Manager of the year at the 8th Middle East Hospitality Excellence Awards organized by the Hozpitality. Gurnoor grew up in a household where she had the power of free will. From her perspective, every girl in the world should be granted the liberty to make her own decisions — especially when selecting a career.
Coming from a finance background without a hospitality degree, she has achieved great heights in the hotel industry in a short span of time. To her, business acumen is in every institution. Every organization is ultimately a business that relies on balance sheets, PNL, and revenues to operate. One can thrive in any industry if one is familiar with the fundamentals of business management.
In the 21st century, when people discuss gender equality & women, Gurnoor feels young millennial girls still need to be pushed. Making the right career decision is like finding a fish in a flowing river. Gurnoor Bindra who's currently mentoring other women in career leadership programs says, "Everyone deserves a chance and the right mentorship without any judgment."
Being a female General Manager of a well-established hotel can be intimidating. Still, it is fulfilling for Gurnoor, who earlier headed the department in her 20s as the youngest female among a number of male managers. Gurnoor believes in pushing others to perform their best, being aware of the details of all active projects, and providing innovative ideas to make her hotel stand out in the sea of competition.
A finance professional, Gurnoor joined the corporate office of Starwood Hotels and Resorts in India in 2010. This accidental career transformation allowed her to prosper into the woman that she is today. An award winner, Gurnoor, is now the youngest female in her 30s to occupy the role of General Manager.
Just as important as experience, Gurnoor states, "The leadership requires a business strategy, the skill to manage people and ability to take risks" Gurnoor contemplates each role as a "Field Posting," a credit to her father's defence background.
"Like in the army, one is given a three-year assignment where they must live alone in order to comprehend the circumstances on the ground and identify a particular side of the story while also having the opportunity to take part in a team. Similarly, every post presents an opportunity to interpret the team's continuous difficulties and challenges," states Gurnoor.
Recently, Gurnoor accomplished another impressive feat when she and her team successfully launched Oanjo, Dubai’s only Nikkei Portuguese cuisine restaurant, and Spartan, an exciting, buzzing sports bar.
