Creating a Culture of Social Impact with Donte Johnson
I like to say that in a socially responsible company, “Impact is Everyone’s Job.” It can’t just be the job of the community relations or marketing team. I can’t just be the job of the CEO or their direct reports. It better not be just the job of the speechwriters and the PR team. If you’re going to succeed, it has to be the job of the administrative assistants, the maintenance team, the hiring managers, the middle managers, the chief cook and bottle washer. So how do you accomplish that? By building an impact culture.
But what is culture? One way to define culture is the water you are swimming in, ever present but - if you’re the fish - hard to see. Everyone on the outside of that fish bowl can see it. But how does the fish even know what water is? In any given group of people, whether a whole country, a Fortune 500 company, a mom and pop shop or your own family - culture is the by-product of the the norms and standards for what gets celebrated, what gets encouraged, and what gets rewarded.
So that means if you’re the boss, you’re creating culture every day by virtue of the feedback, encouragement, and direction you give your team. Project leader acts like a jerk to the support staff and still gets plum assignments? That’s feedback: creating an understanding among your team of acceptable behaviors.
But to put a finer point on it, I like to think of culture as the default mode. What do people revert to if there are no customers in the room? If the boss isn’t looking? What are the standard operating procedures, written and unwritten, that become so ingrained that we perform those motions in our sleep? You know you’ve built a strong culture when front-line employees and executives all behave - not talk, but behave in the same way.
So of course we’ve probably all worked in some pretty toxic places in our careers - I know I have. They had a culture, too, it was just a nasty, demeaning culture. There is no such thing as a place that lacks culture - just like there is no one who doesn’t have an accent. Step one in creating an impact culture is to be purposeful about it, and today my guest today is a master of creating culture. I’m so excited for you to hear his stories.
Donte Johnson, GM of Thompson Buckhead hotel in Atlanta
A native of Washington, DC and graduate of Saint Peter’s University, Donte Johnson began his career in hospitality 2001 with Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants. In 2008, Johnson was the youngest employee ever promoted to general manager for the company.
He has since served in this capacity at six properties across four cities including his hometown Washington, DC, Miami, Baltimore, and his current home, Atlanta where he has served as the general manager at Thompson Buckhead since April 2023.
Throughout his career, Donte has developed and fostered a mission focused on social impact, working with his team and local leaders to support both the community and a variety of philanthropic efforts. Among the many programs and initiatives he led in Baltimore during the coronavirus pandemic, Johnson and his team:
orchestrated free lunch and produce distributions to support the those in need;
offered the hotel’s restaurant space and kitchens to local food businesses;
provided free/discounted overnight stays for first responders and front-line hospital workers; and
partnered with dozens of BIPOC-, woman-, and LGBTQ-led local suppliers to offer an expansive array of products and services at the hotel that reflected their engagement with the citywide community.
He’s received numerous awards for his work uplifting community, and serves as a mentor to students, to his team members and to many colleagues across the hospitality community. He is a social media rockstar, having racked up literally billions of views for his partners and his properties.
Listen to the full episode on the VoiceAmerica network, or wherever you get your podcasts (all linked from the right side of that page).
