Sheraton New York Times Square GM Juggles Many Balls

Terry Lewis has gone where no other woman has: She recently became the first female general manager of a New York City convention hotel, the Sheraton New York Times Square Hotel.

As such, she is responsible for all aspects of running the 1,781-room hotel. It is her fifth general manager role.

In part, she credits her success to her ability to connect with her 1,100-member team.

“I have to have a group of people that are very well aligned,” she said. “So having the right people in the right positions has always been one of the things that I think I have the ability to do pretty well.”

On the day of the interview Lewis and her team were readying the hotel for a function of 2,000. “We do big numbers here. It’s a very fun job,” she said.

Being the general manager of the Sheraton Times Square is definitely a balancing act, notes Lewis.

“There are so many things that go on every day and you have to focus on the things that are most important,” she said, adding that she works toward ensuring that both guests and employees are satisfied.

In the hotel business since 1985, Lewis first held a variety of sales positions for Starwood and Interstate Hotels & Resorts before becoming a general manager.

“I think the main thing is that I was willing to take some risks along the way,” she said, adding that she jumped at the chance to become a general manager, even though she didn’t have operational experience.

Her first general manager job was at the 140-room Four Points by Sheraton at the Pittsburgh Airport.

“Someone thought that I had good leadership skills and so I thought, okay let’s try this,” said Lewis.

From there, Lewis moved to the Sheraton Chicago O’Hare Airport Hotel and the Sheraton Suites Columbus Hotel. Prior to joining the Sheraton Times Square, Lewis was general manager of the 873-room Westin New York.

Those interested in hospitality careers must actually like taking care of people.

“You have to have the piece of you, that little chip,” said Lewis. “It has to be inherent or else I don’t think you’ll do well.”

In addition to possessing a nurturing quality, general managers also have to be experts at multi-taking. “You have to keep all the balls in the air and stay calm in situations that are highly volatile,” she said.

Each day brings its own set of challenges.

“New York City runs very high occupancies and we have visitors from all over the world,” she said. “You’ve got to be pretty agile and pretty quick to figure out what’s important on that specific day.”

Follow Claudette Covey on twitter @claudettecovey.