Service is the technical delivery of a product. Hospitality is how it makes the recipient feel. Most firms optimise for service. Broadleaf aims for hospitality, where the owner feels understood, respected and better for every interaction. Providing a hospitality experience to our clients will lift us towards our goal of being Australia’s best service business.
For Broadleaf, our BHAG is:
To be Australia’s best service business.
Not the biggest. Not the loudest. The best at service. Perfection is unattainable, but aiming at it forces discipline, humility, and constant self-examination. Aiming below it guarantees mediocrity.
The BHAG is deliberately uncomfortable and powerful enough to shape every decision.
The Hospitality Quotient - What We Hire For
1
Optimistic Warmth
Genuine care for the people we work with. Not performative. Not contingent on convenience.
2
Empathy & Self-Awareness
The ability to see a situation from the other person’s position and to understand how we’re showing up in it.
3
Strong Work Ethic
Responsiveness is a form of respect. Taking a call when it’s inconvenient. Showing up when things are hard.
4
Integrity
Being honest when the advice is uncomfortable. Doing what you say. Small moments compound into reputation.
Owner-to-Owner Matters
A core part of our differentiation is simple but powerful: the owners deal directly with the founders of Broadleaf. When a decision is required:
- Decision rights are in the room
- No middle management filter
- No committee diffusion of responsibility
- The conversation is human, the stakes are shared
There’s a fundamental difference between being serviced by an employee and being partnered with by an owner. Hospitality style service is far easier when the person across the table has skin in the game.
What the Best Service Businesses Share
Looking outside our own industry taught us something important. Four Seasons, Ritz-Carlton, Singapore Airlines, Union Square Café, very different on the surface. What connects them is how deliberately they behave.
- Service treated as a core operating system, not a department
- The team trusted to exercise judgement, not hide behind policy
- Consistency matters more than intensity
- Culture reinforced daily, not annually
- Interruptions and problems seen as opportunities to serve
They don’t chase perfection because they think they’ll reach it. They chase it because the pursuit itself lifts the whole organisation.
"Australia’s best service business” is a filter for us. It influences who we partner with, how we design structures, how we behave under pressure, and how we hold ourselves accountable. We know we’ll never reach perfection. But if we keep aiming for it, thoughtfully, humbly, and relentlessly, we believe we’ll create something amazing.”