Skills & Aptitude:

William Mackay, the Regional Vice President & the General Manager of the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong offered his views on the most important qualifications for a good General Manager:

It is a multi-dimensional job demanding a combination of knowledge, skills and aptitude:
Knowledge:

• Financial knowledge and business savvy;
• Technical knowledge;

Skills & Aptitude:

• Hard work and stamina;
• A positive mindset;
• Good social skills; an ability to motivate and engage with people at all levels and of all cultures and an ability to build strong relationships;
• Extroversion; a successful GM of a five-star hotel has to infuse the hotel with personality and energy as well as efficiency;
• An ability to put oneself in the shoes of others;
• A marketing mindset, seeing the business 'from the outside in';
• Keen interest in the outside world and an ability to adapt to changing circumstances;
• An ability to think analytically as well as to recognize patterns;
• An ability to think at both the conceptual level and at the detailed level;
• Good judgment;
• Refined taste and a genuine interest in food, wine and design;
• An ability to communicate well;
• A good sense of humor.

He gave further advice on becoming a GM (or building a successful hotel management career):
Those who are inspired to become a GM must be realistic about the trade off in time and effort that is required for the job. Commitment translates into active involvement, and involvement takes time. You also have to have a thick skin, particularly in situations where we stand to lose the goodwill of a customer. It is never easy for principled people to learn to accept that a search for truth may give way to an apology for having done nothing wrong! The job of the GM, in this case, is having the perspective to understand what is important and what's not! Nonetheless, it's a great job, and I feel like the movie director, David Lean, who once said "I hope the money men don't find out that I'd pay them to let me do this!"
http://hk.linkedin.com/pub/william-mackay/44/457/bb9