Booking Holdings CEO Glenn Fogel: Why Deliberate Practice Beats Just Putting In The Hours

Glenn Fogel, CEO of Booking Holdings, jokes about the statistic that 80 percent of men believe they’re in the top 75 percent of all athletes. Fogel, who was born in Port Chester, New York, grew up skiing and playing both soccer and tennis, but he saw early on that he wasn’t naturally exceptional at any sport. To get better, he knew he needed a deliberate plan of action.

In any competitive field, self-evaluation is just as important as raw talent. Since there is always going to be room for improvement, in order to do so properly, you have to be clear about your own strengths and weaknesses. This is the discerning eye Fogel had as a teenager and what he brings now to Booking Holdings, which is the parent company of well-known travel and dining brands like Booking.com, KAYAK and OpenTable.

“Just spending time doing something isn’t going to improve it,” says Fogel on a recent episode of the Corporate Competitor Podcast. “It’s about deliberate practice where you’re actually getting feedback and you’re improving in that specific area.”

Fogel, who joined the company in 2000 as VP of Corporate Development, worked his way up over 17 years. Today, he’s the leader of 24,000 employees at one of the world’s largest online travel platforms. The CEO was able to achieve all this thanks to lessons he learned as a young athlete. He prides himself on staying disciplined, consistent and prepared. He also appreciates outside guidance—that’s what can help to forge the best path forward.  

“You really want to set that up at the beginning, how we’re going to measure whether we’re winning or not,” says Fogel, underscoring the need for he and his team to be on the same page. But addressing your needs only once isn’t going to be enough. “You may have to keep having conversations on how we are doing, what we are doing and what changes we need to make,” he notes.

The CEO shared these essential insights and more on the podcast, including:

• Push yourself. As a teen, Fogel suffered a stroke. The severe health issue impacted his life immeasurably. But it did not define him. Instead, he set lofty goals and achieved them. “It’s about where you derive your self-worth from,” he says. “I was a smart kid and then I wasn’t. I wanted to show that I could be smart again.” Nine years later, Fogel graduated from Harvard Law School with honors.

• Set your culture. When he became CEO, Fogel asked his team what culture they wanted to have. They landed on the phrase, “customer-centric.” But good customer service starts first with happy employees. Today, Booking Holdings has won awards for employee engagement. “A CEO is not the one taking the game-winning shot,” he explains. “Rather, a CEO’s job is to create the environment where your players can thrive.”

• Teamwork leads to major wins. No single person is responsible for victory, Fogel said. Instead, it’s always about the collective group. “You never saw Nick Saban or Coach K throw a touchdown or score points during their Hall of Fame careers,” he offers. “At the end of the day, everybody won the game.”