There’s a couple of ways ‘runs on the board’ can be explained. Literally it’s about cricket; the batsman has scored and his score can be seen on the scoreboard.
Secondly this means a person is likely to achieve because past achievements can be evidenced. The best prediction of success is always previous success. ‘Runs on the board’ is an apt metaphor to describe Manish Jha. He’s a keen cricket fan who has scored quite a few runs in his cricketing career, but he has also been a high achieving member of the Anantara family since 2006. He’s demonstrated to the company that he is more than capable of accepting responsibility and adding the benefits of his experience to his new role as General Manager at the Anantara Resort Hua Hin.
As Mr. Dillip Rajakarier, the Chief Executive Officer of Minor Hotel Group Limited, the owners of Anantara commented: “We have watched Manish’s career grow with Anantara since he first started and his hard work and dedication has been evident. As a result he was awarded the ‘Minor (the Company) Excellence Awards’ in 2007 and 2009. He has considerable experience across the broad spectrum of hotel management responsibilities including staff management and customer service.” Manish has a particular interest in opening new operations and rejuvenations of the established.
That’s a lead role he is taking at the Anantara Hua Hin Resort, a new set of eyes and a proactive approach. He’s recently had discussions with Bill Heinecke, the CEO and Chairman of Minor Corporation about the ongoing need to pursue improvements; that’s already started and more are on the way. Manish’s ‘new set of eyes’ have been at the Anantara Hua Hin for around three months. He was the youngest General Manager in the group’s history and on the day of our visit he was celebrating his 40th birthday. He says that during a typical three year appointment in the first year time will fly, then new ideas are realised but then it’s time to move on with someone else’s ‘new set of eyes’ beginning the cycle again.
Manish is a family man with his wife and daughter resident in Bangkok. His wife also has a hospitality career and is based at the Anantara corporate headquarters. This means frequent commuting for either party. The low expectations of the family for the education of their seven year old daughter away from Bangkok was a part of that decision, however the new International School now operating in Hua Hin is offering an alternative. Manish’s leisure interests are about sport.
He’s considering expanding his sporting interest towards golf, although cricket remains his main passion. He was very interested when we told him about the annual Hua Hin Sixes cricket tournament happening in April 2016. The Anantara is a blend of traditional Thai ambience without the need to compromise on quality. The word ‘Anantara’ in Sanskrit means ‘without end’ or ‘without borders’; that’s a description of how guests describe their Anantara experience. Their logo shows a ‘water jar’ emblem to symbolise Thai hospitality and a generous spirit, along with two Thai cushions to represent comfort.
Our thanks to Manish for his time and good humour; and Happy Birthday! However the bad news for him was that the Australian legend Shane Warne’s Warriors recently beat the legendary Indian player Sachin Tendulkar’s Blasters in the first ‘Cricket All Stars’ Twenty 20 in New York; but that was really only a demonstration game. Best of luck Manish for the December 3rd match when the ‘real’ Indian team takes on South Africa in Delhi; memo to everyone, please don’t disturb!
