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On Sale July 29th on amazon
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“Ed Mady is an ace in the business of delivering superb service and bringing out the best in others. He has authored a must-read.”

– Hall of Famer Joe Torre

Four-Time World Champion Manager of the New York Yankees and Co-Founder of the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation

Edward Mady

The Secret Path to Humanistic Leadership

As turbulence threatens the well-being of leaders, teams, and customers, putting people first is the new way to win in business. And it works. Every time. No one knows this better than legendary hotelier Edward Mady, who shares his humanistic leadership secrets – along with amazing but true luxury hotel stories – in the informative and entertaining Honing the Human Edge: How Leaders Can Unlock Success through Caring, Coaching and Accountability. Enjoy a close-up look at Mady’s remarkable, over-the-top tales from the inn, along with hard-earned, heartfelt lessons on how to humanize your own organization in good times and in bad. If you’re in crisis mode right now… sit down, take a breath, and enjoy the read. This book will help you.
Edward Mady has been acclaimed for transforming the hospitality, luxury, sports, philanthropy, aviation, healthcare and entertainment industries and serves as a leadership expert, workshop presenter, and executive coach for C-suite and middle management. His humanistic leadership approach has been featured in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Forbes. Named Hotelier of the World by Hotels magazine, he has served as General Manager of The Beverly Hills Hotel also overseeing Hotel Bel-Air. He spent two decades with The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, most prominently as VP and Area General Manager for five luxury hotels and resorts. He also played a pivotal role in The Ritz-Carlton brand’s unprecedented capture of two Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards – a first for the hospitality industry. Properties under Edward Mady’s leadership have earned 128+ global accolades, including Forbes/Mobil five stars, AAA Five Diamonds, and Michelin Stars. He has been named one of the 25 most influential citizens of Southern California by Angeleno magazine.
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How do I humanize my organization?

The most important part of effective humanistic leadership is putting people at the center of everything you do.

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leadership

begins with understanding your team, just as great hospitality starts with understanding your guests.

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strategy

is not a to-do-list. Instead, it articulates how you will win.

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customer

experiences and building loyal teams requires more than skill; it requires heart.

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culture

should feel inviting – and a culture of “welcome home” - is the DNA of effective workplace leadership.

team

Team

performs best when strength-based talent selection is followed by true collaboration and a spirit of joy in the workplace.

How do i handle a crisis?

Readers of this highly instructional playbook will especially benefit from Mady’s vast experience in the crisis arena. Whatever your crisis, his key message is this:

“What’s The Biggest Mistake People Make in a Crisis? Not Knowing That They’re in One.’

So be vigilant and make sure your culture can weather any storm, at any time. As Mady shares in the book, “Culture will get you through just about any crisis. If you have a secure culture, nothing changes during a drama except the volume of noise.”

Serving His Community

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Edward Mady is a board member of Surf Air Mobility, the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation, Talent Plus, and the University of Nevada at Las Vegas.

Transforming Leadership & Business Culture

Edward Mady is passionate about raising the institutional bar. He’s a C-suite bench coach, strategic consultant, keynote speaker, and workshop facilitator who helps executives and organizations unlock their full potential.
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Meet with Edward Mady

Contact Ed Now

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humanistic leadership 

Working with Mady begins with getting to know you and your organization, and continues with an extensive list of consulting offerings:

  • Align Strategy with Identity – Develop a business strategy grounded in your company’s values, culture, and long-term vision.
  • Elevate Leadership & Culture – Energize your team with bold goals, accountable leadership, and a thriving, purpose-driven culture.
  • Strengthen Communication & Connection – Build trust through clear communication, seamless collaboration, and cross-functional alignment.
  • Enhance Customer & Employee Experience – Identify pain points, improve engagement, and cultivate loyalty across all touchpoints.
  • Drive Results with Agility – Anticipate market shifts, optimize operations, and coach leaders to deliver strong financial performance.

How Leaders Can Unlock Success through Coaching, Caring, and Accountability

More than a business manual, this long-awaited book is a blueprint for leadership that puts people first. With real-world stories, bold insights, and an irreverent edge, Honing the Human Edge shows how great leaders create cultures where teams thrive, customers feel valued, and businesses don’t just survive but dominate.

What You’ll Learn:

  • Strategy vs. To-Do Lists – Why most leaders get this wrong—and how to fix it.
  • Culture as Your Crisis Shield – The secret weapon that keeps businesses strong when everything else crumbles.
  • Hospitality Everywhere – What the world’s best service brands teach us about winning in any industry.
  • Culture as Your North Star – The key to lasting impact and an engaged, unstoppable team.
  • Mastering the Five Phases of Change – How to lead through uncertainty and drive transformation.
  • Keeping Talent Beyond 18 Months – The hidden reasons employees leave—and how to make them stay.
  • Caring Leadership – How coaching and accountability create teams that perform at their peak.
  • Loyalty That Lasts – The psychology of customer obsession and why it drives long-term success.
  • Your Personal Board of Directors – The game-changing network every leader needs to thrive.
Available in print, audiobook, or e-book
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Learn how one of the world’s most awarded hospitality leaders applies purpose-driven leadership to build high-performance teams, elevate brand culture, and drive sustained organizational success. Subscribe now.

Redefine what success for high-performing organizations looks like

When you act and lead with compassion and care for all roles—no matter where they stand in the hierarchy—you model a behavior that investors and customers can immediately feel, positioning your whole team for success.

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Mady previously held the role of vice president and general manager for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, and played a pivotal role in receiving two Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Awards, a first for the hospitality industry.

When Ed left The Ritz-Carlton in New York, employees got together and purchased a bench for him in Central Park. Every time he visits Manhattan, he pays a visit to the bench as a warm memory of a great team.

Award-winning humanistic leadership—

the proven model for driving performance in high-stakes environments

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Praise for honing the human edge

“There are lessons in baseball that apply just as easily to success in business: You have to give your best effort every day, overcome the hurdles in front of you, and lift up others around you. While establishing a standard of excellence is the first challenge, the keys to sustaining success are a strong team culture and, as my friend Edward Mady calls it, a honed human edge. “As manager of the Yankees, I often said, ‘You have to keep getting better just to stay the same.’ Ed keeps getting better as a CEO because of his commitment to communication, transparency, and trust. His faith in his teams always makes them feel engaged, and that is how they push through the tough times together. “Ed Mady is an ace in the business of delivering superb service and bringing out the best in others. He has authored a must-read book on authentic leadership.”
—Hall of Famer Joe Torrefour-time World Champion manager of the New York Yankees and cofounder of the Joe Torre Safe At Home Foundation
“It’s easier to get results in the good times with access to resources, a stable environment, and a lot of economic tailwinds. Observing leaders like Edward Mady successfully lead and strengthen organizations in times of crisis is like finding a unicorn in the sea of management mediocrity. On the surface, people might attribute his success to decades of professional management experience and leadership talent. Although experience and talent are important, having a leadership methodology is vital. Ed has developed his leadership methods from coaching winning teams from bottom to benchmark performance. His method proves practical and proven in resetting your leadership compass to win the hearts of employees, the loyalty of consumers, and the confidence of investors.”
—John TimmermanPhD, GM and chief operating officer, Brays Island Plantation; former chair of American Society for Quality; chair of Judges for the Baldrige National Quality Award; cochair for U.S. Quality Council; chief scientist, Consumer Experience & Innovation, Gallup; former VP Operations, Mercy Hospital St. Louis; quality advisor, Cleveland Clinic; VP Operations, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company; VP Guest Experience, Marriott International
“Edward Mady is without any doubt the most professional hotelier I’ve ever come across in my thirty-year career. His experience working with people, building outstanding service concepts, running and operating in headwinds, and building powerful cultures is equal to none. Mady has an exceptional talent at placing things in perspective and combining theory with reality in a captivating and highly thought-provoking way. In fact, I’d claim that in many ways he has defined the hotel industry. Mady’s Honing the Human Edge is a masterpiece—a power tool without comparison. It’s rare I say things like this, but Honing the Human Edge is a tool every business leader should live by.”
—Martin LindstromNew York Times best-selling author
“If I could assign one book to every person in leadership, it would be Honing the Human Edge. This transformative, easily accessible manual provides a powerful and practical system for navigating the opportunities and challenges of leadership. Crafted by Edward Mady, a vice president and general manager for The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company and regional director for The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air, Honing the Human Edge provides tools for success across essential domains of leadership like culture, strategy, teamwork, and customer centricity. Thank you, Ed, for writing the must-read playbook of the decade for business coaches in every field. Buy Honing the Human Edge, share it, and unleash its power.”
—Joseph MichelliPhD, CCXP, CSP, certified professional speaker, New York Times #1 best-selling author; assistant professor, Service Excellence, Campbellsville University; certified customer experience (CX) consultant, CX Hall of Fame inductee, 2023 CXPA Impact on the CX Profession Award recipient, TEDx presenter, board member
“For more than thirty years, Talent Plus has studied high-performing leaders and helped to create Talent-Based Organizations. Edward Mady is an exceptionally gifted leader with the ability to build winning teams on a foundation of trust, collaboration, and bias for action. There’s both a science to what he does (his management method) and an art (his leadership philosophy) that are key ingredients for delivering sustainable results.”
—Kimberly Rathchairman and cofounder, Talent Plus

what’s the #1 mistake leaders make in a crisis?

The don’t realize they’re already in one.

you have to manage your culture before a crisis

Culture will get you through just about any crisis. If you have a secure culture, nothing really changes during a drama except the volume of noise.

Contact Edward Mady

It all starts with a conversation. Let’s talk about raising the bar on your organization through humanistic leadership.
© 2025 Edward Mady

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