Aman’s Ultra-Luxury Approach: Presence Over Performance
Picture credit: Aman’s LinkedIn.
Today’s Human Luxury Lesson comes from one of my most beloved ultra-luxury hospitality brands, Aman Group.
As an overview of the brand, they have strategically evolved over the last three decades to become one of the world’s most intuitive and pioneering lifestyle brands, according to their website. Aman is a standout leader in global hospitality with 36 signature destinations, 10 more projects on the horizon (including its first cruise line), as well private residences. Additionally, they extend their imprint through thoughtfully designed excursions, lifestyle services, and home products.
You might not be familiar with Aman, and there is a good reason for that.
They embody a steady quietness in an industry that tries so hard to be impressive and seen.
They genuinely don’t believe there is competition. They focus on what they’re exceptional at.
Instead of focusing on selling the idea of luxury and features, Aman sells peace and belonging.
It’s a way of being. They call it, “The Spirit of Aman.”
In fact, Aman’s unique name is inspired by the Sanskrit word for peace. As a guest of Aman’s, I can sincerely say that they curate experiences of peace in every touch point. Their singular and original intent is clear:
To provide a level of service and experience that is peerless in every way. Time with Aman is akin to being welcomed into a gracious private home where only a few guests are received… every Aman experience gently unfolds with simplicity and elegance providing an immediate sense of belonging.
My first experience was at Amangani, their sweeping Jackson Hole getaway with just 40 suites. I’ll be sharing more about that stay in other blogs. Ever since then, I’ve deeply researched Aman’s values and practices for maintaining their reputation at the international scale that they do.
This goes well beyond their direct guest care and location design. The Spirit of Aman is alive within the organization. It extends as a culture of the entire organization, and even in their hiring posts.
Just this year, Aman’s HR director posted this picture with an exquisite invitation to join their team.
Human Luxury Lesson: The goal can’t be luxury alone. It must have Energetic Integrity.
Luxury itself is an empty goal to chase. That’s why manufactured luxury is being called out right now, which is when something costs a premium fee but doesn’t deliver on the expectation of a luxury experience. It’s trying to be elite, which immediately means it’s not. It’s off. And people feel it. They don’t like it.
In my Seven Pillars of Human Luxury, I call this idea Energetic Integrity, which means the experience and result is equal to the investment.
Luxury itself should be secondary, as a vehicle to deliver your deeper intention.
If you focus on your specific values (for instance, peace and belonging) as the core goal, then create an exceptional experience enacting that, you’ll see that luxury is simply a way of presentation. It’s lovely wrapping paper… a modality to deliver the spirit of what you do.
Takeaway: What if your job descriptions were inspiring invitations?
When you have The Spirit of Aman, even job descriptions can feel magical and inspiring. See the picture above. When I came across this job posting from Aman in my LinkedIn feed, I couldn’t help but observe their values in action - even for hiring.
CONTENT: If you zoom in and read it, you’ll see Aman is providing a sense of peace, warmth, and belonging vs dry compliance and HR terms. It’s not trying to sell itself. Instead, there’s a gentle yet powerful invitation to be part of something special that shapes the future of the organization. This is vision vs transaction. This is the same intentionality that they provide their guests.
DESIGN: Additionally, the artful design of this description is worth pause. Beyond the written content itself, even the layout and presentation of this description captures the essence of Aman’s brand: it’s value for beauty, simplicity, and presence over performance.
In your businesses, can you point to your values and how they are expressed at every touch point? How does it show up in your day-to-day engagement with clients? How does it look in your staff onboarding and training? What does it look like in business development and marketing?
I encourage you to take this example as a brilliant case study in Energetic Integrity.
If this strikes something inside of you, you can contact me below for a private consultation or speaking.