Today, I’m live blogging from Catalyst Atlanta at North Point Church. These posts will be rough notes from the conference.
This session’s speaker is Horst Schulze. Horst is a legend in the hotel leadership world. He’s one of the founding members of the Ritz Carlton Hotel Company.
The subject of excellence is what Horst will be talking about today. It’s what his latest book is about and something he knows well.
We are all impacted by the people we meet.
Don’t come to work to work. Come here to create excellence in what you’re doind.
When you’re young, you don’t always get this concept. You think work is work. It is not. Your work is so much more.
Horst saw a matre ‘d work. His work helped him create the idea of “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.”
He wanted to create an organization of excellence. But what is excellence?
For an object, excellence is if the object does what it was created for.
Excellence for people is:
Relationships
Spiritual
Is my function in life creating that excellence?
What is a great organization? It does four things – Makes sure that I keep the customers I have. Gets new customers. Gets as much money from the customers as they can (create value). Last is to be efficient in what you’re doing.
How to keep customers – Give the customer what the customer wants. What does the customer want? Study and figure out what they want. It’s typically the same thing you expect to receive from a company.
The greatest driver of customer satisfaction is that you are nice to them.
Management makes sure things are done correctly. Leadership is relationship building.
Leadership creates a purpose. Is the purpose of your organization clear?
Don’t hire for a function. Hire people who will help you accomplish the purpose of your organization.
Figure out what it will take to accomplish your purpose. Look at the steps it will take to get there. Horst and Ritz Carlton looked at the steps it would take to become known as the best hotel brand in the world. This helps you to not compromise.
You know how to lead yourself once you have established a purpose.
Horst talked to a neighbor who was younger than he was. Asked why the neighbor had retired. The neighbor responded that he wanted to do what he loved to do. Horst was like “Oh man… I love playing hotel.” He then started another hotel brand.
Leadership and leading a company begins with hiring the right people.
Connect your vision to their motive. To be the greatest means you will grow (in business). If we grow, you will have a lot of opportunities.
Hospitality is the first moment you make contact. There’s no business that doesn’t deal with other people.
It’s time to lay down the ego.
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