We all need role models and I sincerely wish, that I would have had one, when I first started my career. As a matter of fact, I remember searching for biographies of successful hoteliers back in the early 1970ties but I could not find much. We did not have Google and there was no time for the library due to the 12 -14 hour working days and even today, while there are countless resources available we do not find too many examples which would serve your quest to have a role model for your personal career ambition.
When I began to write down the reasons why you should read this book, I found myself captured by the very simple and straightforward talk by the author. I read the book repeatedly and discovered that the book offers should be read by pretty much anyone in the industry, not just be young hoteliers. It contains many messages for hoteliers at any level including top management.
Those readers who are in the early stage of their career will find not only a most interesting story of the career development and motivation but also being served with an honest insight into the mentality of a great business leader. The lessons in this book can also be applied easily to other businesses like banking, insurance, hospitals and more. The book provides a clear and humble definition of the traits of true professional leaders and those who are ambitious enough to become leaders themselves one day, as long they are willing and motived enough to put in the work and energy required. It also clearly defines the difference between managers and leaders.
Horst’s story starts with his school days and upbringing in a small German town of Winningen. and his determination to have a career in the hotel business. He describes how his family tries to convince him to pursue a more promising career and how he is standing his ground to become a hotelier. This alone reminds me of my own early decision to get into the hotel industry and the resistance of my father against this decision.
Your own situation might be different but could also be very similar. The hotel industry has made huge changes in the last 50 years and offers fascinating career choices. Not only is it one of the largest global industries but it offers more opportunities to grow your career in a direction you may not anticipate today. It also has relatively low entry barriers in terms of schooling. It is a career for individuals which have a service oriented mindset, are eager to travel and see the world , explore different cultures and want to live a life potentially spiced with the sensation of adventure.
Once you have made it into management, it offers many attractive positions in other industries. Keep in mind, that the former hotelier Horst Schulze is sitting today on the board of companies like Boost, a mobile training solution company out of Singapore, ChenMed Healthcare and TRSDC (Red Sea Development) to mention a few .
He gives a perfect description of his working day at the beginning of his apprenticeship. He provides the key ingredients of his learnings provided by his first mentor, Mr. Seidler and the importance of “Providing Excellence to customers” instead of just coming to work to do a job. Mr. Seidler’s influence on his career is obvious. The experience, character and work history of his first mentor left a profound impact and fascination on young Horst. He gives a short summary of his early work at the Bellevue Palace in Bern and the Beau Rivage Palace in Lausanne, Switzerland. His tenure at the Plaza Athene in Paris and The Savoy in London clearly mark his early choice and decision to work in 5 star hotels only but also indicate international aspirations.
Eventually, following his mentor’s steps he decides to enlist with the “Holland-America -Line” and work onboard one of its ships visiting New York for the first time. At that time, he visits the famous Waldorf=Astoria Hotel. A deciding moment in his career: the idea of becoming a hotel manager crosses his mind – maybe for the first time. – Strangely, it happened to me too: I decided to become a hotel general manager, while working at the Waldorf=Astoria. 15 years after Horst’s visit.
In the following chapters of his book the author speaks about his customer and service philosophy and gives ample examples how he implemented his philosophy step by step during the continuation of his career. He also speaks clearly about decision making and interaction between hotel management, employees and unions in the USA.
His decision to leave the Hyatt Hotel Corporation, where he was serving as Vice President Food & Beverage impacts his own career and life in a most profound way. He gives up the “Golden Hyatt Cufflinks” and decides to join William B. Johnson, the main shareholder at that time and President Colgate Holmes to assist and develop the Ritz-Carlton Hotel brand in the form and shape we find today. If one knows the rather complicated Ritz-Carlton History, it becomes clear that Horst took a major risk and put his established career on the line. This provides a most valuable glimpse into his decision making process and thinking. It is possible that you, the reader might be in a similar situation one day and have to make a major career changing decision. As Horst put’s it correctly, it was a major major change in his working life.
There is no doubt in my mind, that there will be many opportunities in a hotelier’s life. Obviously the former CEO of Ritz-Carlton Hotels made his decision not lightly. I know for a fact, that there were other candidates for the position. They decided however to stay with Hyatt Hotels at that time. I know it, because one of the candidates who had been shortlisted for the job was my very own former mentor Klaus P. Reincke, who had told me the story years ago when he introduced me to Horst Schulze in Dubai in 1998. The hotel, which was supposed to become the Royal Abjar Beach Hotel became the first Ritz-Carlton Hotel in the Middle East in the Jumeirah district of Dubai. I was offered then and there to join Ritz-Carlton, but not in Dubai and in a Resident Manager position for one year, before I would retake the General Manager position. Back then, I did not take the offer but joined another company. I went for money and title. Looking back today I say this to any young hotelier: “there are no wrong decisions; however you need to understand potential consequences and accept them. When opportunity knocks on your door, often “undercover” consult with an experienced mentor and think it through keeping your own personal vision in mind. Do not just follow title and money !”
One of the reasons why every motivated hotelier should read this book is one of the pillars of the hotel industry overall. “Excellence in Service to your guests”. Horst Schulz describes his philosophy in simple language and some historic underlining. He provides real life examples about im-perfect and perfect service. Just reading these examples gives a clear understanding of what “Service Excellence” is really all about. For a hotelier it is a perfect summary of the fine details and the systems and processes behind it. Most successful hoteliers know, that “Service Excellence” does not come by accident but by understanding the customer expectations and a complex systems of service delivery at all levels, in all shape and forms and fully aligned with human empowerment.
Of course, the young hotelier, even advanced ones, do not always have this know-how, nor the right mindset but this book helps them to understand and incorporate these excellence standards for themselves. This again will help them in any hotel company to become excellent performers in whatever department they are working in.
The Ritz-Carlton standards have been imitated by many other 5 star hotel companies. Many have done it quite well but many also failed to do it properly, simply because they failed in selecting the right members for their teams, discovering the root causes of problems and often budgetary reasons. In his book Horst describes in detail one of these scenarios. The slow room service at the Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta, the root cause analysis process and the finding, that the room-service issue was a result in leadership decision making during the opening times of the hotel. Or the famous “Bank”example where he describes in great detail what goes on in a customer’s mind who wants to just change a 50 $ bill. Amusing and yet very interesting.
I could bring up more reasons why any hotelier with ambition and drive must read this book. Not only is it motivational and insightful. It will also replace hours of training in classrooms if you understand the principles and philosophy which form the pillars of the Ritz-Carlton philosophy.
I am a believer in “Reading Books”. It is maybe considered an “Old Fashioned Habit” but if you are serious about your career you better learn to make time for “Quality Reading” of high quality content. Right now as I am finishing this blog article, I look at a pile of books, which I need to read in the next few weeks. Honestly, it is a much bigger challenge today for people to read a book as it used to be before the arrival of Youtube, not to talk about the internet overall. Reading is still the most effective method to absorb and- more importantly, to store this knowledge. Maybe the time comes when you can download that knowledge via “brain implant” directly from the cloud. However to me as a real human being this scenario is kind of scary would we not begin to give up control of ourselves to technology. Reading also requires from you not only to process what you read but also to evaluate what you read. It is probably no accident, that technological developments are accelerating and co-inciding with a “dumbing down” of large parts of the population in many countries, especially the western world. This was a statement by Carl Sagan in the late 1970ties.
For me, Horst Schulze’s “Excellence Wins” should be read by every hotelier and I know, you will either purchase the plain paperback issue or eventually the audio CD. Whatever you decide, I know you will make the best out of it and the book will have a profound impact on you. Not only how you will plan your career but potentially also, how you select the company you want to be a part of.
Good luck on your career journey.
Helmut H Meckelburg