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I’ve been looking forward to this interview for ages. It’s with a business icon & one of my personal heroes. Horst Schultze may not be a household name. But you know what he’s accomplished. A leader in the hotel world, Horst’s teachings & vision reshaped the concepts of service & hospitality across many industries. As Founding President & COO of The Ritz Carlton Company, he scaled the $2 billion operation worldwide. It was under his leadership that Ritz Carlton was awarded the prestigious Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award (twice!) making it the first & only hotel company to do so. From day one, he built a culture of passion for Service (yes, with a capital S) and learned how to hire people who shared the same DNA as himself. Horst’s professional life began 65 years ago as a server’s assistant in a German resort town. After working for Hilton and Hyatt, he co-founded Ritz Carlton in 1983. The rest is legend. I was fortunate to have Horst reveal some of the secrets to building a company culture as a competitive weapon. Hiring people for their unique DNA may not get you to $2 Billion in revenues. But it’s a great start. |