Bill Marriott: Four Things Great Leaders Do Differently

In 1927 J.W. Marriott opened a 9-stool root beer stand. This year, with the acquisition of Starwood hotels, Marriott will become the world’s largest hotel chain, with 5,500 hotels and resorts in over 100 countries.

It begs the question: What has set Marriott apart?

My analysis of the hotel industry doesn’t go much beyond comparing room rates on hotels.com. However having recently spent a day at Marriott’s U.S. headquarters, where I was invited to interview Bill ‘JW’ Marriott, Marriott’s chairman who led the company for over 50 years, it seems it has far less to do with fluffy pillows than the mindset of those who’ve shepherded it’s growth. These four beliefs stood out from the rest.

EMBRACE CHANGE

“Change is good. If you aren’t changing you can end up resting on your laurels. It’s a recipe for failure,” Bill Marriott told me. The Marriott family wasn’t always in the hotel business. They grew from a soda stand into a successful restaurant chain. It would have been easy to have stopped there. But CW’s son Bill saw opportunity in accommodation and, upon his father’s passing, opened their first motel.

Sticking with the familiar and playing it safe can feel like the most sensible thing to do, but it can leave people (and organizations) stagnating, languishing… getting too comfortable for their own good. The lesson here is not to get too comfortable with what you’re doing and be open to changing up the mix as you move along. If you’ve been doing the same thing year upon year then chances are you’ve been missing out on the opportunities that change always brings.

LISTEN WITH HUMILITY

Bill Marriott believes that humility and a willingness to listen to opinions that differ from your own is crucial for sound leadership. He described how he learned this lesson from an offhand remark made by President Eisenhower while he was staying at his parent’s property in the winter of 1954. Unsure whether to go outside to shoot quail that his father had bought for the occasion or to stay inside by the fire, he turned to the 22-year-old Bill and asked, "What do you think I should do?" Marriott recalls being flattered that Eisenhower was remotely interested in his opinion.

What was a forgettable exchange for Eisenhower left an indelible imprint on the young Marriott who would go on to spend fifty years steering his fathers company through unprecedented growth. He decided then and there that he would follow Eisenhower’s lead and never miss an opportunity to ask those around him, regardless of their seniority “What do you think?” It’s a simple question but it sets the best leaders apart and builds trust, respect and collaboration more than clever answers ever can.

RISK MISTAKES

Marriott International’s USD $13.6 billion acquisition of Starwood hotels (think W hotels, Sheraton & Westin) has been regarded as bold move by industry analysts; one that’s kept the analysts occupied and raise a few eyebrows, particularly after it found itself in a bidding war with Chinese led consortium Anbang.  

Bold moves tend to do that. It’s because we’re hardwired to focus more on potential losses than potential gains, to overestimate the risks and discount the cost of inaction. It’s why fear of making a bad decision too often keeps people (and organizations) from making a good one and sticking with the safety of the known. What if we fail?

Yet every business success story is ultimately one of people being willing to risk the familiarity of status quo for a better one. Do they make mistakes? Of course. Yet they don’t let their failures define them. Rather they look for the lessons, learnt them and then, to quote Henry Ford, “Move on more intelligently.” While Marriott’s bold move may hit a few bumps along the road, the commitment of their people to navigate around sets them up to make their risk pay off.

PUT PEOPLE FIRST, ALWAYS

Leaders are under enormous pressure to deliver results. Unfortunately many also become short-sighted in their quest to achieve them. Taking time to nurture relationships, foster trust and encourage the people around them can take a back seat to achieving ‘the numbers.’ Yet as Bill Marriott says, putting people first always pays off because at the heart of every business lies its people. When those people feel they are valued for who they are, and not just the results they deliver, they’ll go the extra mile. In the end people are the number one competitive resource of any organization. The best leaders never forget that.

DON'T WAIT FOR CONFIDENCE

“What have you learnt about building confidence?” I asked Bill Marriott, whom at eight-four, one might assume is overflowing with it.

“I’ve learnt that I’m not as confident as people think,” he replied. “You learn confidence by doing and learning and making mistakes and then fixing them.”

Too often people waste years (decades!) of their career and life waiting to feel more confident before they strike out to make a change or take a chance. They buy into the false belief that they have to know everything before they start doing something. Not so.

The only way to build the confidence we admire in others is to just get ‘out there’ – raise your hand, share your opinion, disrupt the status quo, try a different approach, make a bold move despite the ambiguity and uncertainty. Building confidence is like building muscle; the more you flex it, the stronger it grows. Bill Marriott would tell you, it’s a life long endeavor.

As human beings our desire for safety will always pull against our desire for growth. It’s why being a great leader, like forging a great life, requires constantly choosing the braver path over the safer one; embracing a “Let’s give it a go!” mindset as you journey along. Needless to say, it was inspiring to meet someone in their 80’s still doing just that!