Lesson #5: “Success seems to be connected to action.”
Lesson #5: “Success seems to be connected to action.”
From the time Marriott opened his first business, until the time he died 58 years later, he barely knew what it was to take a moment’s rest. Whether he was buying up new plots of land and expanding locations, or perfecting his operations and equipment, Marriott lived for his business. That is not to say that he never knew failure. Marriott experienced his fair share of setbacks. But what set Marriott apart from his competitors was that he kept on going.
“I have always felt that America is the land of unlimited opportunities for those who will ‘pay the price,’” he once said. After all, “Good timber does not grow with ease,” he said. “The stronger the wind, the stronger the trees.” Marriott was one of those willing to pay the price.
For Marriott, staying on the move meant never resting until a job was finished, and finished right. Even on the home front, Marriott made sure that the lessons he learned as a boy were instilled in his own children. He made his son polish his shoes every Sunday so that they would be ready to wear for church.
One Saturday, Marriott’s son tried to rigorously scrub the gummy substance off of his father’s shoes, which had been sitting there for over a week. It took him hours to do it, but he knew it would be worth his father’s approval after a gruelling inspection. For the Marriott family, perfection was one notch below the acceptable result.
Marriott expected more than perfection, and settled for nothing less. “Not one operation of the Marriott Corporation should be substandard,” he said. ‘If it is, the company is injured if not corrected immediately and responsible management obtained.”
Marriott was a firm believer that a company that spills coffee on 10 percent of its customers could never be a successful company, no matter what the other 90 percent of customers thought of its coffee. Similarly, an 80 percent positive customer response was not something to be happy about.
Beyond the business, Marriott also insisted on perfection in his personal life. “All through the years, I’ve seen bad habits destroy brilliant, talented and fine men and women,” he said. “So I know that the basis of my success is good habits and good character.”
Marriott was always on the move to improve, to be the best he could be, and build the best business he could build. From concept to follow through, Marriott was always in it for the long haul. He may not have achieved success let alone perfection on his first try, or on his second, but it was always the goal that he was striving for, and that he tried to convey to his employees, customers, and family.
Lesson 5 Success seems to be connected to action
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Marriott never stood still or took the time to reflect on his successes. After all, there was no time to indulge in such things. “Successful people keep moving,” he would say. “They make mistakes, but they never quit.”
From the time Marriott opened his first business, until the time he died 58 years later, he barely knew what it was to take a moment’s rest. Whether he was buying up new plots of land and expanding locations, or perfecting his operations and equipment, Marriott lived for his business. That is not to say that he never knew failure. Marriott experienced his fair share of setbacks. But what set Marriott apart from his competitors was that he kept on going.
“I have always felt that America is the land of unlimited opportunities for those who will ‘pay the price,’” he once said. After all, “Good timber does not grow with ease,” he said. “The stronger the wind, the stronger the trees.” Marriott was one of those willing to pay the price.
For Marriott, staying on the move meant never resting until a job was finished, and finished right. Even on the home front, Marriott made sure that the lessons he learned as a boy were instilled in his own children. He made his son polish his shoes every Sunday so that they would be ready to wear for church.
One Saturday, Marriott’s son tried to rigorously scrub the gummy substance off of his father’s shoes, which had been sitting there for over a week. It took him hours to do it, but he knew it would be worth his father’s approval after a gruelling inspection. For the Marriott family, perfection was one notch below the acceptable result.
Marriott expected more than perfection, and settled for nothing less. “Not one operation of the Marriott Corporation should be substandard,” he said. ‘If it is, the company is injured if not corrected immediately and responsible management obtained.”
Marriott was a firm believer that a company that spills coffee on 10 percent of its customers could never be a successful company, no matter what the other 90 percent of customers thought of its coffee. Similarly, an 80 percent positive customer response was not something to be happy about.
Beyond the business, Marriott also insisted on perfection in his personal life. “All through the years, I’ve seen bad habits destroy brilliant, talented and fine men and women,” he said. “So I know that the basis of my success is good habits and good character.”
Marriott was always on the move to improve, to be the best he could be, and build the best business he could build. From concept to follow through, Marriott was always in it for the long haul. He may not have achieved success let alone perfection on his first try, or on his second, but it was always the goal that he was striving for, and that he tried to convey to his employees, customers, and family.
Lesson 5 Success seems to be connected to action
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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