Issy Sharp Articles

Head Hotelier in the Making: The Early Years of Isadore “Issy” Sharp - Click To Read Article
He was just 29 years old when he launched what has become the internationally successful Four Seasons luxury hotel chain. Today, Isadore “Issy” Sharp is recognized as one of Canada’s most successful businessmen, having been inducted into the Canadian Business Hall of Fame and made an Officer of the Order of Canada. Consistently ranked among the best hotels in the world, the Four Seasons earns annual revenues in excess of $200 million. That is no small achievement for a man who knew little stability as a boy, moving 15 times in his first 16 years.

His Finest Season: Sharp Creates a Life of Luxury - Click To Read Article
After borrowing $300,000 from his two friends, Sharp still needed over $700,000 in capital to begin building his dream hotel. Once again, he turned to a family connection. Cecil Forsyth was a friend of Sharp’s father; he also happened to be the manager of the mortgage department at Great West Life Insurance Company. Forsyth initially refused Sharp’s mortgage application, doubtful of the young builder’s business know-how, but Sharp was persistent. Eventually, Forsyth gave in and provided Sharp with the rest of the money he would need for his project.

Lesson #1: Leadership Is Not To Be Taken Lightly - Click To Read Article
“Long-term success is never achieved on our own,” says Sharp. “The phrase ‘a self-made man’ is a myth – all along the way we need support.”

Lesson #2: Success Comes From Pursuing A Single-Purpose Goal - Click To Read Article
Sharp says he is often asked what his overall vision for the Four Seasons was when he first began pondering the idea in the late 1950s. “What was my grand dream?” he asks. “Well I can say with a great deal of certainty and truth that there was no vision, there was no grand dream. The fact is I was just trying to do one small hotel deal. One deal – not a company.”

Lesson #3: Take Care Of Your Customers And They Will Take Care Of You - Click To Read Article
More than anything else, the Four Seasons chain of luxury hotels is known for exactly that – luxury. But, it isn’t luxury in the normal sense. “Our competitors interpreted luxury chiefly as dazzling architecture and décor, but how important is that to our customers?” Sharp asks. “They are mostly executives, often under pressure, fighting jet lag, stress and the clock. We decided to redefine luxury as service.”

Lesson #4: The ‘Golden Rule’ Is Your Golden Ticket To Success - Click To Read Article
There are some who would argue that there is no such thing as ‘business ethics’. Sharp is not one of those people. In outlining the credo with which he wanted to run his company, Sharp declared that the ‘Golden Rule’ was going to be one of the cornerstones of the corporate culture that he was trying to create. “We aimed to treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves,” says Sharp. “Enforcing our credo was the hardest part, and senior managers who couldn’t or wouldn’t live by it were weeded out within a few years.” It was a painful process, says Sharp, but one that had to be done.

Lesson #5: Find Your Comparative Advantage and Step Beyond the Standard - Click To Read Article
It is one of the Four Seasons’ greatest ironies that despite its tremendous success as one of the world’s premier luxury hospitality companies, it actually owns very few hotels. One of the most important decisions Sharp made early on in the life of the Four Seasons was that he wanted to create a unique business model; he wanted his company to be principally occupied with management, instead of ownership of its hotels.

Seasons of Success: How Sharp Took His Hotel To The Top - Click To Read Article
“I started just from building one [hotel], it worked so let’s build another, and it worked so three went to four,” recalls Sharp. “It’s a matter of what I call stepping-stones.” He may not have set out to create the world’s largest network of luxury hotels, but that is exactly what happened. In the over forty years since he first entered the business, Sharp has taken the hotel industry by storm, transforming the idea of service and quality, and doing things on his own terms. What were the factors that helped this Canadian hotelier succeed?

Isadore “Issy” Sharp Quotes - Click To Read Article
Isadore “Issy” Sharp Quotes


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