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for J . W . “ Bill ” Marriott Jr ., the formula for success has always been painfully simple : work really hard , hire people who value their contemporaries and then take care of those people . That approach — first taught to him in the 1950s by his father , J . Willard Marriott , when they were opening Hot Shoppe restaurants — by the end of 2015 will manifest itself to the tune of a million hotel rooms open or under development . When open , the hotels will have generated more than US $ 50 billion in real estate investment globally by Marriott ’ s owner partners .
But in true Bill Marriott fashion , when asked what remains undone , the 83-year-old chairman — who remains curious and constantly questions the status quo — quickly replies , “ Everything . ‘ Success is never final ,’ my father used to say , and I think he stole that from Winston Churchill . But once you think you have it made and sit back , that ’ s when you get into trouble . You must keep pushing the rock up the hill just like Sisyphus .”
Yes , Bill Marriott is still pushing the rock up the hill , and one has to believe his continued presence in the organization has provided the momentum to create new brands like Moxy for Millennials and partner with cutting-edge hoteliers such as Ian Schrager and , more recently , Spain ’ s Antonio Catalan to create Edition and AC by Marriott , respectively .
“ He has a deep , passionate interest in the business that fuels curiosity that never seems to stop ,” says current-day Marriott International CEO Arne Sorenson , who took the reins in 2013 . “ Look at leaders across the business scene , and you see folks who have initial curiosity , energy and passion , but often start to let that fade and coast a little . Mr . Marriott was CEO for 40 years and was involved before that for almost 60 years . Even today he has extraordinary curiosity and a passionate interest for the hotel business , which causes him every day to say , ‘ What can we do differently ? What is someone else doing we should be looking at ?’ It has never let up .”
Forever the competitor While shrewd enough to follow his father ’ s advice about how to grow an organization , Bill Marriott was also independent and strong enough to chart his own path by understanding the opportunities in the hotel business . And if he listened to everything his father told him , that million-room celebration would never come to be .
The senior Marriott didn ’ t like the idea of owning big pieces of real estate and their accompanying debt , but his son took an immediate liking to the business when the first hotel opened in suburban Washington , D . C ., in 1957 — especially the added dimensions of management , marketing , sales and branding . “ If my father had encouraged me to focus on hotels back in the ’ 70s when security analysts and investors on Wall Street were pushing us into the cruise business , restaurants , theme parks and travel agencies , we ’ d be twice the size we are today ,” Marriott says , still with some fire in his eyes . “ What we should have done
For video highlights from the interview with Bill Marriott , go to hotelsm . ag / BillMarriottvideos
www . hotelsmag . com April 2015 HOTELS 15