there ' s a passion that comes with it .
Cover story : Legends : talk to kings and queens , and to dishwashers in our hotels ,” says Christopher Norton , Four Seasons ’ president of global product and operations . “ The demeanor , smile , tone is exactly the same . He ’ s the living and walking example of the Golden Rule .”
Sarmad Zok , chairman and CEO of Kingdom Hotel Investments , whose parent company owns a major stake in Four Seasons and has developed properties including the Four Seasons George V , Paris , calls Sharp “ the father of modern luxury hospitality and a self-made man with the highest caliber integrity and work ethic . He aims for perfection and does not accept half-solutions .”
When you get people Who believe in something ,
there ' s a passion that comes with it .
Control without compromise “ Everybody talks about good service ,” Sharp says during an interview at his Palm Springs home , where he spends the winter months . But early on , he recognized that whoever had the most contact with guests — the doorman , the housekeepers , the front desk — would have the biggest impact on them . “ So we had to give our employees what they needed . What were the tools ? What would they need to be able to deliver this exceptional experience ?”
For Sharp , whose Polish immigrant parents taught him and his three sisters by example , the answer started at the top . He introduced his Golden Rule management philosophy in the mid- ’ 70s — a simple dictum that required a radical perspective shift that many managers , as it turned out , could conceptualize but couldn ’ t , or wouldn ’ t , operationalize . “ I had to tell very competent people , ‘ I don ’ t think we ’ re going to be able to do this together ,’” he says . It was the most difficult period of his career .
It triggered a years-long effort to purge the company of skeptics and replace them with like-minded managers . But he didn ’ t implement a hierarchy where leadership called the shots and moved hotel staff like pieces on a chessboard . Control of each guest ’ s experience , with its corresponding autonomy and responsibility , rested with staff .
‘ Slow build ’ What started as a theory — a company could build a highly motivated workforce based on an ethical credo — became fact over the years , as each hotel that opened carried forward that uncompromising culture of service based on a most ancient and universal dictum . It was a “ slow build ” of about 15 years . Why did it work ? And why did it work so well ? It ’ s not just a “ nifty corporate slogan ,” Smith says . “ People internalize this as they go about their jobs . We have the advantage of having a founder active in the business who is embodying those principles . It ’ s a rallying point for people who continue to see evidence that those things are important .”
In Sharp ’ s currency , the guest was of paramount importance . The other side of the coin was the employee . “ Our performances were rated on people , product and profit , in that order ,” says Hans Willimann , longtime general manager of Four Seasons in the United States , including
20 HOTELS April 2016 www . hotelsmag . com