Did You Do It with Excellence?

I recently interviewed Horst Schulze for an upcoming episode of the Charlie Paparelli Show. (Don’t miss this, subscribe on Apple Podcast or on other Podcast Players.) Horst is the creator of the Ritz Carlton Hotels brand. And more recently, the Capella Hotels and Resorts brand. Both were rated #1 in the world. He won the Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award not once but twice, which has never been done before in the hotel industry. His reputation in the hotel industry is legendary.

"Why do you want me to slow down?" I asked the shift leader.

He answered, "You are making us look bad. We don't work that fast around here."

I was sixteen when this happened to me. I had a choice. Compromise my values and fit in. Perform at my best and be me. I didn't slow down.

I was reminded of this story when I interviewed Horst Schulze, the founder of the Ritz Carlton Hotels. He told a similar story. I believe those of us who are successful and leaders in our respective industries have this very same story. There came a time when our values on work and life were challenged at a very young age. The decision we made then set our course for our future.

Horst's story

Horst was sixteen years old when he secured his first hotel job as a busboy. He was fortunate to be working at a high-end hotel in West Germany. He was even more fortunate to have Herr Karl Zeitler, the maitre'd as his boss.

Each day Herr Zeitler challenged him to do every aspect of his job with excellence. To do the best he could possibly do and to do even better from there. Each day he was challenged at such a young age to continuously set an even higher standard of excellence. Herr Zeitler would look at the work he did and ask, "Is this excellence?"

After two years in this hotel, which included a hotel school he attended at the same time, he was ready to graduate and move on. Herr Zeitler asked him, "Will you promise me that you will always practice excellence?" Horst promised Zeitler. He then left this first job and began his career as a hotelier.

He moved through high-end hotels in western Europe and the UK, including a rotation on a cruise line. Then, at twenty-four, the opportunity came to move to San Francisco. He was offered a position as a room service waiter. He was one of four.

There were rumblings that one of them would be promoted. Horst was sure it would be him. He was wrong.

This put Horst into a tailspin. He immediately lost respect for his boss. The guy clearly made a terrible decision. Horst spent the next couple of months blaming everyone around him for not getting that promotion. Then one day he started looking at himself. He began to self-evaluate.

What he saw, he did not like.

He told me, "I was going out with other employees at night. My social life caused me to be sometimes late for work. I also would show up tired and in a bad mood. And I knew this wasn't who I wanted to be because when I showed up late, I always felt guilty."

Horst went on to tell me that the young man who received the promotion wasn't like this. He was always on time. When asked how he was doing, he would say, "Fabulous. Isn't it a great day?" And he had energy given him by proper sleep, which helped him do his job more quickly and efficiently with no mistakes. Not true with Horst.

"I came to the conclusion, our boss made the right decision," he confessed.

Then he remembered the promise he’d made to Herr Zeitler.

Horst decided to change right then and there. He went to his boss and apologized for his past performance. He told him he agreed with his decision to promote his co-worker. And he respected him for it. And then he promised his boss to do whatever was necessary to get that next promotion.

His career skyrocketed from there.

He went straight to the top of his profession in the next decade. His reputation proceeded him in every new job. He got every promotion he pursued and more. His standard of excellence through self-assessment led to more responsibilities with ever-growing authority. This reputation finally led to him being pursued to start the Ritz Carlton Hotels brand. The rest is history. Today he is a legend in his industry.

And it all happened by choosing to honor his promise to his mentor. To honor this man's legacy and be excellent at whatever he did. And whenever he finished a job, he would ask himself, "Is this excellence?"