The Non-Negotiables In Business

In this episode

Welcome to the second part of our interview with the incredible Tony Capuano, the President and CEO of Marriott International.

Tony is the President and CEO of Marriott International, the world's largest hospitality company with nearly 8,600 properties in 139 countries and over 31 brands, including JW Marriott, St. Regis Hotels & Resorts, BVLGARI Hotels & Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton, Westin Hotels and Resorts, and Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, among many others.

Marriott also has the travel industry's largest customer loyalty program, Marriott Bonvoy, which has more than 186 million members! Tony sits on the board of directors of McDonald's Corporation and Save Venice, a nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving the artistic heritage of Venice, Italy, which since its founding in 1971, has funded the conservation of nearly 2,000 individual artworks.

00:45 Becoming the CEO of Marriott

- FILO (First In, Last Out)
- Control the factors that you can control
- Arne Sorensen died of pancreatic cancer
- Arne was a friend, mentor, humble, iconic leader
- Tony became the new CEO six days later
- Had to compartmentalize his grief and start working immediately
- Buying Starwood and a round-the-world tour
- Bill Marriott’s advice to Arne Sorensen
- Randall’s experience with Arnie
- Arnie knew how to listen and connect with people

11:00 The biggest 3 lessons Tony learned from COVID

- Core values and culture have never mattered more than in the pandemic
- The value of authentic and transparent communication
- The value of thoughtful stewardship of the company's financial position
- The resilience of travel and wise business plan
- Arnie’s pandemic video

16:22 Interaction with employees and customers

- Reads every email he gets
- A face-to-face business

18:04 The importance of Extreme reparation

- Prepares extremely for earnings calls
- Prepared for the audience with the Marriott board for 4 nights

22:12 The importance of giving back

- It’s critically important to give back
- Tony responded to every person who reached him out

23:52 Fill in the blanks to Excellence

- The biggest lesson I've learned in my life is
- Listen to the advice of your parents
- My number one professional goal is
- To give back
- My number one personal goal is
- To give back
- And more!