My 12 Rules for Success

My father liked to say, "Success is never final." Before the paint dried on a brand new Hot Shoppes restaurant, he was already signing a deal for the next one. He had high expectations for his associates (especially me) and he always wanted to pursue excellence.

When my dad decided I should be president of our company, I thought about and developed my twelve rules of success. They've served me well and I hope you'll find them useful in your career.

• Challenge your team to do better and do it often.
• Take good care of your associates, and they'll take good care of your customers, and they'll come back.
• Celebrate your peoples' success, not your own.
• Know what you're good at and keep improving.
• Do it and do it now. Err on the side of taking action.
• Communicate by listening to your customers, associates and competitors.
• See and be seen. Get out of your office, walk the talk, make yourself visible and accessible.
• Success is always in the details.
• It's more important to hire people with the right qualities than with specific experience.
• Customer needs may vary, but their bias for quality never does.
• Always hire people who are smarter than you are.
• View every problem as an opportunity to grow.

Please leave me a comment and let me know which rules you really like. I'm Bill Marriott and thanks for helping me keep Marriott on the move.

This post first appeared on MarriottOnTheMove.com.