We were grateful for the opportunity to sit down with David Marriott, Chairman of the Board of Marriott International. In this personal interview, David tells the story of how Marriott got started 99 years ago, and how he carries the values of his grandparents in his leadership today. The interview includes strategies for employee engagement, leading proactively through crisis, and how the private sector can contribute to lifting society. Oh, and stories like the time President Eisenhower asked for his father’s advice, and David’s experience naming a gorilla in Rwanda!
Some questions you might consider as you listen:
When’s the last time I asked someone else, “What do you think?” How can that attitude permeate my leadership?
What are my most essential priorities and how might I focus on them as a way of sustaining my purpose and managing my own well-being?
How aligned am I with my organization’s core values? How do they inform my decision-making, especially in crisis?
What goals could I create for my team or organization to lift society?
J. Willard Marriott and Alice S. Marriott, David Marriott’s parents who started with a root beer stand in Washington DC in 1927
Let’s keep lifting!
Andrew and Ariel
PS David shares his favorite Marriott Hotel during the interview. One we recently visited that we highly recommend is the JW Marriott in Savannah, Georgia. They’ve turned what was once a power plant into an amazing riverside hotel.
