Leading with Purpose with Marriott International

Michael C. Bush (00:00):

So congratulations on being number eight on the 100 Best list. Congratulations. Got nearly 800,000 associates. That's quite a for all group. 

Anthony Capuano (00:12):

Sure is. 

Michael C. Bush (00:13):

Name badge. Over 9,300 locations in 144 countries and territories around the world. How do you make sure that 800,000 people stay connected and cared for all around the world? 

Anthony Capuano (00:23):

Yeah, it's a good question. Maybe three ways. I think number one, it starts with the Marriott family. This is my first day in the U.S. in almost a month. And as I travel around the world, I've been in, I was in India, I was in China, I was all over Europe and the UK over the last couple of weeks. And it's fascinating to me. One of the great privileges of my job is I get to spend lots and lots of time meeting our associates around the world. And you see it and you feel it. They think they work for a small family company. We're celebrating our 98th anniversary this year. We've had three chairman of the board, JW Sr., JW Jr., and now Mr. Marriott's youngest son, David. And so the influence and the impact and the visibility of the family I think goes a long way to keeping folks connected. 

Anthony Capuano (01:15):

I would say number two, not surprisingly, the company's core values. Our founders founded this company 98 years ago on five core values. It won't surprise you putting people first, pursuing excellence, embracing change, acting with integrity, and serving our world. And then I think number three, what really sort of pulls everybody together is this idea of creating an enterprise mindset. This idea that whether you're a doorman in Dublin, whether you're a general manager in Shanghai, whether you're a front desk agent in Bethesda, Maryland, everything you do every day can have a really profound impact on the performance and the perception of the enterprise. And that really pulls us together as a team in pursuit of a set of common goals. 

Michael C. Bush (02:03):

So everybody matters. 

Anthony Capuano (02:04):

Exactly. 

Michael C. Bush (02:06):

So 800,000 people, their experience, our data tells us, and your data tells you, that 70% of it is who you work for, is for that leader. And so that is really what drives the Great Place To Work effect. What do you do to, first of all, define a great leader at Marriott, and what do you do to make sure that you're continuing to develop and support them? 

Anthony Capuano (02:29):

Yeah, I mean it's work that will never be done. 

Anthony Capuano (02:33):

The focus of our team is to ensure that people understand being a leader has nothing to do with what your title, what your role, where in the organization or the org chart you find at every level of the organization. We encourage people to embrace the opportunity to lead, and we ask them, or we encourage them to do that really through three lenses. We ask them to be curious, be intellectually curious about not only the job you're doing every day, but about the broader enterprise and the broader sector. Number two is to be courageous. We have to have an environment where people feel empowered and encouraged and supported to take risk. And third is be connected. We were talking backstage, I was on Capitol Hill with my peer at Hilton, Chris, and in so many sectors, in so many industries, the ability to connect with your peers, to take on issues that are of great importance for that sector, that part of the business world is critical. And so we encourage our folks really to do that. Now, we certainly have programs and rigor around those programs to give our leaders at every level of the organization tools. When Ty and I were with you here last year, we talked a little bit about a program called Elevate, which is a platform that we're really making available across the company to ensure people can be more directly involved and more deliberate about managing their career path. 

Michael C. Bush (04:05):

And right now we've got, I'll call it global economic uncertainty. 

Anthony Capuano (04:10):

It's an elegant way to say it there. 

Michael C. Bush (04:14):

Even in this room, we've had all of a sudden smiles and all of a sudden frowns.

Anthony Capuano (04:20):

At about 1:15 yesterday. 

Michael C. Bush (04:22):

That's when the smiles came. And so this is the time that we're living in, and you've got 800,000 people going through that various experience. So how do you help them navigate this current climate? 

Anthony Capuano (04:36):

Yeah. Well, the good news is 98 years ago, our founder said, you've got to put people first. And so we have a platform. I know you've talked with our team a little bit about called Take Care. And in its early days, Take Care was principally focused on physical wellbeing. And to be sure that's still a significant pillar of Take Care. But over the last number of years, maybe in response to the pandemic a little bit, we've expanded the focus into really three pillars — physical wellbeing, mental health, and financial literacy. And so we've created all sorts of tools and resources to ensure, to your point, against the backdrop of uncertainty or economic headwinds, the ability to tap these resources to ensure our associates around the world are taking care of themselves physically, are developing real financial literacy, enhancing that financial literacy and wellbeing by reinstituting things like our employee stock purchase program. 

Anthony Capuano (05:35):

But I want to spend a minute on the mental health pillar of Take Care. Maybe a year ago I attended a JP Morgan conference in New York, and most of it was sort of financially technical or consumer technical, but they did one session where they had some healthcare professionals come in and share some really profound statistics about not only how prevalent mental health issues are in the workplace, but how little progress we had made as a business community in making people comfortable, ensuring it was acceptable to have those conversations. And I was so taken by it that I actually had that speaker come to Marriott headquarters. He partnered with Bill Marriott's daughter, Debbie Marriott Harrison, who also is a member of our board. And they did a two-hour session just encouraging people to say, you're not alone. These are issues that lots and lots of us or our friends and loved ones face, here are the resources that are available to you. It was without question, the most impactful session I've seen in my 30 years with the company when the two-hour session wrapped up, a hundred people were lined up to talk to the speakers. And I think my perspective on that session has caused us to even double down on that pillar of Take Care. 

Anthony Capuano (07:01):

It's a complicated world and no one certainly at Marriott, but in any of your companies, should ever feel uncomfortable raising an issue around mental wellness. 

Michael C. Bush (07:11):

Yeah, probably it's more important now than ever. I couldn't agree more as a matter of fact. Yesterday we had Dr. Anirudh Devgan, the CEO of Cadence on our stage talking to us about AI, and we learned a couple things. One is everything in AI is about three things. It's an inside joke, I'll tell you later. And the other thing we learned is that it's here. It's here. It's not coming. It's absolutely here. And it feels like in terms of verticals, industries, parts of our business, that's really where it's going to thrive, solving specific problems around the work that we do. And so how are you helping your people get comfortable and integrate some of these new tools and approaches? 

Anthony Capuano (07:58):

Well, to state the obvious, it is here and it is going to be wildly impactful across virtually every sector. For us, it's a bit more complex. And the reason I say that, fundamentally, the hospitality business is a people to people business. 

Anthony Capuano (08:14):

I told you this earlier because Washington has become the center of the universe. You get lots of student groups coming to do a couple day immersion in Washington. Sometimes we're lucky enough that they'll stop by and spend a little time with us. And about a year ago, I had a group of MIT graduate students, and they'd been down on the hill, visited a few companies across sectors, and they finished with us. And I did about an hour Q&A. And this one very bright young man raised his hand and he said, “With all the advances in AI and machine learning and robotics, can you imagine a day where you can run a hotel with no employees?” And I grinned. I said, “Gosh, I hope not, right?” I mean, we are in people serving people business. With that said, the rapid pace of advances across every area of technology is exciting for us. It creates efficiencies, but maybe for us, the thing I'm most excited about, it creates capacity. There was an old SNL skit where somebody was checking in at an airline counter and the person was clicking away for 10 minutes. To the extent these advances in AI, 

Michael C. Bush (09:24):

Are you sure it wasn't a hotel counter? 

Anthony Capuano (09:26):

I'm certain. If my friend Chris was here, I'd say it had been at a Hilton. But what excites me about AI is the capacity it creates. So all of us have had that unfortunate day of travel where it seems everything goes wrong. You finally drag yourself through the front door of a hotel at 11 o'clock at night. To the extent AI has created thirty, sixty, ninety, a hundred and twenty seconds of capacity for our front desk agent to give you that warm, genuine greeting you've been waiting for all day, to engage with you in a really personal human way, pick up on some of your cues and do something to make that long miserable day end on a high note, I think it's going to be a really empowering set of technologies for hospitality. Now, to be sure, we're using AI everywhere. We're running some proof of concepts in the concierge function, which is going great, but we're also reminded the technology is in its infancy. So we've had lots of experiences in this proof of concept, sending a guest to a fabulous restaurant that's been closed for three years. 

Anthony Capuano (10:39):

And so we've got to sort of be cautious about how we incorporate it, where I've seen maybe the most impact in the short term. We have call centers all over the world, and I had the good fortune to spend a day at our call center in Cork, Ireland about a year ago, and I put on a headset for two hours and listened to the nature of the calls. My big takeaway is our guests have become so sophisticated and they have such a deep understanding of exactly what they want in their travel experience. There was one call that really stuck out to me, this lovely woman called, she was planning a multi-generational vacation, four generations of her family. She said, “Here's what I'm looking for. I want a beach resort. My mother-in-law gets car sick, so it's got to be within 20 minutes of the airport. 

Anthony Capuano (11:26):

We're a big family. We need five two-bedroom suites, and we love Italian and Japanese food, so we'd really like an Italian and Japanese restaurant.” Now, imagine you're sitting in Cork, Ireland trying to navigate 9,300 hotels around the world. Talk about clicking away for 10 minutes. It could be extraordinarily frustrating for both parties on the call. Because of the advances we've made in incorporating AI into our business, almost instantaneously, the options that would meet this guest or prospective guest needs were on the screen. And so again, it created capacity. Well, tell me what your family enjoys, what types of activities do you like, so we can make sure we get you in the right place. So we'll continue to look for opportunities. So much of the talk that I hear about AI is about creating economic efficiency, and most certainly in accounting functions and legal functions and some other areas, there will be tremendous efficiencies, but we want to use it principally to create capacity for better, more impactful human interactions. 

Michael C. Bush (12:30):

Yeah, okay. 

Anthony Capuano (12:34):

And I'm terrified of robots. So I was in Edinburgh, Scotland at one of our hotels, and they had an experimental robot delivering things to the guest rooms. I thought it was creepy. I didn't like it. But I suppose some love it. 

Michael C. Bush (12:52):

Okay. Not me. 

Anthony Capuano (12:53):

Yeah, me neither. 

Michael C. Bush (12:54):

Yeah. So we were talking backstage, and so I'd like you to share with the audience. There are busy people and they're really, really busy people, and you're in that really, really busy category logging over a million miles a year, and what that takes and the commitment that it takes, which is a requirement of being a great leader, especially on a global basis. But then you told me how you stopped in to see 93-year-old Bill Marriott, and so it's just like, it sounds like a why not. But really with the pace of everything, this is the second time you've been on the couch with me, Tony. Okay. And both times you were in DC the night before, 

Anthony Capuano (13:35):

Right.

Michael C. Bush (13:36):

So it's a lot going on. Why do you make that stop and what happens to you when you make that stop?

Anthony Capuano (13:44):

Well, I'll tell you, but before I do, I want to be clear. Yeah, I travel 200 and something days a year. No one should ever cry for my schedule. What a privilege it is. I don't get to all 800,000 of those folks wearing a Marriott name badge, but it's not for a lack of effort. And without question, the most gratifying part of my job is traveling around the world, seeing our frontline associates, seeing their passion for providing genuine care for others and thanking them for the amazing work they do every day. Mr. Marriott's a gift. He's 93 years old, believe it or not. I want you to all think about what I'm about to say through the context of your own companies. He was chairman and CEO of Marriott for 40 years. Remarkable. And so the depth of his institutional knowledge, the wisdom that he has, the steady hand he can provide in times of uncertainty because he's led the company through regional and global conflicts, the impact of 9/11 on travel, the great financial recession, all of these things, he's seen what works and what doesn't. 

Anthony Capuano (14:54):

And so the ability to tap into that institutional knowledge and wisdom is remarkable. It was also his 93rd birthday, and I wanted to go out and wish him happy birthday personally. We spent about four hours together. We talked about the business. He is as sharp as ever, a little harder for him to travel than it was in his earlier years. And it's fascinating. I try to call him every week and he'll say, “Where were you this week?” And I say, “oh, this week I was in Berlin, Copenhagen, Dublin, and Edinburgh.” He says, “How was it?” I say, “Great.” He goes, “No, no, no, no, no. Tell me which hotels you toured. What do their house profit margins look like? Have the rooms been renovated?” And so he just has such a deep passion for the business that at the end of our day together, he said, “Well, you're very generous to come spend time with me.”

Anthony Capuano (15:44):

I said, “Are you kidding me?” I said, “I'll take every minute I can get with you.” He is such an extraordinary human being. He's such an extraordinary leader. He's such an extraordinary example. You and I talked about this a little bit backstage. I've seen him interviewed a few times, and one of the questions he often gets, people will say, “My goodness, Mr. Marriott, you're an icon in the travel sector. You've accomplished so much personally and professionally. Is there one thing you would point to as the thing you're most proud of?” And each and every time, without exception, he says, “I'm most proud of the opportunities that we've created for people and their families.”

Michael C. Bush (16:22):

Millions of people.

Anthony Capuano (16:22):

And that's millions of people. That’s right.

Michael C. Bush (16:31):

So executive orders. 

Anthony Capuano (16:35):

Thank goodness those pens run out of ink eventually. 

Michael C. Bush (16:37):

Eventually.

Anthony Capuano (16:38):

Those things are flying out of the Oval Office at a record pace.

Michael C. Bush (16:41):

Record pace. That's right. So we talked about that a little yesterday. 

Anthony Capuano (16:45):

Yeah, I imagine.

Michael C. Bush (16:46):

So a lot of companies are changing this and changing that. In what ways are you changing and what ways are you never going to change? 

Anthony Capuano (16:58):

Yeah. So it was interesting. The day the executive order came out, I sat with our senior leadership team and I said, given the industry leading position we have, we ought to make sure we're all aligned on not only philosophically how we think about this, which was the easy part, but what words we use, what language we use. We should talk with the board a little bit about it. So I said to the team, “Take this week and let's get together in a week. I'm off to Los Angeles.”And I flew to Los Angeles that day, and there's a very big hotel industry investment conference called the ALIS Conference. And so the next morning I did a media breakfast. I did six one-on-one media interviews, and then with Chris and some of my other peers, we did the CEO panel. This was the first question in all eight of those interactions. 

Anthony Capuano (17:50):

And obviously I didn't have the benefit of the team having done the work. And I sort of joked and I said, well, I mentally phoned a friend and I thought about what I'd heard from Bill Marriott all these decades. And what I said in response to those questions, we've been around for almost a century. Political winds blow all different directions, particularly when you operate in almost 150 countries. I said, but there are some fundamental truths about this company that have guided us for those 98 years. We welcome all to our hotels and we create opportunity for all. And fundamentally, those will never change. The words might change, but that's who we are as a company. And I mentioned to Michael backstage, so I said it, and then I went back to my room and said, gosh, I hope I said the right thing. I got in the next 24 hours, I got 40,000 emails from Marriott associates around the world, just saying thank you, saying that's why I've been at this company as long as I have. Because we picked a company, we picked an employer whose fundamental values match ours, and you reminded us today why we've been here as long as we've been. 

Michael C. Bush (19:04):

We're going to end it right there. 

Anthony Capuano (19:05):

Okay, perfect.

Michael C. Bush (19:05):

Please give a warm thank you. Great Place To Work thank you to Tony Capuano.