Excellence Wins by Horst Schulze
Through the Lens of Excellence and Hospitality Assured
Excellence Wins by Horst Schulze is both a memoir and a practical leadership guide grounded in decades of experience building world class service organizations, most notably as co-founder and former president of The Ritz Carlton Hotel Company. At its core, the book argues that excellence isn’t an abstract ideal, it’s a systematic discipline built on clear intention, rigorous standards, and deeply engaged people.
Schulze distils his philosophy into principles that resonate strongly with the Hospitality Assured framework. Central themes include:
- Customer Service as a Universal Responsibility:Every interaction matters, and consistent excellence begins with fulfilling customers’ basic expectations no defects, timeliness, and genuine care, while continually striving to exceed them.
- Colleague Engagement and Empowerment:Schulze highlights that excellence starts with how leaders treat their own people. When colleagues are respected, valued, and given the authority to make meaningful decisions, they become ambassadors of service rather than task performers.
- Leadership as Service:True leadership, for Schulze, is inspired rather than imposed. Leaders must articulate a compelling vision, model the behaviours they expect, and foster a culture where excellence is understood, measured, and reinforced.
These themes dovetail with the Hospitality Assured emphasis on defining service standards, developing people, leading with purpose, and continually measuring performance to drive improvement. Schulze’s mantra of “no-nonsense excellence” reinforces HA’s belief that service quality must be operationalised through systems and behaviours, not left to chance or goodwill alone.
In short, Excellence Wins offers both inspiration and actionable insights for anyone seeking to embed excellence into organisational DNA, making it a highly relevant read for leaders operating within or aspiring toward Hospitality Assured accreditation standards.
