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Dream, Believe, Dare, Do 247

contributed” all speak to the root of Four Seasons’ goals, beliefs, and principles.
Indeed, they are more than just words; they come straight from the heart.

Dare
We don’t think Issy Sharp really believed that running a business based on
The Golden Rule was a risk. Sure, he realized the theory needed testing, but
we believe that once feedback on his Golden Rule philosophy starting pour-
ing in from his employees, Isadore dared to move forward.
In the last several decades at Four Seasons, there were many times when
Isadore could have abandoned his philosophy or compromised his values. At
one point in the company’s growth, he told his management group that all
plans for expansion would be put “on hold.” He thought the company was
growing too fast and that quality might be compromised. From then on,
Isadore and his team built one hotel at a time, making each one the very best
it could be. Today, it would be a risk to change the culture at Four Seasons.
Doug Ludwig told us, “We have 30,000 people all around the world who tell
us this is the only way to work.”

Do

As is true in any organization, hiring the best people is vital to long-term suc-
cess. Certainly at Four Seasons, hiring the best people is a top priority. Every
new employee goes through at least five interviews, the last being with the
general manager of a particular location. According to Katie Taylor, “It’s not
so the GM can say ‘Yes, I like this person’ or ‘No, I don’t.’ All candidates, even
dishwashers, are interviewed by the GM. It shows the potential dishwasher that
his [or her] job is really important. He may go home and tell his mother or his
friends, ‘Wow, I met the GM today,’ and on his first day at work he knows the
GM, and the GM knows him.”
This early exposure to the general manager is very important for any Four
Seasons employee. Both the general manager and senior management stay
very involved in the daily lives and the responsibilities of their employees. For
example, the GM frequently checks rooms after a housekeeper cleans, not to
see how clean they are, but to let the housekeeper know that he or she has a
very important job. Whether it is the housekeeper, the bookkeeper, or the
bellman—all Four Seasons employees know they are part of a team that works
together to create exceptional guest service. To be sure, nothing happens by
accident at Four Seasons. The systems, the procedures, the methods, and “art”