7 Lesson From Conrad Hilton- The Founder Of Hilton Hotels chain
When you think of Hilton you think of luxury and style. Founded in the 1900s, Hilton Hotels has become one of the most popular luxury brands in the industry. With more than 4,300 hotels and 715,000 rooms in 94 countries, Hilton is one of the largest hotels in the world. It is hard to believe that the man who started all this wanted to be a banker and almost bought his first bank. Today we will go through seven life lessons we can learn from his life.
Lesson 1: Be willing to change and welcome it
Conrad’s first business attempt was to buy a bank. He had raised enough money from his saving, friends and family, however, when he approached a banker with his capital the bankers ended up rasing price. This made him mad and he ended up making a deal with the owner of the hotel he was staying at.
Things will often not turn out the way you planned them. You have to be willing to make a change and adjust in order to reach the goal you have. Sometimes humans tend to overthink before making a change, just remember that the world is big if you do not like the change you made you can always come back to what you had earlier, but if you do not make the change you will never know what you could have had.
Lesson 2: Conrad once said that “Success … seems to be connected with action. Successful men keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit”
During the great depression, Conrad almost lost everything he had, his hotel business was suffering. But that did not keep him from finding investors to finance his business. He ended up securing a deal with his suppliers, the hotel suppliers became his investors. Even though businesses around him were shutting down, he kept taking action and secured his location. You see taking action is a habit, the better you are with this habit the sooner you will see success. So keep on moving and take action.
Lesson 3: Try to think of ways on how you can help out the community
Giving money away for charitable causes is awesome. However, if you can help out your community with your business, it has a lasting effect on the nation and you as an individual. When Hilton was expanding internationally Conrad said that “through world travel, we may help world peace”. With Hilton's expansion, the countries they were expanding at got a good product and Americans became known for generosity. When you think of ways to help out your community with your business the community helps you back.
Lesson 4: Everyone around you has something to offer, so do not look down on anyone.
Conrad was on the verge of bankruptcy, he once bowered $300 form one of his bell boys so that he could visit investors. He ended up paying him back with extra money to thank him for his help. You see you are surrounded by people and everyone has something to offer to you, it could be financially but could also be some general advice. So respect everyone around you, and try not to be respectful for selfish reasons, because then it comes off as fake. Be genuine and be kind to everyone.
Lesson 5: Look at every difficulty you face as an opportunity.
When Conrad bought his first hotel, he had tons of empty space that was going to waste, not making him any money. He took that empty space and converted it into more room. Estimates are that he ended up fitting 20 more beds in that space. In life, you will face a lot of problems, stay calm, and find ways to solve it, do not be afraid to ask for help if needed.
Lesson 6: “All a man has got is his word. If you can’t trust what he says, how do you know he’s there at all?”
Your word reflects your intentions and integrity. They are a building block for your existence. It builds trust for others in you and for you in yourself. Have you made a business deal with someone and they did not keep their words? Did you ever go back to them with more business? Chances are that you lost respect for them. Be a person of your words, do what you say. If you can not for one reason or the other let your client know why, but never say that you would do something and then not do it.
Lesson 7: “To accomplish big things I am convinced you must first dream big dreams”
Conrad says that his success started with a dream, so do dream. Dreaming gives you the freedom to think about whatever you want. Once you have a dream you will know what you have to do to make it a reality. And the doing is you taking action, your life starts to move in the right direction. So keep up with that dream that you have.
So there you go, 7 lessons from Conrad’s Life. Hope you enjoyed them.
