The unglamorous leadership strategy behind Hilton, the world’s best workplace

In today's CEO Daily, Hilton CEO Chris Nassetta discusses his long-term approach to leadership. He emphasizes the importance of investing in people, creating a unified vision, and executing with humility and agility. Nassetta became CEO of Hilton in 2007 and led the company to become the No. 1 World's Best Workplace by Fortune and Great Place To Work for three consecutive years.

He attributes this success to a data-driven approach, where over 93% of Hilton's 500,000 employees across 9,600 properties scored highly in employee engagement. The majority of these leaders began their careers in frontline roles, receiving training, perks, and opportunities to rotate through different positions. Nassetta believes in building a strong bench of talent by developing leaders from within the organization rather than bringing in external hires.

He also emphasizes the importance of using technology to empower frontline team members and fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement. Building a great workplace, he stresses, is a marathon, not a sprint, requiring years of consistent effort and commitment.