As a hotelier, when I found out Mr. Sharp Four Seasons founder, was coming to Mexico City I knew I had to meet him. Luckily for me as the PR agency for the property in Mexico City I was the one responsible for planning the media event. I was told we only had an hour with Mr. Sharp so we had to take advantage of it. Mr. Sharp arrived to the event punctual and impeccable. He greeted everybody and told us he wanted to answer any questions and he would talk about things that interested us the most. As a fellow hotelier I was extremely interested in knowing more about Mr. Sharps life, his vision of the company and his overall opinion. As he started talking and answering questions I immediately perceived he was extremely low key.
I don’t want to bore you with all the things we talked about for the whole hour, but there where three things he mentioned that impressed me the most and showed the great leader he is. We talked about his early life and how Mr. Sharp came from a family of immigrants that arrived to Toronto. As he spoke about this he told us that he was a key element in the success of the company in the beginning. But now the success is thanks to all the employees in every single property that work extremely hard day after day. I thought that giving credit to others shows what kind of person Mr. Sharp is, he doesn’t pretend to be the the only asset in the company. Instead he is thankful for the work others do for the company. He also mentioned the importance of immigrants in any country. Immigrants tend to be hard workers and want a better life than what they had before.
Lastly, one of the reporters asked him why he had come for only one day to Mexico City. The reporter commented that he should have stayed a bit longer to enjoy the city. Mr Sharp answered that he doesn’t like to interrupt the operations side of hotels and this is why he stays for so little time. His comment shows great leadership and commitment. As the pioneer of one of the best luxury hospitality brands in the world his humbleness and personality make him a great business man. He is an amazing example of a great leader and we should all learn from him!
