Excellence Is Not an Accident — It Is Leadership

Horst Schulze

Horst Schulze stood before our club this week and reminded us of something that sounds simple — yet is profoundly rare: excellence is a decision. As the founder of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, as we all know it, Schulze did not merely build hotels. He built a culture. When he came to America in 1964, he arrived with little more than belief and discipline. Twenty years later, the first Ritz-Carlton opened in Buckhead with 600 rooms — not simply as a place to stay, but as a place defined by standards.

His message was crystal clear: You don’t hire people to fill jobs. You invite people to join a dream. Employees must have purpose. Leadership, he said, is a process where people want to do the work — not because they are told to, but because they believe in it. A leader must articulate vision so clearly that every person understands not just what they do, but why they do it.

To that end, in Rotary, “Service Above Self” must not just be a slogan. It is a standard. It is the discipline of doing the right thing — exactly right — even when no one is watching. It is expecting excellence not occasionally, but consistently. It is defining ourselves by the quality of our character and our commitment to others.

Schulze spoke of exactness — of doing the right thing every time. In hospitality, that may mean how a bed is made or how a guest is greeted. In Rotary, it means how we serve our community, steward our resources, and lead with integrity.

And that brings us to Leadership 2020. Each year, through this program, we invest in students from Roswell High School. These young men and women are not just participants. They are future business owners, elected officials, nonprofit leaders, military officers, teachers, and parents. They are the future custodians of our communities and our country.

If Schulze’s message was about building excellence in a global brand, Leadership 2020 is about building excellence in human beings. When we teach these students that leadership is rooted in purpose, belonging, and vision, we are shaping something far more enduring than a hotel chain. We are shaping culture. We are shaping character.

Colonel Dwight Schmidt

This week, they will also hear from Colonel Schmit of the United States military — a leader who understands that leadership is not positional; it is moral. In the military, as in hospitality, as in Rotary, standards matter. Discipline matters. Clarity matters. Excellence matters.

Leadership is not about title. It is about influence. It is not about authority. It is about responsibility. It is not about being served. It is about serving.

Leadership 2020

That is why programs like Leadership 2020 matter. We are not merely mentoring students. We are inviting them into a dream — a dream where leadership means integrity, excellence, and service above self. Horst Schulze built world-class hotels by insisting on purpose and exactness. Rotary builds world-class citizens by insisting on service and character. If we do this well — if we articulate our vision clearly and model it faithfully — then these students will not simply inherit our community. They will elevate it.

Excellence is never an accident. Leadership is never accidental. And the future is not something we wait for — it is something we build. Service Above Self is how we build it.

Sic Vos Non Vobis

Trummie Lee Patrick III