Ritz–carlton Yacht Collection
- Written by: Jon Duschinsky
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Where they Were
The first entrant in a new market of ultra-luxury cruising.
Three yachts launched into a brand new category that quickly started attracting some of the world’s most recognized hospitality brands.
Competition wasn’t slowing. And product expectations were escalating.
What was off Centre
Leadership knew that trying to outperform competitors on product alone would eventually become a race they couldn’t control. Someone else can always build bigger, flashier or more extravagant experiences.
The question became: what does luxury actually mean?
Our competitive advantage is not the yacht, it’s the way people feel after spending time with us, with fellow guests, and with themselves.”
Finding Centre
centrepoint helped leadership identify a different source of advantage. Not assets. People.
Together, we defined purpose, vision, beliefs and a manifesto rooted in one idea: real luxury in today’s world is about genuine human connection.
Connection with self, with others and with the environment around us.
That repositioned the company from a provider of high-end cruises to a curator of genuine human connections, and employees from operators of experience to generators of experience.
The work then moved into practice. With the organizational purpose defined, our focus shifted to the thousands of leaders and team members — the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s Ladies & Gentlemen onboard and onshore, around the world. We launched a bold plan to help every single employee reveal their own personal purpose and connect it to the purpose of the organization.
- Defining zones of leadership excellence
- Equipping leaders to coach differently
- Embedding the work into talent systems
- Building dashboards to track engagement, loyalty and performance
What Changed
The organization stopped measuring excellence only through service standards.Human connection became the competitive advantage. Purpose became real, lived and enlivened.
And the long-term measure of success became simple: guests returning not just because of the exceptional environment, but because of the way the Ladies & Gentlemen onboard and onshore made them feel.
“I can’t wait to share my purpose and vision with my team.”
“We find ways to bring our purpose to life for our guests — those wow moments are the highlights of my day.”
“You can count on me to bring my own purpose to life every day to inspire real genuine connections for our guests.”
“This brings me the clarity to know how I can make my biggest difference for guests — thank you!”
Jon Duschinsky
I connect people with purpose.
My purpose is to help organizations and leaders find their centrepoint — their purpose — and through the clarity and energy that this unleashes, create more meaningful relationships and more impact on the things they truly care about. Purpose is where capitalism meets sustainability. And pretty soon, it will be the only way to do business.
Find your centre.
Move with clarity. If your organization feels heavier than it should, there's usually a reason.
Let’s find what’s getting in the way and what becomes possible when people, leadership, and strategy start moving together.
