Royal Caribbean's President & CEO Shares Career Advice

MIAMI, Feb. 11, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The following blog post was written by Adam Goldstein, President & CEO, Royal Caribbean International:

One of our young, ambitious blog readers recently wrote and expressed his interest in obtaining a job such as my job at Royal Caribbean (he is a frequent cruiser with us, something I certainly wasn't when I was in college) or in top management at another large company.  He wanted to know what suggestions I might have for him.  Interestingly, he specifically noted he is involved in nonprofit work, which is near and dear to our hearts.

There certainly is more than one way to the top, judging by the backgrounds of our highest ranking officers.  Richard Fain, our Chairman, was a financial professional by background.  My training was in law.  Michael Bayley, President & CEO of our sister brand Celebrity Cruises, worked his way up from Assistant Purser on Nordic Prince beginning in the early 1980's.  I should note that all three of the senior officers on my Royal Caribbean International team – Lisa Bauer, Vicki Freed and Lisa Lutoff-Perlo – have strong backgrounds in Sales.

Business articles on management cite cyclical trends influencing whether finance, legal, marketing or human resource backgrounds are in the ascendancy to the top jobs.  This may be relevant to large scale data across industries but it is unlikely to determine the career success of any given individual.

My observations over nearly 25 years at Royal Caribbean tell me that success emanates primarily from straightforward elements of daily life.  Someone who has presence that gets people's attention, judgment that appears sound, a work ethic that stands out and an ability to digest considerable information and figure out the key point(s) is going to be noticed by senior management.  The ability to write well is important too.

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