Richard Fain - Royal Caribbean Chairman | How Culture Took Us from $550M to $90 Billion

➡️ Join 321,000 people who read my free weekly newsletter: https://newsletter.scottdclary.com

➡️ Like The Podcast? Leave A Rating: https://ratethispodcast.com/successstory

Richard D. Fain led Royal Caribbean Group as CEO from 1988, growing it from a $550 million company into a $90 billion cruise industry giant. A Berkeley and Wharton grad, he's known for pioneering revolutionary ship designs and sustainability initiatives that changed how the world cruises. His culture-driven leadership style built one of the most innovative and successful companies in global travel. He now serves as Chairman of the Board.

➡️ Show Links

https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardfain/ 

➡️ Podcast Sponsors

Hubspot - https://hubspot.com/  

ShipStation - https://www.shipstation.com/ (Code: SuccessStory)

Square - https://square.com/go/success 

SurveyMonkey - https://www.surveymonkey.com/scott 

Monarch Money - https://www.monarchmoney.com (Code: Success)

Claude - https://claude.ai/success 

Incogni - https://incogni.com/success (Code: Success)

Huel - https://huel.com/scott (Code: scott)

Think Big, Buy Small Podcast - https://link.chtbl.com/B2cH36AX?sid=SuccessStory 

NetSuite — https://netsuite.com/scottclary/ 

Indeed - https://indeed.com/clary

➡️ Talking Points

00:00 – Intro

01:28 – Why Richard Fain Can’t Retire

02:44 – 33 Years as a Cruise Industry CEO

04:55 – The Death of Long-Term Thinking

06:36 – The Inflection Point That Changed Everything

08:18 – Building Culture with Intention

12:35 – Leading Under Pressure Without Losing Culture

15:32 – Vision vs. Intentionality: What’s the Difference?

18:17 – Hiring the Right People for the Mission

21:09 – Alignment Over Consensus

23:46 – Sponsor Break

28:21 – Killing Ego While Leading with Purpose

30:17 – Driving Results Without Burning Out Your Team

35:47 – The CEO’s Decision-Making Framework

38:11 – How to Create True Innovation

42:52 – Inside Royal Caribbean’s ‘Culture of WOW’

46:28 – Sponsor Break

49:21 – Getting Your People to Go the Extra Mile

52:59 – Turning Products into Culture Statements

1:01:35 – Fear Makes People Stupid

1:06:04 – How to Pass the Torch the Right Way

1:12:16 – Lessons from Richard Fain’s Book

1:13:31 – The Most Important Lesson for His Kids

Welcome to the Success Story Podcast, hosted by entrepreneur, business executive, author, educator & speaker, Scott D. Clary (@scottdclary). On this podcast, you'll find interviews, Q&A, keynote presentations & conversations on sales, marketing, business, startups and entrepreneurship. Scott will discuss some of the lessons he's learned over his own career, as well as have candid interviews with execs, celebrities, notable figures and politicians. All who have achieved success through both wins and losses, to learn more about their life, their ideas and insights. He sits down with leaders and mentors and unpacks their story to help pass those lessons onto others through both experiences and tactical strategy for business professionals, entrepreneurs and everyone in between. To get more of the Success Story podcast, go to www.successstorypodcast.com.