Sheldon Gary Adelson

Name: Sheldon Gary Adelson

Date of Birth: August 4, 1933

Organization: Las Vegas Sands Corporation

Designation: Chairman and Chief Executive Officer

Education: City College of New York (dropout)

  “Willingness to risk it all is the key to any entrepreneur. It’s a willingness to do things a little bit different… Change the status quo and then you’ll succeed.”

Sheldon Gary Adelson, chairman and chief executive officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corporation. In his early life, at the age of 12 he started to sell newspaper and at 16 he began a candy-vending-machine business. Through selling newspapers on the street during his youth and setting up other businesses such as airline and tradeshow for computer industry, he has gained and knew different work experiences. At the head of the company Las Vegas Sands Corp., he manages a number of casinos and luxury hotels. He was classified in 2011, the sixteenth World fortune by Forbes’s magazine.

Adelson has change the gaming industry by developing integrated resorts, which have a large offering of entertainment attractions, including retail and restaurant. He was also the first casino operator to embrace convention and meeting business. In an interview in 2002, he mentioned about the expansion project of opening a mini-Las Vegas Strip in Spain.

As a leader, he took the risk of trying to lure convention into Las Vegas. Today, the city now depends on conventions to fill its hotel rooms. Instead of being like other entrepreneurs where they are satisfied with just building a hotel, Adelson took the challenge to create an integrated resort – one with shopping, convention facilities, fine dining, gaming, and other attractions all under one roof. Because of the diversification compared to its competitors, Adelson was able to boost the company’s earnings. Besides being known as a self-made billionaire, Adelson is also one of the world’s leading entrepreneurs credited for the transformation of the city of Las Vegas from a gaming location into an international business and leisure destination.

Always challenging and changing the status quo, Mr. Adelson developed a resort destination that caters to a blend of tourist, gaming, and business travellers. Challenging the status quo as a leadership behaviour requires the leader to create and maintain a balance between changing respectfully and being a team player. In addition, because of his willingness to take the risk, he is able to lead to team towards innovation, improvement of processes. Since the opening of the resort, it has received recognition as revolutionizing the Las Vegas hotel industry and has been honoured with numerous awards naming it one of the finest hotels in the world. Furthermore, this has also led governments in places like Macao and Singapore to select Las Vegas Sands to boost the economy with new tourism developments of an integrated resort in their countries.

Properties of Las Vegas Sands Corportion

The secret behind his success? Determination and innovation. Some of the key traits as a leaders mentioned by others are that he has a strong vision for his company, risk-taking, detail oriented, strategic thinking, commitment, ambitious, goal oriented and resilient. As there is no truly a fixed leadership and management style, it is wise for leaders to be flexible when approaching different situations.

In his organisation, team members are encouraged to contribute efficiency ideas through our sustainability award program and they can win a prize for each implemented idea. In 2011, the Sands ECO360° Sustainability Award was presented to an employee for his suggestion to replace conveyer toasters in the Team Member dining room with pop-up toasters. This idea has helped to reduce the amount of energy consumption rate per year.

The recognition of sustainability efforts and encourage the business to carry plans of expanding sustainability practices to its global operations. To create a unity in direction, Adelson and his people have refined the Sands ECO 360° strategy to make it consistent across all resorts. Communication is even more a critical element for him to achieve his goals, since he enjoys challenging the status quo. With effective communication either upwards, downwards or lateral, it ensures the team members and other stakeholders understand the need of change to maximize the effectiveness of the implementation.

Sheldon Adelson is a great leader as he has a great heart. He sets an example by giving back to the community. Las Vegas Sands has multiple partnerships through Sands Foundation in Las Vegas, Pennsylvania, Macau and Singapore to help raise fund for educational and health purposes in the communities it operates as well as through the Sands 360 program to minimize environmental impact.

With his contribution to the hospitality industry, he has displayed great qualities as a leader for he is willing to take the risks to accomplish what he envision, involves his staff and gives back to the society.

Awards

2013 awarded for Innovation and Excellence in Global Tourism at Second Jerusalem International Tourism Summit  

2012 awarded the Hospitality Industry Leader of the Year by the UNLV’s Harrah Hotel College



References:
http://www.sands.com/corporate-overview/leadership/sheldon-adelson
http://ksbhospitalityindustry.blogspot.sg/2011/09/green-sands.html
http://www.sands.com/corporate-overview/leadership/sheldon-adelson/
http://topics.wsj.com/person/A/sheldon-g-adelson/587#