Great Leaders Grow Great Leaders 🌱✨

Excellence becomes greatness only when it multiplies the people around you.

The pursuit of excellence takes many forms. The Mirage, Bellagio, Wynn Las Vegas, and The Resort at Pelican Hill were properties of extraordinary grandeur — bold, imaginative, and built on cultures of excellence. Working on those teams was a professional dream.

But The Mirage sparked something 37 years ago that became far more meaningful than any building.

Some background:

• Before opening, we worried about finding enough qualified housekeepers, cooks, dishwashers, servers, and bartenders.
• In a meeting with Wynn and Union leaders, I suggested we recruit and train people for those jobs — similar to the dealing school we’d helped operate for the Golden Nugget in Atlantic City.
• They looked at me and said, “Make it happen.”
• And that was the beginning of The Culinary Academy of Las Vegas.

Fast forward to yesterday — the ribbon cutting for its expanded campus. A full restaurant, kitchen, bar, banquet facility, computer lab, ESL lab, and more. I listened as industry leaders, politicians, union representatives, and graduates described the impact of that simple idea:

• 65,000 graduates
• 96% placement rate
• Careers built, families supported, communities strengthened
• A public–private partnership that changed lives

I reconnected with old friends and colleagues and was reminded of a truth that becomes clearer with age: the best work is the work that develops others. In that room were former students who are now leaders, educators who’ve dedicated their careers to workforce development, and industry titans who believed in growing people.

This was a pursuit of excellence without spotlights or fanfare — just hard work, shared purpose, and a commitment to building programs, people, and communities. As the founder and initial trustee, I was always proud of what we accomplished. As an invited guest yesterday, I was honored to stand among the many who made it a model for the industry.

One student at a time.

Excellence becomes legacy when leaders commit to growing people, not just organizations. Commit to doing more of that today.

Ralph Nader (born 1934): American lawyer and political activist involved in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes.[1]

[1] His 1965 book Unsafe at Any Speed, which criticized the automotive industry for its safety record, helped lead to the passage of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act in 1966.