meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
How Leaders Lead with David Novak

#266: Richard Fain, Former CEO of Royal Caribbean Group – Push past comfortable

How Leaders Lead with David Novak

David Novak Leadership

Entrepreneurship, Business, Management

4.8596 Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2025

⏱️ 73 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Today’s cruise ships are floating cities – complete with waterslides, sushi bars, and even roller skating rinks.  But it wasn’t always that way. Today, we’re joined by the leader who helped pioneer the megaship era and transform Royal Caribbean into a global vacation powerhouse. Richard Fain served as CEO for 33 years, building a culture where big ideas could thrive and the whole team was willing to push past what was comfortable or passable in order to deliver truly “wow” experiences. If you want to create a culture that’s big on innovation, don’t miss this episode.  You’ll also learn: What “UFB” stands for (you can probably guess the middle letter) The surprisingly simple strategy that can help your internal initiatives take off How to apply the rule of thirds to your innovation strategy Why he got an emergency phone call from the Swedish Air Force Take your learning further. Get proven leadership advice from these (free!) resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠The How Leaders Lead App⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: A vast library of 90-second leadership lessons to stay sharp on the go  ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Daily Insight Emails⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: One small (but powerful!) leadership principle to focus on each day Whichever you choose, you can be sure you’ll get the trusted leadership advice you need to advance your career, develop your team, and grow your business.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

The blimp had been blown away.

0:02.1

Almost immediately we got a call.

0:03.8

The captain got a call from the Swedish Air Force.

0:06.8

Your balloon, your blimp, is in our airlines.

0:10.3

Can you mind if we shoot it down?

0:17.3

You have delivered a lot of wows over the years, so many that you can actually, with

0:23.7

1,000 percent credibility, write a book on the power of really dazzling your customers.

0:29.1

What's the first time you remember being completely wowed by something?

0:34.0

Oh, I think it was actually my, probably my very first cruise. And I took it because I had never

0:41.1

taken a cruise. And the founder, Ed Stephan, of Royal Caribbean, said, Richard, you got to take a cruise

0:46.6

so you know what you're talking about. And I had never thought a cruise was for somebody like me.

0:51.8

I knew it was popular. I knew it was a great thing, intellectually,

0:55.7

but to actually feel it. And I took that cruise, actually, my wife and I took her somewhat reluctantly,

1:01.8

and we were just blown away. And the thing that blew us away was the people. They were so

1:07.5

spectacular. They were passionate. They were innovative.

1:13.0

It was just terrific.

1:14.3

And I think that was probably one of the more defining moments

1:18.5

of my career.

1:19.7

That's interesting.

1:20.4

You say you didn't think a cruise was for someone like you.

1:23.5

What do you mean by that?

1:25.3

Well, you know, I had a view that back then was quite common.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from David Novak Leadership, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of David Novak Leadership and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.