Bill Shaw has seen a lot in his 37 years in the hospitality industry. When he joined Marriott in 1974, the company was a mid-size conglomerate. Today, it is the most-respected lodging-focused company in the world, and Shaw is a big reason why. He retires as vice chairman of the hotel giant on Mar. 31.

True to his persona as a behind-the-scenes force at Marriott, Shaw credits others—specifically Chairman and CEO Bill Marriott—for his success. “The greatest experience for me was the opportunities I’ve had in both finance and operations as well as to know Bill Marriott, who is the finest executive I’ve ever worked with,” says Shaw.

Shaw joined the company in 1974 and was named corporate controller in 1979 and vice president in 1982. He later became senior vice president, finance and treasurer and then CFO and executive vice president. In 1992, he was named president of the Marriott Service Group and became president and COO of Marriott International in 1997. Two years ago, he was elected vice chairman.

We chatted with Shaw by phone as he prepares to leave the company he served for parts of five decades:

How did you decide to join Marriott back in 1974?
I was at Arthur Anderson and worked on the Marriott audits between 1972 and ‘74. Marriott was doing a lot of acquisitions at the time so I was there about half my time. After we finished the audit [in 1974] the corporate controller asked me if I wanted to come to Marriott. When you’re an auditor, it’s someone else going into battle and you just count the bodies at the end. One of the reasons I joined Marriott is because it’s a lot more fun being part of the decision-making.

What are your plans for retirement?
I’m looking at joining a few boards of directors of public companies. I also want to continue to work with community and not-for-profit organizations. I’ve been on the board of the University of Notre Dame [his alma mater] and the board at Washington University, where I got my MBA. I’ve been very involved with the Suburban Hospital Foundation, which recently merged with Johns Hopkins, as well as the archdiocese of Washington, DC and the NCAA Leadership Advisory Board.

The main thing I’m looking for is some flexibility to spend more time with my wife and seven grandchildren.

What were your biggest accomplishments at Marriott?
First was helping to drive the evolution and transformation of the company. We started as a conglomerate in the 1970s and ‘80s and were in the restaurant business, service management, airline catering, turnpike and airport food concessioning and gift shop concessions, theme parks, senior living and food distribution. We were in a lot of different businesses and owned a lot of real estate. Since then, we’ve become the number-one global hospitality company focusing on hotels and timeshare and we own less than 10 hotels out of our more than 3,500 hotels around the world.

Second thing would be helping to successfully steer the company during the difficult recessions we went through in 1991 to ‘93 and 2001 and ‘03, including 9/11, and most recently, 2007 to 2009. Every time, we emerge from these challenging periods stronger than ever and better positioned for growth.

Anything else?
My greatest satisfaction comes from the development of people, especially the focus we’ve had on diversity and inclusion. I was very involved in our Women’s Leadership Program and the Committee for Excellence. It’s a great feeling when you’re retiring to look around and see the outstanding leadership team at Marriott.

What is it about Bill Marriott that makes him such a great leader?
I also had the chance to work with his father. Both of them are very demanding, and one of their favorite sayings is ‘success is never final.’ Early on, I felt that meant nothing is ever good enough. But they’re very caring about all their people. After pointing out the things you could do better, Bill will always thank you. The other saying of both of them was ‘take care of your people and your people will take good care of the customers and the customers will keep coming back.’ Bill has an ability to get everybody rallied around vision and the culture of the company and a focus on service.

Marriott has a reputation as a company where employees stay for a long time. Why do people have that loyalty?
The average general manager at our full-service hotels has been at the company for more than 25 years. Our great asset is our people and then our culture, and that’s what differentiates us and is our greatest competitive advantage. It’s that commitment to service and a culture where we put people first. Also, the kind of growth we’ve had over the years provides a lot of opportunities for people. We have the best portfolio of brands and 3,500 hotels around the world. Being a part of that provides a lot of opportunities for growth.

What are the biggest changes you’ve seen in the hospitality industry over the years?
There’s been a lot of consolidation. We started with the full-service Marriott and then added Courtyard and Residence and Fairfield and all the other brands. We found if you want to take care of your customers wherever they’re traveling and for whatever their different needs are, you need a broad portfolio of different brands.

Also, most other companies have followed our business model of separating ownership of the hotels from management and franchising. Investors like to either focus on owning the real estate or focus on the brand company.

What about changes to the product?
Since customer needs are constantly changing, whether it’s new technology or a focus on healthy food and fitness, you’ve got to be constantly innovating your brands and meeting these different needs.

What must Marriott do to make sure it continues to be a leader?
The real strength for us, besides having the best people and culture, is the high preference for us by owners, franchisees, customers and associates. We’ve got to keep working on how to build that preference. We’ve got to continue innovating.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to be successful in the hotel business?
I see a lot of optimism and a lot of opportunities for people to grow personally and professionally. I tell people to look for as many chances as possible to broaden their skills. When I joined the company I would have never predicted I would be in all the different roles I was in. If you like people and you’re caring, this is a great industry with a lot of opportunities.

The best advice I ever got was from my first boss here, and it was to be exposed to challenging people and challenging situations. That’s how you grow.