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South Africa has lost two titans of business over the past week.

Whilst Allan Gray passed away on Sunday (you can read the Daily Maverick’s obituary here), another well-known and much-loved man, Hans Rudolf Enderle, passed away on Saturday at the age of 77.

Hans was the founder and past chairperson of the City Lodge Hotel Group, and his story is one of hard work and success.

Below from IOL:

Hans was born on 17 September 1942 in Switzerland and his career in hotels started at age 15, first delivering bread for a bakery and soon training to be a chef. He decided the kitchen wasn’t for him and began his training in hotel management at the Hotel School in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Later he worked as a waiter and after meeting a South African and hearing how great the country was, and in a bid to improve his English, he took up the post of receptionist at the Langham Hotel in Johannesburg in 1959, earning a princely R100 per month. He wasn’t immediately taken with the place and soon returned to Switzerland.

Years later, he returned to the country, and worked as a general manager of a Holiday Inn.

He then went on to become MD and chairperson, before founding the City Lodge Hotel group on August 1, 1985, which is the Swiss National Day.

Hans stepped down as CEO of the City Lodge Hotel Group in 1994, and retired as a non-executive at age 67 on August 1, 2010.

His revolutionary approach to the hotel business changed the local industry, and he was also fondly remembered for starting meetings with his signature Swiss yodel.

During a 2004 interview, Hans broke down his life philosophy into key points:

• Keep on dreaming.
• Believe in yourself and persevere.
• Look forward and not backward.
• Be honest and fair.
• Enjoy and have fun in your work, or quit.
• Life and work must be fun.
• In work, pick the right people and delegate generously.
• The most important feeling, both in life and at work, is ‘the feeling of belonging’

Wise words, indeed.

Despite his immense business success, Hans considered his close-knit family his finest personal achievement.

[source:iol]