When you coach and teach leadership, most people think about them. It's like you're the leader and how do you influence them. Clearly, leaders do take their followers, their flock, their enterprise, their business - whatever - hopefully to a better place. But I think the foundation of what makes really great leaders is they lead themselves, and they're conscious about knowing themselves and coaching and leading themselves in a very profound way. The simplest of us talk to ourselves. The question is, "Do we really lead ourselves?"
Les WexnerI was very lucky to find a career which let me travel, sourcing stores in other countries, just the opportunities of the career in design and finance and all the things that make retailing - my career - interesting to me. That's why I started looking at community responsibility. I felt I should give of myself.
Les WexnerI think a lot of people would assume that my job is more about supermodels and naked ladies and all that, and no, it's just really about fashion, merchandise and customers. So the obviously sexy parts - you get to go to the fashion show and all that stuff. It's really just business. That's my story. I'm sticking to it.
Les WexnerYouโre not going to be a 1.000 hitter all the time. Youโre going to be more wrong than right. You just have to correct your errors as quickly, as economically, as possible.
Les WexnerI don't think I've invented anything. Henry Ford didn't invent the car, and Steve Jobs didn't invent the cell phone, and he didn't invent the digital revolution, but he could adapt, put things together in creative ways. So I think in what we do there's a lot of "let's try it and sees," whether it's a new color or a new style. But we didn't invent cosmetics or lingerie. How we market them - style, color - those are the things that we do, but it isn't pure creation. It's putting together ideas. I truly believe there's nothing really new in the world.
Les Wexner