S8E2: Leena Nair Refuses to Be the Last

28:32The second hallmark of my leadership, which I hope that's what I will say, is that I truly believe in benevolence, in kindness, in compassion, in empathy. I mean, you've got to do tough things in business, but doing it compassionately is very important to me, doing it properly, doing it keeping the person in mind. I mean, it's, I'm very particular if I'm in a meeting, I want to listen to every voice, because I truly believe in collective intelligence. I believe everyone's voice matters, not just the ones who speak loudly. You've got to listen to every voice. Diverse perspectives matter to me. It's also, I love knowing people.

29:06I know everybody's names and faces. 37 ,000, I'm not done yet. I'm probably at 20 ,000, but my team will tell you. I know everyone's names and faces. If you've told me a story of your life, I will know it. I will never ever forget it. I will respect what you bring, your values, your beliefs. So that's very important for me. And we don't hear this enough in business. I mean, people don't care for compassionate, empathetic leaders. We don't see enough role models like that. So for me, it really matters that I set a brand of leadership that's about compassion, empathy. Do the tough things. Do it decisively.

29:39But do it with compassion. Do it keeping the human being at the end of it. Who's impacted by your decisions in mind? So those principles haven't changed. And the third thing is always being future fit. Listening. Looking outside. I'm very curious. I'm always taking my team to Seattle, Silicon Valley, talking to different companies. And like I said, I had breakfast this morning talking to some amazing female founders from Startex. I'm always curious. I want to learn. I want to learn. I want to be future fit. I want to be curious. So those things haven't changed and they will continue. Which is amazing to hear.

30:18And thinking about looking to the future, there's a new generation of consumers with slightly different preferences. There's a lot more value in individualism, personal expression, customers like you said are looking to sustainability. They want ethically sourced products. How is Chanel adapting its strategy and maybe even its product line to engage these new consumers? As I said Gen Z is 30 % of luxury consumers. Not right now but going to be by 2030 but right now itself it's one of the fastest growing trajectories and they buy luxury because they buy with a built, they buy because they know it lasts.

30:56I want you to buy a Chanel product and I want you to keep it and cherish it, keep that bag forever, for generations, hand it over to your daughter, daughter-in-laws, et cetera. It's the memories that count. So they buy with a buy-less mindset. They buy with a buy-to-invest mindset. So for me, sustainability is a non-negotiable in luxury. You make less, you allow it to restore for longer, you keep the life cycle for long, and that's generally principle sustainability. But we have set what we call a Chanel sustainability ambition in place. We are one of the few luxury brands, I think we're among two luxury brands, that has set a net zero 2040 commitment.

31:37So we are really serious about reducing our carbon emissions. We invest in circularity. So we are in restoration of our products for long. We create a lot of upcycled products. All our staff uniforms are made from upcycled Chanel products We believe in dignity and opportunity for everybody working in our value chain We and we are doing a lot to promote the autonomy of women and girls everywhere So we are taking sustainability very seriously. We are accelerating the journey We want to be a role model in the luxury sector. We want everyone to look at Chanel and say whoa they're the people who've got sustainability right and are doing it in an exemplary way and part of what you just talked about is lifting women from their positions and giving them more opportunity can you tell us more about the work the foundation's doing yeah chanel foundation is one of the world's largest philanthropic organization working to support women and girls to shape their own destiny i mean hardly anyone knows about it everyone knows the brand nobody knows about the philanthropic organization that sits within Chanel, we do almost 200 or 300 projects about 237 to be exact across 57 countries, where we do work to support women at grassroots level for safety for social and economic autonomy and for women fighting climate change and climate resilience.

33:00For example, in Afghanistan, we support Radio Begum, which is a channel where women, girls don't go to school. So girls between 11 to 17 get to listen to school lessons. So we do that. I believe business has resources as power has influence, we've got to make a difference to the world. In India, for example, we have the Green Brigade, which is 1000s of women who are saving and restoring mangroves, because that provides the first shield against natural soil erosion. So women at the front end of climate resilience. So through our work on philanthropy, we support women who are fighting climate change across the world.

33:42So it's, I truly believe when women thrive, the world thrives. So we've got to do more. And all the men in the audience, you're important too, please. Chanel cares about you as well. But it's when women thrive, the world thrives. How do we make it a more balanced world? It's just that we need so many more women in leadership. Climate leadership, hardly any women. Business leadership, that number has stayed at 7, 8, 9, 10 % of fortune CEOs of women, that number has stayed like that for two decades. I'm in my 50s now, girls, come on, run. We need more. So it's, you know, we need more. We need to support.

34:19And it's so heartwarming for me to hear all these insights from Chanel. I'm sure most of us didn't even know about the work the foundation's doing. And I think so much of Chanel's allure is not knowing the company behind closed doors. But it sounds like that's starting to shift a little bit. Lena, how are you trying to open that door to Chanel, if at all? We are an iconic brand, but we're not a loud company. We don't over-communicate. This is one of the rare speaking sessions I'm doing. As my team will tell you, we get about 2 ,000 speaking sessions. I'd probably say yes to four or five. so it's we're not a loud company we don't over communicate but as we've grown larger we are a 20 billion dollar company we it's important we are more transparent about who we are and what we stand for and also we believe that when we do things we do them well we're very high on integrity we don't communicate a thing unless we're 100 % sure we're doing it well we're doing it properly we're not you know over communicating or saying something that's not true we are Super, super careful about that.

35:25But we feel that some of the good things we do could inspire others, and some of the good things others do could inspire us. So we are more open in sharing what we do well and what the challenges we are facing. But we'll never be all over the place. We'll still have our mystique and our integrity. I still want you to keep dreaming when you think of Chanel. Well, first of all, we're honored that we were one of your four or five that you said yes to. Absolutely Aisha, look at you. Look at you, Lina.

36:00But it's amazing that you're letting us in. So Lina, if you achieved your vision, where is Chanel in 10 years? I'd love Chanel to continue to be a beacon of inspiration for the next 100 years. generally today a hundred years on from when Gabriel Chanel did all the things for freedom of movement for women I mean it seems simple but to liberate women from corsets and it seems simple and to use jersey material for women which is never used things like that to take the black dress which is only used for funerals and make it easy for anyone to wear it anywhere and I'm symbolizing it today for anything good bad or ugly and to do that a hundred years ago when women didn't have the vote.

36:45Nobody had equality of any sense. And today we stand and we thank her for doing that. I want 100 years from now, for men and women to say, wow, those people in Chanel in 2024 really knew what they were doing because they've changed our lives today. So I want us to be a beacon of inspiration for the next 100 years. And I know we'll do that if we have a positive impact in the world. And we're constantly looking at what's next and staying ahead of it. And if we continue to invest in human beings, human creation, human relations, this human skills that we have, which increasingly in a world of AI people forget, but this human deeply, self-warfare, craftsmanship, uniquely human things.

37:28If we keep doing that, we will be a beacon of inspiration 100 years from now. That's my vision for you now. And we can't wait to see that vision come true. Lena, I have one more question for you before we open up for audience Q &A. It's one they're asking all of our speakers this year. So our theme is leaving your mark. I know, thank you. So, Lina. Big words. So, Lina, how would you like to be remembered? Uh-huh.

38:02There are a couple of things here. One thing I truly believe in is people never remember what you said, what you did. You're not going to remember anything I said maybe three days later, five days later. It's all going to go off. But people remember how you made them feel. That's something that's always in my mind. I always think about that. What do I want people to feel? What do I want people to take away in terms of how they felt? So that's one thought in my mind. And the other is my 11 year old self cycling through the dusty lanes. I was largely barefoot a lot of times, believe me. And I would like my 11 year old self to be proud of the leader I've become.

38:51I'd like that 11 year old to know that I have truly tried to make a difference in everything I've done. and I've tried very hard to break every norm that exists and I've used every little influence power I have to uplift others, to elevate others, to inspire others and make it easier for them. And I hope she is proud of who I've become. Thank you. Thank you.

39:28we'll be back after this

39:42thanks so much for sharing all these amazing insights with us so you you're the first of many positions, right? And you spoke about embracing failure. So, how do you balance the need to embrace failure with the pressure of succeeding as the first in some of these positions? Yeah, it's such a great question. I feel it all the time. When I fail, I feel like I've let down an entire race. I've let down all women everywhere. I've let down all Indians. It is a pressure I carry and I feel for sure. For sure I carry and feel that pressure. You know, your success gets amplified. and your failures get amplified and how.

40:21The one thing, you know, I put little, little practices always to help me get through those moments. One of the things I do a lot is a journal. I definitely write three things that make me grateful every single night. I've tried to inspire my boys to do it, haven't succeeded. And during the teenage years, they said, we're not grateful for anything in our lives. So, you know, they go through those phases. So it was three things that helps. When I was taking Chanel, you do have some self-doubt. Oh God, the whole world is saying, she's not the obvious choice. Why are they bringing her? She doesn't understand luxury.

40:59She doesn't understand fashion. She's from India. Like God, what are they thinking? She's not even French. She can barely speak French. So you hear these voices. So another thing I do is I journal a lot. Like I wrote down an essay saying why I am the right person at the right time in the right context to lead Chanel. And here are the 10 reasons why. So I do things like that to help me cope with the pressure. But community, community, talking to my family, building a sisterhood, cheering others, getting others to cheer for me, listening to mentors who give you perspective. I have a mentor I have breakfast every six months with, Nigel Higgins.

41:42and he's like, you know, you haven't failed. Something you tried failed. This doesn't make you a failure. Come on, look at it differently. So it's nice to do that, have different, go for a long walk, have a good cry, it always works. Get it over with, then you can get on to the next thing. Talking to my husband, going for long walks, all of that. But you feel the pressure. I'm not saying you don't. You do feel the pressure. I would be not honest if I told it's all very easy. You walk in, no, you feel the pressure. feel the pressure of having to succeed, not for you, but for many others.

42:20Hi, thank you so much for being here today. Delighted to be here. Thanks for being here. I'm Dora. I'm an MBA one. And I'm curious. So currently the luxury market as a whole has been experiencing a softening. So Dior, Louis Vuitton, Gucci have all had some slight dips in their sales, while Chanel has been very successful. I'm curious amid the current conditions of the luxury market, what Chanel is doing to differentiate itself and maintain its success. In luxury, you never look at competition. You're making a work of art. It's not comparable. You want people to dream and yearn for it. But to your question, yes, market forces are challenging for many sectors, including luxury.

43:02But, you know, one of the beauty of being independent and private is that I can keep such a long-term mindset. said I'm off the treadmill of every quarter having to show results. And I was in the only way I've seen that squeeze. You've got to find the answers every quarter. Some investors going to ask you a question. It's beautiful being in a long term company where you're thinking 100 years. They're not that many CEOs that can say we're thinking 100 years out. You know, they have got to think next quarter and the quarter after. So to me, yes, there'll be fluctuations. There'll be some ebbs and flows.

43:35But if you stay focused on the long term, you stay focused on the brand, building the strength of the brand, the desire to the brand. You stay focused on creating a fantastic luxury experience for your clients. You know, we don't do e-commerce. This is the 21st century. We don't do e-commerce. We only, for fashion and watches and fine jewelry, you have to go to our stores and spend a moment with our fashion advisor to learn the story of what you're buying and why you would like to buy. So if you focus and brand clients people and keeping the long-term perspective the results will follow we've been a year a hundred years we've seen more downturns than I can count we've seen recessions we've seen many things but staying focused on doing the right things for the long-term make a difference hi good afternoon I'm David I'm from China and grew up in a household where my mom loves Chanel and Oh, my God, she has great taste.

44:33She has fantastic taste. Thank you. Those black and white iconic boxes everywhere. You know, China, as you know... We must take a picture, and you must tell her that I appreciate her and admire her long distance. Absolutely. I love all of my clients. I'll let her know. She will be so excited. So China has been such a growth engine for the past 20 years for a lot of the luxury houses, including Chanel, mostly fueled by consumers like my mom, who is very avid in luxury. And as you know, in recent years, macro economy has slowed a little bit in that part of the world. It has been challenging for a lot of luxury brands.

45:09So how do you think about perhaps the future of the Chinese luxury consumers since it's such a large market? And perhaps what are the, for the next 20 years, what are the next super growth market for Chanel? You know, China is a very, very good market for luxury for now and for the future. because China's sophistication and understanding of luxury is very good. So I'm a believer in China. Yes, there'll be some short term ebbs and flows. But long term, it's still a growth market for luxury. I mean, when China, China grows at 5 % and we all disappointed in many markets. I mean, I live in Europe most of the time.

45:49Many markets would be lucky if they saw some of that growth. So I continue to be a believer in China. We're not slowing down on any of our investments in China. We're opening stores across the country. We continue to invest in a great range for China. We're continuing to invest in hiring the right people, building leadership for China. So I'm a long-term believer. So you have to keep a long-term perspective. Yes, 12 months, 18 months, 24 months, three years. Who knows? Nobody can really read how quickly a market comes back or doesn't. But staying invested in the long term, I'm a believer in China.

46:21I do think in the next few years India will be a market to contend with for sure luxury in India is growing up luxury believes in heritage craftsmen India believes in luxury craftsmanship heritage so that's going to be promising Mexico's coming up Southeast Asian markets are coming up so yeah a lot more markets which are waking up to luxury yeah we are in a hundred and 41 markets, but there are a lot more I'd love to go to. Hi, Alina. I'm here. I'm Sing Yee. I'm MBA1. Thank you so much for being here. You're an incredible role model, and I love your motto, lift as you climb. I was wondering if you can share a story about a mentor that had a major impact on you, and if you can also give us some advice on how to help others as we climb.

47:11Oh my god, I've had so many mentors. You know, I was always reaching out to people. When I was doing my job at Unilever, if I had any project or initiative to lead, you know, I would create the obvious list of people you need to meet because you've got to make your project successful. But then I draw a list of 10 or 20 people who inspired me. And I would say, hey, will you talk to me about this project? Just because I wanted to get to know them. So I'm a huge believer in having this mentoring support. I remember when Chanel called and I was like, no, I don't want to go. I love Unilever. No, I'm not going to take this.

47:45I called Indra and I told her that the first question I had when Chanel called was, why me? Why Chanel looking at me? And she was so cross. She said, never say that again. What is this? Why me? They're approaching you. You didn't go looking for them. You didn't write a resume and say, have the confidence if they've come looking for you, it's because they see stuff in you that's right and ready for them. So that was an important wake up moment, you know, instead of underplaying what I have, being conscious of the strengths that I bring, that others could see it and I couldn't see it myself. So many stories like that, Paul Pullman, who's CEO of Unilever, a huge influence on me to always think about the planet and nature when you think about business.

48:26You can't do business and have a dying planet. You've got to find a way to integrate that thinking into everything you do. So yes. And today morning I was talking to the founders from Startex and they were really getting me to question, are we doing enough to support female founders, how hard it is for them to raise money. So, yeah, it'll have an influence on me. So a new fresh insight for today. And this will be our last question. Oh, no, I'm sorry.

48:59Sorry, Alina. Go for it. Hi, my name is Maria. I'm an MBA one. Thank you for sharing your story with us today. As you mentioned, luxury brands have chosen not to often adopt e-commerce and other technology. How do you see Chanel adopting recent changes in AI and robotics? And do you see that impacting the broader luxury landscape? Thank you. See, AI is everywhere. And it's going to be transformative in our world. So luxury has to engage with it. Chanel has to engage with it as all others. In fact, we came as a team, our leadership team and I, we traveled to Seattle in Maine, We met a whole lot of people.

49:40We've gone and visited Microsoft, Google, many of the startups in this area spends time with chat, CPT, etc, because we want to learn, we want to understand how it impacts us. I do think that the number one thing in my mind is to keep the relentless focus on human creation. I don't want that ever to go. So ensuring that AI supports human creators and creation rather than take away what they bring so skillfully and masterfully is very much core to who we are at Chanel. We also high on ethics and integrity so we want to do it the right way. And it was funny we were Microsoft and we're playing around with ChatGPT on the premises and we're like show us a picture of a senior leadership team from Chanel visiting Microsoft.

50:22It was all men in suits. This is Chanel. Yes, 76 % of my organization is women. 96 % of my clients are women. Female CEO. It was 100 % male team, not even in fashionable clothes. I'm like, come on, this is what you've got to offer? This is what you've got to offer, Chad Chippity, come on. So it's so important that we keep the ethics and integrity of what we're doing with AI. And I constantly talk to my friends in tech, all the CEOs that you know, saying, come on, guys, you've got to make sure that you're integrating a humanistic way of thinking in AI. But like all others, we are getting our organization AI ready, which means doing all the hard hard work like getting infrastructure systems data, data governance classification, get your data ready for AI, you can't have any AI if you don't have all the fundamentals in place.

51:09Like all others, we're doing a lot of experiments, what I call 1000 flowers are blooming, we're trying little things for productivity, it's a chatbots on Chanel.com, you know, we're trying a lot of things like all others for productivity. and I'm keeping focus on what truly needs to be scaled while keeping relentless focus on human creators being motivated and doing their best things, their best work, and their best freedom of creation is a very important value for us, giving our creators the freedom to do that. Lena, I know you want to answer more questions, but we're going to do our last tradition here for review from the top are rapid fire.

51:55Oh my God. Don't worry, it won't be scary. Do you get bribed to ask difficult questions? So how does this go? I'm just gonna say five statements or quick questions and you're gonna tell me the first thing that comes to your mind. Okay. Okay. Favorite city in India? Mumbai. It's this rocking city. Same, I know. Your fashion icon? You know, Gibril Chanel, of course. I'd be disappointed if I didn't say that. Like she's in my heart. I channel her all the time. But yeah, Margot Robbie, who's now our face for number five, and Aussies in the audience, it's Margot Robbie and Jacob Bellary. Michael, just for you.

52:35It's Margot Robbie in her full power. I think she's inspiring at the moment. Empowered woman rocking the world, kick ass. Yeah, I definitely agree with the kick ass there. The first Chanel item you ever owned? a jumbo 2.55 bag. I was so excited to buy it. And I kind of kept it in my cupboard for days refusing to use it. I loved it, loved it. It was a labor of love to dream about it and to buy it. And it still is one of my favorite possessions. Do you still have it? Yes, I have it. That doesn't count as one of your five questions. And I'm in Chanel. The first word that comes to mind when you think of Chanel.

53:22Surprise, awe and wonder. I want Chanel to always surprise you. I want you to walk out of anything to do with Chanel, a product, an event, an interaction, feeling that sense of awe and wonder. Afternoon tea in London or brunch champagne in Paris. That's a tough one. But I think brunch champagne in Paris wins. It's so much butter, cream. And, you know, I've learned about 50 adjectives while my French classes are still progressing. And it's a great opportunity to practice them. C 'est super, c 'est incroyable, c 'est magnifique. And c 'est all those things. C 'est magnifique. C 'est gentile, c 'est sympa.

54:08I know about 50. I use them in different combinations and they're all positive and they all mean it rocks. So yeah. Well, Leena, this has been C 'est Simple. I don't know if that's right. It's got to be more than C 'est Simple. It's got to be magnifique, incroyable. Yeah. Formidable. It's like big words. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Amazing. Well, Leena, thank you so much. We are so happy that we were able to have you here today. I'm so delighted again to be here.

54:47Surprise, awe, and wonder. All those words describe not just Chanel, but honestly, Lena as well, as you all would have heard. For me, what's just incredible and where I get the wonder and awe and surprise from is just how humble she is from everything that she's done, the position she's in. And you don't even feel that coming from the way that she's talking about her experience and who she is. I think my awe is just who she is on a personal level. And I love that. One moment that really stuck out for me was when she was reflecting on the conversation she had with her mentor when she first got the call about the job at Chanel.

55:27Why me? She was wondering and her mentor said, never say that again. Any thoughts on that? I think it's one of the truest statements that her mentor could have said to Lena. And I'm so thankful she shared it with all of us. We talk about so much at the GSB imposter syndrome and do we really belong here where we are? And it's just such a great reminder to hear you're really the biggest barrier to yourself getting anywhere. And the minute you ask why me, you're immediately taking yourself out of the run. I think it's so simple and easy to remember, harder to put into practice. Very true. But I think it's something everyone needs to hear and everyone should really, really work on embodying and embracing.

56:13And it has a special texture when the global CEO of Chanel says it, right? Exactly. It almost just makes those kind of goals and dreams feel a little more attainable for people like us, where we can't even imagine what it's like to lead on that global level. And I think it just inspires a little bit of hope, a spark of excitement for us looking to do that same thing. That's right. Why me? Why not? Exactly. Why not? Yeah. So early on in the conversation, there was a special moment between Lena and some people in the audience. Can you give us some context? Absolutely. I might be a little biased, but it might have been my favorite moment of the whole interview.

56:53So my parents were actually in town. They live in Dallas, but they were up here just to watch me be able to do this event. And obviously, they were so excited to see Lina in person. And it just so happens, I actually didn't even realize this before we were starting to prepare for our interviews, that Lina is from the same state and part of India that my whole family is from. And because of that, she can actually speak the same native language that both me and my parents speak, not necessarily Hindi, the national language, which we can, but our regional language. So even more specific. What language is that?

57:30It's Marathi. And we were on stage and, you know, I was asking about her background, happened to mention my parents were from the same area. And she did something that I honestly could never have thought she would have, but she spoke to them from stage in our native language. And I think that to me is just such, it's such a representation of what a people's person she is down to earth that she was willing to to step away from our kind of you know formal interview to make such a personal connection with my parents yeah and oh you should have seen my parents face they were just giddy for the rest of the interview it was the sweetest moment from french to marathi in one conversation in one we've covered it all if you had the opportunity to ask her one more question what would that be i would want to know what she misses from kind of her lifestyle back in the small town of India and growing up away from the jewelry and the riches of Chanel, the massive scale of Unilever.

58:33There's something that we all carry with us from our childhood and from where we grew up. And I want to know what she misses and what she kind of always wants to go back to a little bit. Maybe those bike rides. Probably those bike rides.

58:49you've been listening to be from the top the podcast a production of Stanford Graduate School of Business this interview was conducted by me Aisha Karnik of the MBA class of 2025 Michael McDowell is our managing producer and Michael Riley edited and mixed this episode special thanks to Liz Walker you can find more episodes of view from the top on our website gsb.stanford.edu slash business dash podcast. Don't forget to rate and subscribe and follow us on social media at Stanford GSB.