Leena Nair, Global CEO, Chanel Discussion Stanford Business

Delighted to be here in a room full of bright, enthusiastic people — what can be better? I'm really happy to be here with my family. My husband and both my boys are here. I'm pretty sure they never watch any of the links I send them, so this is a true captive audience. I want to make it count. And I'm very happy to have members of Team Chanel here with me.

When I look back, I can see the number of people who said, 'No, it can't be done.' I grew up in a small town in India, on the west coast, and everything was a negotiation. Going for engineering was a negotiation because not enough women from the town had ever gone for engineering. My mom would say, 'Oh my God, you're so ambitious. Who's going to marry you?' That was the number one concern. It takes a lot of resilience. I often joke that I have a thick skin. As a woman, managing this line of being liked, respected, getting admiration but not too much — that's such a difficult balance. It taught me resilience, determination, and drive. It taught me to take every opportunity with both hands and never take it for granted. When I was going for my MBA, my institute was at the other end of India. It took 48 hours by train from my town, Kolhapur, to reach Jamshedpur. As far as my family was concerned, that was another planet. When I reached XLRI Jamshedpur, I was so determined — I've got this opportunity, I'm going to give it everything I've got. I had to continuously remember that it's a privilege to be first, but I don't want to be the last. 'Lift as you climb' has become a huge mantra for me. How do I ensure I make it easier for those who come after me? Because this is not just about me — it's bigger than that.

Those are tricks I still use today. I'm an absolute believer in affirmations. I'm constantly finding sponsors, finding mentors — because I didn't have role models in my immediate family — reaching out to people. I remember there was a newspaper article about the state topper, and I just reached out to him: 'Hey, how did you do this? What are your techniques?' He was kind and generous enough to spend time with me. Deep down, I felt that if you're committed and have deep intent, you will figure out a way, because somebody has figured out a way. And if you're humble enough to reach out, you'll figure it out. A huge love for learning, curiosity, being humble, always saying 'I don't know, I want to find out' — that's helped. I was always reaching out to people who inspired me. Kumar has been a huge rock and anchor for me. My father was a big sponsor for my education. He said, 'I will educate you, but I can't promise you'll have a career, because I can't change the world around you. But I will send you on the promise that you will marry the man I choose for you before you turn 23.' I thought, 'Okay, whatever. Two years is a long time to come back and negotiate.' But he didn't forget. When I turned 23, he called and said, 'I have someone I want you to meet.' I said, 'You must be kidding me. I'm this newly flourishing MBA — I know better. I'm not doing this.' He insisted: 'A promise is a promise.' I met my husband, we had coffee, and I said yes in 30 minutes. We've been married for 30 years.

And I do think that learning to embrace failure was important for me early on — truly not dreading failure. When I feel disappointed, I cry. I cry easily, I go to the loo, I cry, I'm done. It's over. Fresh day, get out there, put on a good face. But failures have taught me so much more. And the beauty is, once you embrace failure, you can take risks. Once you've learned to embrace failure, you know you can dust yourself off, get up again. You get more audacious and more risk-taking.

I did engineering, I worked as an engineer, and I didn't enjoy it as much. I'm not allowed to say I'm a lousy engineer because the founders I met this morning told me, 'No, you can't say that — that doesn't make women aspire to technical careers.' I didn't enjoy coding as much. I did my management studies and felt drawn towards things that engaged people — skills to motivate, inspire, galvanize people. It came more naturally. I joined Unilever as a management trainee, worked ground up — sales, marketing, factory, supply chain, production. I realized that no matter what job I did, my greatest gift was knowing the people. I was in a factory early on in a place called Seally, the absolute back of beyond, 40 acres. Every morning I'd go on my rounds, and I found that by just listening to the people who ran the machines — deeply listening without judgment, without arrogance — I would learn so much more than what was in the logbook. That became my draw. I started leaning towards human resource jobs, and the rest is history. I led human resources for Unilever — 150,000 people working in 190 countries.

To transform a culture, the most important thing is role modeling by senior leaders. You cannot drive a behavior that you don't see exemplified by people at the top. Leaders have to walk the talk — do what they say, say what they do, every single day, consistently, no exceptions. You've got to incentivize and compensate for the right behaviors. Having a shared purpose and meaning is crucial. My purpose is: how do I ignite the spark in others? How do I make others believe they can do anything? Driving culture needs people to know why they're in a company, what difference they make. Role modeling — that's the big one. You have to role model the behaviors you seek.

A lot of hard work. Because of my background — always being in the minority, always underrepresented — I knew what the journey was. To truly gender balance, you need to support the women, work with the men, and change the culture — all three at the same time. Supporting women means genuinely helping them express ambition and feel confidence. Growing up, I was always told girls aren't good enough. So to imagine I'd turn 22 and have tremendous ambition and courage — it's not easy. I used to read hundreds of appraisals. Almost without exception, men would write, 'I'm so ready to be CEO — why don't they give it to me already?' And women would write, 'I think I'll take a lot more time to get ready. I want to excel in my current job.' It's about getting used to expressing your ambition. At Unilever, you'd walk through corridors of portraits of men who'd led the company — not a single woman anywhere. You've got to support women to feel confident and ambitious. You've got to take men on the journey because many are gender blind — they think it's the same for everyone. And you've got to change the culture. It happens appointment by appointment. Every time, show me the shortlist — it's got to have equal numbers of talented men and talented women, then appoint based on merit. It takes hard work, relentlessness, but it's fantastic when it happens.

I was totally in love with Unilever. 30 years, family, friends. The board had told me I was going to be one of three candidates to be the next CEO. Life is good, it's party time. And then Chanel called. I was so gobsmacked, so shocked. A direct call — I was stunned. 'Why me? This isn't happening.' I came out and told my husband, 'Chanel has called, but I'm not going to even consider it. Are they crazy? I love Unilever. I'm too loyal. I'm not leaving.' He said, 'Are you mad? Go back and take the call.' I said, 'No, no, no.' Genuinely, it took me nine months to say yes — almost as much time as having a baby. I just couldn't say goodbye to Unilever. At one point I was sobbing so much at farewell events, I had tissue boxes next to me. My husband said, 'Honey, it's not a divorce. You're just joining another company. Get a grip.' But it was so compelling — how can I not join Chanel? The most iconic brand, the most followed brand on all social media. A legendary founder who created trousers and crossbody bags so women could ride horses and bikes. The variety — one morning it's fashion with 10 collections a year, the next we're the world's largest fragrance maker, second largest makeup maker, we make watches, jewelry. The values — integrity, independence, audacity. The luxury sector, $370 billion today, tripled in 20 years. Gen Z is engaging with the sector. It was hard to say no. I've completely fallen in love with Chanel. We spend the first three minutes of every meeting admiring each other's clothes. It's a dream job. I love Unilever, but I'm all Chanel now — heart, mind, body, soul. Chanel, don't tell Unilever, I love them too.

A quadruple transition means you're either very brave or very foolish. The toughest transition was FMCG to luxury. For 30 years it was mass markets — a billion sachets a day, available everywhere, over-communicating, 400 brands. Luxury is completely the opposite. You make very little — like five pink bags. It's a work of art. You make those five bags and let people discover them, yearn for them, desire them. Not find it in New York, go looking in Paris, not find it in Paris, but dream about them. It's precious, rare, unique, everything made by hand. It takes 180 steps to make a bag, five years of working on dummy bags before you can work on a classic Chanel bag. I had to unlearn everything and relearn everything. It's scary and very humbling. For the first six months, my most common phrase was, 'Help me understand why we do it this way.' My first week, the schedule said: Day One — surprise. Day Two — surprise. The whole week is surprise! I come from a completely structured company. Day one, I went to Gabrielle Chanel's apartment where she designed, and people told me stories about how she was a radical innovator who broke norms when women didn't have the vote. Day two, our heritage space in Aubonne — 500,000 square feet with 150,000 artifacts. Then I traveled and met artisans — pleaters, milliners, embroiderers. Everything made by hand. A dress takes 200 to 300 hours. A beautiful pleated skirt — two people pushing it back and forth in a mold for seven or eight hours. It helped me change my pace, build patience, think differently. The fundamentals of business are transferable — leadership, how a business makes money, profitability, working across cultures. I relied on my strengths but kept huge humility. 'Seek to understand before you seek to change' was my big philosophy those first months.

My principles of leadership that ground me have remained rooted in my perspective growing up and listening to many mentors. There are three things I believe in. One: I am determined to be a holistic leader who thinks for the long term. I look at all levers — brand, clients, people, sustainability. Planet, nature, business have to thrive together. The beauty about Chanel is we pay only 20% of our annual bonus on financial results — 80% is on how you build the brand, how you make the world a better place, how you look after people. It was a true marriage of minds between me and Chanel. The second hallmark is benevolence — kindness, compassion, empathy. You've got to do tough things in business, but doing it compassionately matters. I want to listen to every voice because I believe in collective intelligence. Everyone's voice matters, not just the loud ones. I love knowing people — I know everyone's names and faces. If you've told me your story, I will never forget it. We don't hear enough about compassionate leaders in business. For me, it matters to set a brand of leadership about doing the tough things decisively, but with compassion, keeping the human being at the end of your decisions in mind. 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. I want to learn, I want to be future fit.

Gen Z is going to be 30% of luxury consumers by 2030, and right now it's one of the fastest-growing trajectories. They buy luxury because they buy with purpose — they know it lasts. I want you to buy a Chanel product, keep it, cherish it forever for generations, hand it to your daughter. It's the memories that count. They buy with a 'buy less' mindset, a 'buy to invest' mindset. Sustainability is non-negotiable for me. You make less, allow things to restore for longer, keep the lifecycle long. We've set a Chanel sustainability ambition. We're among two luxury brands with a net zero 2040 commitment. We invest in circularity, restoration, upcycling — all our staff uniforms are made from upcycled Chanel products. We believe in dignity and opportunity for everyone in our value chain. We're doing a lot to promote the autonomy of women and girls. We want to be a role model in the luxury sector — we want everyone to look at Chanel and say, 'They've got sustainability right.'

The Chanel Foundation is one of the world's largest philanthropic organizations working to support women and girls to shape their own destiny. Hardly anyone knows about it — everyone knows the brand, nobody knows about the philanthropic organization. We do about 237 projects across 57 countries — supporting women at grassroots level for safety, social and economic autonomy, and women fighting climate change. In Afghanistan, we support a radio channel where girls aged 11 to 17 get to listen to school lessons because they can't go to school. In India, we have the Green Brigade — thousands of women saving and restoring mangroves, the first shield against natural soil erosion. Women at the front end of climate resilience. I truly believe when women thrive, the world thrives. We need so many more women in leadership — climate leadership, business leadership. The number of women Fortune CEOs has stayed at 7-10% for two decades. I'm in my 50s now — girls, come on, run! We need more.

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 — we get about 2,000 requests, and I say yes to four or five. But as we've grown — we're a $20 billion company — it's important to be more transparent about who we are and what we stand for. We believe that when we do things, we do them well. We're very high in integrity — we don't communicate something unless we're 100% sure we're doing it properly. But we feel some of the good things we do could inspire others, and some of what others do could inspire us. So we're more open in sharing. But we'll never be all over the place. We'll still have our mystique and integrity. I still want you to keep dreaming when you think of Chanel.

I'd love Chanel to continue to be a beacon of inspiration for the next 100 years. Today, 100 years on from when Gabrielle Chanel liberated women from corsets, used jersey material for women, took the black dress — only used for funerals — and made it easy for anyone to wear anywhere. To do that 100 years ago when women didn't have the vote, nobody had equality. Today we thank her for that. I want 100 years from now for people to say, 'Wow, those people at Chanel in 2024 really knew what they were doing — they've changed our lives.' If we have a positive impact, if we're constantly looking at what's next, and if we continue to invest in human beings, human creation, this deeply human craftsmanship — increasingly in a world of AI, people forget how important that is — we will be a beacon of inspiration 100 years from now. That's my vision.

There are a couple of things. People never remember what you said or what you did. Even if you don't remember anything I said three days from now, it's all going to go. But people remember how you made them feel. That's always in my mind — what do I want people to feel? What do I want them to take away? And the other is my 11-year-old self, cycling through the dusty lanes, largely barefoot a lot of the time. I would like my 11-year-old self to be proud of the leader I've become. I'd like her to know that I've truly tried to make a difference in everything I've done, tried very hard to break every norm that exists, and used every little influence and power I have to uplift others, elevate others, inspire others, and make it easier for them. I hope she is proud of who I've become.

It's such a great question. I feel it all the time. I feel like I've let down an entire race, let down all women everywhere, let down all Indians. It is a pressure I carry. Your success gets amplified and your failures get amplified. I journal a lot. I write three things I'm grateful for every single night. When I was taking the Chanel role, you hear self-doubt — 'She's not the obvious choice, she doesn't understand luxury, she's from India, she's not even French, she can barely speak French.' So I wrote down an essay: 'Why I am the right person at the right time in the right context to lead — here are 10 reasons why.' Community matters — talking to family, building a sisterhood, cheering others, getting others to cheer for me. Listening to mentors who give perspective. I have breakfast every six months with Nigel Higgins and he says, 'You haven't failed. Something you tried failed — that doesn't make you a failure. Look at it differently.' Go for a long walk, have a good cry — it always works. Get it over with, then move on to the next thing. You do feel the pressure. I would not be honest if I said it's all easy. You feel the pressure of having to succeed — not for you, but for many others.

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. One of the beauties of being independent and private is that I can keep a long-term mindset. I'm off the treadmill of quarterly results — I've seen that squeeze. It's beautiful being in a company thinking 100 years out. There'll be fluctuations, ebbs and flows, but if you stay focused on the long term — brand building, desirability, creating a fantastic luxury experience — we don't do e-commerce for fashion, watches, and fine jewelry. You have to go to our stores and spend a moment with our fashion advisor to learn the story. If you focus on brand, clients, people, and the long-term perspective, results will follow. We've been around 100 years, we've seen more downturns than I can count. Staying focused on doing the right things for the long term makes the difference.

Please take a picture and tell your mom I appreciate and admire her from a distance. China is a very good market for luxury, now and for the future, because China's sophistication and understanding of luxury is very good. I'm a believer in China. Yes, there'll be short-term ebbs and flows, but long-term it's still a growth market. When China grows at 5% and we're all disappointed — many markets would be lucky to see that. We're not slowing down any investments in China. We're opening stores, investing in product range, hiring the right people, building leadership. I do think in the next few years, India will be a market to contend with. Luxury in India is growing up — India believes in heritage, craftsmanship. Mexico is coming up, Southeast Asian markets are coming up. We're in 141 markets, but there are a lot more I'd love to go to.