The generation that drove the successes at Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Swatch, Armani and other famous iconic luxury brands
has retired or is close to retirement and the industry will need to find new talent to replace them.
Considering the characteristics of luxury’s Top 100 board members and our analysis of luxury leadership competencies, the luxury industry must find leaders
that:
• Present a balanced leadership profile that blends intelligence
with relevant competencies (creative, intuitive, rational and
social) in order to be efficient;
• Have operated in different key geographic regions, such as Asia
or America, to understand the different cultural characteristics
both of employees and of customers;
• Switch easily between different time frames, from long-term
thinking to short-term operating;
• Bring change management skills to an organization in order to
reinvent the business model, while preserving the “mystery” of
a brand’s DNA;
• Have great attention to retail and customer issues, acknowledging the central role of sales staff
• Have the talent to represent a brand as its ambassador and a
great cultural ability to interact well with a very demanding
international clientele;
• Develop specific leadership skills to work efficiently with
creatives and designers;
• Fit in with the founder’s vision of the world and those of the
family members who are inevitably involved in the business;
• Understand the characteristics of the brand’s organizational
culture;
• Possess the cultural background (from their family values and
their education) that allows them to master the intricacies of a
very “cultural” business.