AVON'S ANDREA JUNG SHARES LEADERSHIP LESSONS WITH HARVARD MBAS
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Photo: Andreas Sylverius |
BOSTON - Andrea Jung, chairman and CEO of Avon Products, Inc., recently spoke to Harvard Business School MBA students in the School’s Spangler Auditorium about what it’s like to be a leader – and lead as a woman – in today’s complex global business environment. An audience of about 300 gathered to listen to Jung’s thoughts on corporate leadership, the role of business in society, and the current opportunities and challenges she faces at Avon. The event was hosted by the HBS Leadership Initiative in conjunction with two student clubs, the Leadership and Ethics Forum and the Social Enterprise Club.
Ranked seventh on Fortune magazine’s 2006 list of the “50 Most Powerful Women in Business,” Jung told the students about the need to dramatically reinvent the Avon brand when she joined the company in 1994 as president of the U.S. Product Marketing Group. The company’s products had no cachet, and the “Ding Dong Avon Calling” tagline was old and no longer resonated with customers. In short, the company, founded 120 years ago, was in dire need of a makeover. “Everything had to be turned upside down,” said Jung, who repositioned Avon as “the company for women.” She knew she had succeeded when she read the new tagline as a clue in a New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle.
Jung became Avon’s ninth CEO in 1999 (she was elected chairman in 2001), the first woman at the helm of the $8 billion company. She knows from personal experience that these are “turbulent times” for businesses, when “dynamic changes and shifts can happen overnight.” Avon “hit a wall in 2005 that forced the company to reassess” many things, she explained. After experiencing multiple consecutive quarters of double-digit growth, the company slowed to a five-percent increase last year, forcing Jung to use her turnaround expertise to get the company moving again. Among other steps, she had to downsize Avon’s management ranks by 25 percent—a process she said she undertook with compassion. “If you treat people with respect, even in a difficult situation, it will work out,” she advised.
Jung is also making the most of international markets, selling Avon products in more than 100 countries, including emerging nations such as Brazil, Russia, and China, with India to come. “We’re empowering women in these nations,” she says, “giving them small loans so that they can get started in the direct selling of our products.”
As with any working parent, Jung, who has two children, continuously strives to find the balance between responsibilities at home and at work. “I miss games, but I never miss the important games; and I miss meetings, but I never miss the important meetings,” she told the students.
Although Jung noted that top executives have to remake themselves and their companies every year in response to the ups and downs of the business cycle, she emphasized that there were certain essential qualities that were the hallmarks of good leadership:
- Integrity and character: “It starts at the top and has to pervade the organization. Even with recent business scandals, there is still a great opportunity to add to the betterment of society.”
- Passion for the work and the company: Although Jung was at first passed over as Avon’s CEO, offers from other organizations didn’t tempt her to leave. “I loved this work and this organization,” she said. Twenty months later, when her predecessor left, the CEO’s job was hers.
- Compassion: “Leaders must treat employees with respect, no matter what the business decision is.”
- Humility: “Acknowledge what you don’t know. Acknowledge what you did wrong and learn from it.”
- Pride: “Take pride in who you are and what you do.”
- Courage: “There are curveballs in business every day. Leaders cannot be afraid to fail and must have the courage to act swiftly.”
- Focus on Social Causes: “Doing good is as important as doing well. Companies must play a role in social causes and try to make a difference in their communities.”
About Harvard Business School
Founded in 1908 as part of Harvard University, Harvard Business School (www.hbs.edu) is located in Boston and offers full-time programs leading to the MBA and doctoral degrees, as well as more than 40 Executive Education programs. With a faculty of more than 200 distinguished scholars, the School is dedicated to educating leaders who make a difference in the world. Its core focus is to shape the practice of business, build enduring knowledge, and effectively communicate important ideas. Harvard Business School is the world’s largest producer of business cases, a method of teaching pioneered by the School in the 1920s.