Weber - Always in fashion : from clerk to CEO : lessons for success in business and in life

Copyright 2015 by Mark Weber. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Only in America

T here is an ancient Japanese story that three samurai each told from their individual perspectives. There was a great battle. The shogun was saved by the samurai, yet only one could have saved him; the others were not mentioned.

My wife and I went to Egypt, where we took a cruise down the Nile. It was fascinating, to say the least. Although I remember the pyramids and Sphinx, which I toured on an Arabian horse, I remember one story even more clearly.

After touring all the ancient monuments, one astute tourist asked a question of the tour guide: Egypt has a 3,000-year history, but it looks like all the surviving monuments and temples have the name of the same pharaoh. Why is that?

The guide smiled and said, Thats human nature. Each successive pharaoh had the prior pharaohs name sandblasted off everything and replaced with his own name.

With this as a background, I must state that this book is being written with the knowledge that my name has been sandblasted from the events, accomplishments, and plaques in my prior business lives. Its human nature to re-create or recredit accomplishments in the absence of the samurai, the pharaoh, or in this case the executive.

I am sure many people from my former life will be surprised to read that I existed or that many of the accomplishments were actually mine. Nonetheless, these stories or insights are true, and they are mine. As I often say, there are no flukes in business. You cant have a consistent or important career without earning it. In my case, my journey from clerk to CEO are the facts, and I earned my way there at PVH.

Act II at LVMH is something I talk about in detail. I apply many of the principles to governing in the business world. These ideas and principles have served me well. This is currently my eighth year in an originally three-year term.

I would like to think there are lessons to be learned, and maybe, just maybe, you will enjoy my story and career to date.

MARK WEBER

S o far, I have had a fantastic career. I started out with nothingno experience and no career guidanceand became CEO of one of the most prestigious mens companies in the world and then the CEO North America of arguably the finest luxury company in the world.

The fact that youve picked up this book and started reading means that youre at least a little interested in knowing more about the fashion industry and how to succeed in it. Youre probably even more interested in finding out what you can learn from my experiences that will help you in your own career. If you work in the fashion, retail, or luxury-goods industries or want to, I believe this book will help you in ways you never thought possible. If you work in any other industry, this book can help you because much of what Ive accomplished, achieved, and learned over the course of my career applies to anyone working anywhere.

This book grew out of the desire to help people who may be in the same situation I was in when I started out. I knew no one. I had no connections. I had no advisors. I had no idea how to get started in a career. I only knew I wanted to. I am first and foremost a creative person. I learned early on, however, that creativity without business knowledge and skills is limiting. And I was willing to work hard, very hard.

I believe the story of my career and the experiences Ive hadgood and bad, successes and failureswill be helpful to other people, and not only people working in the fashion or retail industry but people working in any industry. Ive learned everything I could about the workings of the fashion businessand business in general. I have gained a wealth of knowledge and learned lessons that I think are interesting and inspirational and can help people learn and grow. Ive lectured to students from many walks of life, and whenever I do, the majority of questions Im confronted with and asked to relate to take the following form: How did you get where you are? How did you become successful? What were the key elements of getting ahead? These questions come not only from young people who are just starting out but also from senior executives in other businesses and industries. As we all know, in todays economy, there are many people who are out of work or in jobs theyre unhappy with or who dont have the careers they want. Ive been asked so often about my success that Ive started to feel more like an employment recruiter than a business manager: so many people seek me out and ask for help.