Leslie Wexner, the founder of Limited Brands Inc., mentions having a natural curiosity, overcoming the fear of failure and trusting your successes as some of the keys to leadership. But he particularly believes in the importance of effective communication and, ultimately, teaching.
"Words matter," Mr. Wexner told Smart Business Columbus in a discussion focused on leadership. "What's clear in my mind's eye in terms of imagining something, if I'm not real clear about my communication, you won't understand what I'm really thinking in the fullest sense."
Over his more than 40-year retail career, Mr. Wexner's Limited empire has launched Victoria's Secret, Abercrombie & Fitch, Bath & Body Works, Express, Limited and White Barn Candle, among other chains.
He told the business periodical that what's important is reinforcing the "main thing" and continually asking questions to probe whether the team is on the same page.
"I really like chocolate," Mr. Wexner offered an example. "I'm imagining milk chocolate, and you like chocolate but you like dark chocolate. When I say I like chocolate, you go to what you're thinking, not what I'm thinking."
"I'm always fluent when I talk to myself," Mr. Wexner added. "If you've got friends or a spouse or other people, there is the opportunity for confusion. An organization is just a large group. That gets to the subject of leadership. First, you have an idea. As the organization gets larger, you tend to discover what you know and don't know about leadership."
Frustrated in his early days that his team wasn't grasping what he was saying, he recognized that his communication focus should be more centered on teaching.
"You have to see yourself more as a teacher," said Mr. Wexner. "You have to be able to distill what it is you know and what you're thinking, whether it's the values of your organization or things about quality or products, into a point of view where you can teach it. Part of teaching is for you to have a clarity of what it is and why. If I just tell you something and I can't give you the reason, I don't think it's nearly as effective."
Discussion Questions: What do you think of the metaphor of the CEO's role as a teacher? What are some steps to communicating more effectively across organizations?