View from the Top

The global CEO of one of the world’s most famous brands, Tiffany & Co., tells Kirsten Galliott that he’s had to shake the business up – fast.

Tiffany & Co.’s CEO, Alessandro Bogliolo, on managing creatives

How do you define good leadership?

Good leadership for a brand with the legacy of Tiffany & Co. is really to create alignment within the entire company. We cannot have empowerment without being aligned. It’s also what unleashes real creativity. If you are overregulating then you can be efficient but you are not very effective. This brand is a dream and we need that creativity.

What would you consider to be your strength as a leader?

Something that comes naturally to me is consistency. I don’t have to make too much of an effort to remember where true north is. I can divert to many different activities and different situations but there is an automatic pilot that always keeps me focused on the ultimate goal.

That’s hugely important when you’re trying to transform a brand that’s 182 years old.

It’s crucial. The big question in managing a 182-year-old brand is, “I’m doing something that’s maybe a mistake, maybe it’s not going to be understood, maybe I’m going to lose existing customers, maybe new markets won’t appreciate that.” The challenge is to take the DNA and evolve it according to the customers, the way people live now.

Does that burden make you nervous?

No, not at all. I believe that you have to be a little bit uncomfortable in what you do because if you’re totally comfortable and mistake-free, you’re not really adding value. The famous 80/20 rule typically applies. In most cases you’re successful. If there are 20 per cent of things where you’re not, it’s frustrating. But it’s that frustration I see as a positive.

Since taking over the business at the end of 2017, you’ve been described as working with a sense of urgency. Did you know before you started that you’d have to move quickly?

I knew Tiffany very well. I’d been working in this business for 20 years, always looking at Tiffany as the benchmark. But its sales were stagnating in a world of luxury that was actually growing. So we had to invigorate the brand and make it relevant.

How do you stop people from playing it safe and feel comfortable enough to take risks?

A lot has to do with leaders’ behaviour, starting with myself. For example, one of our first campaigns was

basically a remake of Breakfast at Tiffany’s with Elle Fanning instead of Audrey Hepburn and Moon River a rap [song] by ASAP Ferg. You take three milestone classics – Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Audrey Hepburn and Moon River – and you start playing with them, that can be a dangerous game. It was received very well but when we had ASAP Ferg performing at the flagship store [in New York], there were some comments on social media that were negative, saying, “What’s happening? A rapper singing on the ground floor of Tiffany? What’s this? This isn’t the Tiffany that I remember”. I didn’t call an emergency meeting because in my opinion there was no emergency. We have entered the culture of conversation. Moon River in 1961 was representative of New York; now, music in New York is rap and so this is the New York of today.

You work closely with Reed Krakoff, the chief artistic director. He’s creative; you’re a businessman. Does there sometimes need to be tension between the two of you?

I would say Reed is 80 per cent creative and 20 per cent business. He’s not one of those creatives who is totally disconnected from the real world and customers, sales and company performance. I’m 80 per cent business and 20 per cent creative so it’s a perfect balance and we speak the same language. Every Friday, we have a meeting that’s a conversation. The topic will be decided on the spot, depending on what has to be discussed. The agenda isn’t strict but it’s valuable.

What’s your advice to leaders who manage creative people?

Creative people must be opinionated because creatives who aren’t opinionated aren’t creative. The duty of the company is to keep the spirit of that. You must have a point of view because otherwise you can’t be innovative.

One of the great benefits of creatives is that they’re not yes people…

I’m not scared by challenge; I’m scared by the lack of challenge. When you’re a CEO and everybody says, “Yes, sir”, that’s when I panic because I feel that I’m totally alone.

How do you carve out time for strategy?

I firmly believe that when you manage a business, strategy shouldn’t take more up than 10 per cent. It’s mainly about execution. You can have a big intellectual discussion but come out of a meeting with nothing done. The trick is in the execution – that’s difficult; that’s where you get in front of the reality.

Have you ever been genuinely scared professionally?

There was a project to renovate our flagship store in New York and I was scared because I had to make the decision whether to go ahead with it or not. It’s presumably the most important luxury store in the world; it’s a building that we own and was designed for Tiffany in 1940. But I paused the project and said, “You know, we can make mistakes but if there’s one thing where we cannot make a mistake, it’s in the remake of this store.”

But you ultimately made the decision to go ahead.

We’re doing it because we took the time. Now, when I’m a little bit down, I think of that project and tell myself, “Okay, at least we’re doing that.”

Do you own your mistakes publicly?

Yes, I think the most powerful thing you can do as a manager – and generally as a person – is to candidly recognise your mistakes. It’s something that’s disarming for the people in front of you and also liberating for yourself.

Is there one interview trick you have to assess a person’s values and whether or not they match with yours?

In my experience, the trick is not in the questions that I ask but when there’s half an hour left and I say, “You didn’t ask me anything. Please...” Questions are where you’ll be more transparent, more vulnerable. The interview is like a dance. The moment you stop leading the dance and make the candidate lead then you see if he or she really can dance.

What advice would you give a brand-new CEO?

Be yourself. Don’t try to project an image that’s different from who you are or is what others expect you to be. Be honest, transparent and people will help you. Never fall into the trap of what you “must be”. And if you’re not comfortable with a decision, you don’t have to make it. You’re the CEO. You can say, “I’m not ready to make a decision.”

“I’M NOT SCARED BY CHALLENGE; I’M SCARED BY THE LACK OF CHALLENGE. WHEN YOU’RE A CEO AND EVERYBODY SAYS, ‘YES, SIR’, THAT’S WHEN I PANIC BECAUSE I FEEL THAT I’M TOTALLY ALONE.”