Decoding Disruptors: Leaders Navigating the Unfolding, Unpredictable Unknown

Mark Randolph (0:08)

There's nothing like seeing 100% of your revenue disappear in a single week to focus your mind on the fact that you may have to do things a little bit differently in the future.

Jan Singer (0:20)

I've been working harder than I've been working out of the office.

I'm planning for a business that's closed. I am creating items people may not ever want for a consumer who might not be here.

Jim DiMatteo (0:34)

Never before in my life has something happen that's affected every human being I know.

Nancy Lublin (0:41)

We think that this mental health echo is going to last a long time.

Michael Gervais (0:46)

We are in a unique moment in world history. From the devastating loss of life, to the financial fallout, to the closing of borders, businesses, industries and schools, we are collectively confronted by a reality few of us could have ever imagined.

Decision making leans on past experiences and guiding principles. But how do leaders respond when there are no precedents to follow?

Jim DiMatteo (1:14)

As fighter pilots in the whole Top Gun world, the way you get through the toughest times is as a team, not as an individual.

In a scenario like this virus, well, my wingmen are my family, my wife and my children, my coworkers, my neighbors, my friends. They're my wingmen in this dogfight.

Jan Singer (1:39)

The more transparent I am with the relationships I have, the more at peace I can be with the decisions I make.

Nancy Lublin (1:46)

I believe that no decision is worse than making the wrong decision. I'm okay with failure. That's when I learn. That's when people around me learn. I think it's worse not to try.

Cindy Eckert (1:55)

You've got to make a bet on the good. And I think that if you can surround yourself with others making that similar bet, you power through these situations.

Michael Gervais (2:04)

I had a series of conversations with friends inside our community to better understand the approach of those who effectively lead during moments of great stress and strain and uncertainty. Crisis reveals leadership. I wanted to distill insights about leadership while we're in the middle of this crisis, while it's raw. During crisis, leaders are called upon to rely on their preparation, to respond in the moment, and to reimagine the opportunity in a future that has not yet arrived. And they have to do all of these at once with limited information, with the well-being of others hanging in the balance.

I'm honored to be doing this project in partnership with Microsoft and Compete to Create. And I hope you appreciate the applied insights of these extraordinary leaders as much as I do.

I want to share a bit of a backstory on my relationship with Microsoft. For the past eight years, Compete to Create and I, we've had the privilege of working with them, beginning with their CEO, Satya Nadella, and his executive team, and then an additional 30,000 people across the company.

Microsoft, they have radically transformed under Satya's leadership, with his emphasis on building a culture around mindset, inclusion and diversity, to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. Microsoft thrives on diverse voices, and they engage their employees and customers' experiences and different points of view to inform them, to challenge and stretch the company's thinking, and it is at the center of how they innovate. So it's no surprise that Microsoft wanted to partner with us to capture the voices and insights of a wide spectrum of leaders on leadership. This organization, they truly care about people and the psychological skills that they need to flourish. So I am incredibly honored and excited to partner with Microsoft in bringing this podcast to life. Jan Singer is the CEO of J.Crew. She was previously the CEO of Victoria Secret Lingerie Company, and before that, the CEO of Spanx, Sarah Blakely's iconic apparel company. Jan and I first met when she was a VP at Nike, and the clarity of her thinking and the quality of her emotional intelligence is remarkable. Jan started at J.Crew in February, 2020 Six weeks later, J.Crew closed all of their stores and factory to support our national effort to social distance. 12 weeks after starting, the company is preparing to file for bankruptcy, one of several large retail chains who are feeling the tremendous pressure of this pandemic. Against that backdrop, Jan agreed to come on Finding Mastery because that's who she is.

And she immediately talked about the silver lining inside of this crisis.

Jan Singer (5:09)

Well, this is gonna sound really odd, but it's pretty energizing on some level for me. I didn't expect that. And I don't know if that's because I went into this role, it's day 71 for me in this role, day 71