Angela Ahrendts: High-class CEO – not for the reasons you’d think

“Burberry just lost its top innovator to Apple – CEO Angela Ahrendts,” Randy Ottinger writes for Forbes. “Luckily for Burberry, they aren’t losing a leader of a lesser caliber. (And no, that last sentence does not have a typo.)

“The mark of a great leader is the impact they leave behind. And Ahrendts’ revival of the stodgy brand has been impressive,” Ottinger writes. “Notwithstanding the hit Burberry stock suffered since the announcement of her departure, she’s turned the company into a rocket ship. A rocket ship that she’s propelled to a value of $3 billion and a stock return of 300%.”

“But, it’s a basic Leadership 101 tenet, great leaders are always working to put themselves out of a job by developing great leadership capacity in their wake.,” Ottinger writes. “As early as six years ago, Ahrendts may have been considering the day of her departure.”

Ottinger writes, “She elevated Christopher Bailey to Chief Creative Officer that year and has been touting him in the press ever since. She claimed to be ‘working in lockstep’ with Bailey and broadened the spotlight to share it with him whenever possible… At Burberry, Ahrendts has left a clear pathway for success and an 11,000-strong employee base of inspired, innovative, and engaged workers who can continue to move the company along this meteoric path.”

Read more in the full article here.

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