Good morning. Consider the challenge of leading Patagonia. Your founder transferred his ownership of the company to a trust and nonprofit three years ago, declaring “Earth is now our only shareholder.” Your job is to sell clothes while educating your customers that your industry hurts the planet and they probably buy too much. And your mission to combat climate change becomes politicized, making your brand a target for accusations of bias and fear-mongering, not to mention at odds with a U.S. president your company sued during his first administration.
In this week’s episode of Leadership Next, Kristin Stoller and I talk to Patagonia CEO Ryan Gellert about his strategy for sustainable growth. Among the takeaways:
Be Aspirational. Nobody wants to buy apparel from Debbie Downer. (“Hey, fat cat, wear this coat on that melting glacier.”) Patagonia positions itself as the gear you wear to go climbing, skiing, fly fishing, careening off cliffs, and otherwise celebrating the great outdoors. “We are really proud of the product that we make,” said Gellert. “We do everything we can to minimize our footprint and we spend a lot of money doing it on performance innovation.”
Seek Impact. “Solving real problems on behalf of your employees, your customers and the communities you exist in. To me, that’s a pretty good definition of leadership … If it were easy, I’m not sure the title ‘leader’ would apply.”
