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#326 Anna Wintour

Founders

Sun Nov 05 2023



Importance of Learning from History:

  • History holds valuable lessons on creating businesses, inventing technology, and effective management.
  • Marc Andreessen underscores the significance of learning from accumulated experiences to gain productive insights.

Anna Wintour's Career Journey:

  • Anna Wintour's father significantly influenced her professional ambition and work ethic from a young age.
  • Her transition to New York allowed her to thrive based on merit rather than family connections or background.
  • Alexander Lieberman recognized Anna's talent, creating a non-existent job as creative director at Vogue specifically for her, leading to tensions with the existing editor-in-chief Grace Mirabella.

Traits Reflective of Anna Wintour's Father:

  • Charles Wintour exhibited strict schedules and commanded respect from his staff, traits resonating with those used to describe Anna herself.
  • Noni, Anna's mother, possessed qualities akin to wit and sharp criticism observed in Anna by friends and colleagues.

Anna Wintour's Early Ambitions:

  • Anna Wintour developed a fascination with both publishing and fashion from a young age, aspiring to combine the two fields in her career.
  • Her voracious reading habit, disciplined fitness regimen, and focus on being unique and admired indicate her lifelong ambition for excellence in both personal and professional endeavors.

Entrepreneurial Mindset:

  • Despite being technically an employee, Anna Wintour demonstrated founder mentality by consistently seeking guidance but not direction from others, emphasizing her self-reliance and confidence in managing her career trajectory.
  • She showcased traits of independence, decisive decision-making, and seeking control over her career path, highlighting her entrepreneurial mindset.

Leadership Style and Work Ethic:

  • Anna Wintour maintained iron-fisted discipline in running the magazine, demanding staff adherence to strict timelines and seeking approval for all tasks.
  • In meetings where clothing was selected, she exhibited decisiveness contrasting with Mirabella's belabored conversations, highlighting Anna's preference for quick decisions aligned with Steve Jobs' approach.

Anna Wintour's Leadership Style:

  • Anna Wintour implemented a swift decision-making process at Vogue, reducing hours-long run-throughs to mere minutes, fostering decisiveness and clarity.
  • She emphasized concise communication, setting time constraints to eliminate fluff and force attention on the essence of issues.

Influence Expansion Strategy:

  • Anna Wintour viewed her social life as an integral part of her work, controlling guest lists at events like the Met Gala to facilitate business deals and expand her influence in the fashion industry.
  • By funding new designers through initiatives like the CFDA Vogue Fashion Fund, she built relationships with upcoming talent, creating loyalty that extended beyond monetary support.

Professional Standards and Expectations:

  • Anna Wintour enforced high-quality standards at Vogue, killing entire shoots to emphasize the need for extraordinary work from editors and photographers.
  • She expected as much dedication and excellence from her team as she did from herself, building a culture of relentless pursuit of quality within the organization.

Personal Life Impact on Professional Behavior:

  • Despite experiencing familial pain due to infidelity in her youth, Anna Wintour repeated similar behavior by engaging in an affair during her marriage, leading to its dissolution.
  • Her ex-husband mentioned that Anna lacked empathy, indicating how personal experiences may have shaped her professional approach towards others.

Anna Wintour's Achievements:

  • Anna Wintour's ambition to be in charge of Vogue has led her to surpass this goal, becoming a prominent figure beyond the realm of Vogue.
  • The podcast recommends purchasing "Anna: The Biography" by Amy Odell and provides a link for support. Another recommended biography on Anna is written by Jerry Oppenheimer titled "Front Row, Anna Winter, What Lies Beneath the Chic Exterior of Vogue's Editor-in-Chief".
  • Viewers are encouraged to watch "The September Issue," a documentary about Anna Wintour, as well as interviews with her in Vogue available on YouTube.

Supporting the Podcast:

  • Listeners are encouraged to purchase books through provided links to support the podcast since "books are made out of books."

Future Content:

  • The episode concludes with a mention that it marks 326 books down and 1,000 more to go, hinting at future content and engagement with listeners.