“我得到过的最好建议”精选集

J.C. Penney首席执行官

    我是1984年从哈佛商学院（Harvard Business School）毕业的。毕业时就业机会很多，我有不少选择。我当时犹豫的是去高盛（Goldman Sachs），还是Mervyn's，后者的工资只是前者的三分之一。因此，我和父亲谈了一回。他曾在通用磨坊（General Mills）工作。他说：“我遇到过的所有伟大的管理者，年轻时几乎都是从这个行业起步，学习业务的方方面面。几乎所有人都是从底层做起。”

    简单的选择当然是去一家投资银行。即刻获得令人尊敬的社会地位、丰厚的薪酬和回报。我的父亲说：“你可以这样做，但很快你就会想做点别的什么了。如果你打算做好一件事，就需要从底层学起。成功没有捷径。”

    零售业变化很快，就像体育一样。我本来还可以去Dayton Hudson（当时Mervyn's的母公司）从事战略规划工作，但我心想：“不行，我想学业务。”因此，我的第一份工作是在Glendale（做店面管理培训生）。今天，同样的经验也适用于我做的每件事，不管是塔吉特（Target）的出色设计，还是打造苹果（Apple）商店。凡事没有捷径。

    我记得在苹果处于低谷时期，我并没有像史蒂夫·乔布斯那样感受到极大的痛苦。处在领导岗位时，困难时期尤其难熬，因为你需要带领整个团队渡过困难时期，决不能走捷径。我们正在着眼于下个世纪打造J.C. Penney，而不是下一个季度或下一年。

Ron Johnson

CEO of J.C. Penney

    I graduated from Harvard Business School in 1984. Jobs were abundant, and I had many choices. I was torn between going to work at Goldman Sachs and a job at Mervyn's, which was one-third the salary. So I talked to my dad. He worked at General Mills. He said, "Of all the great leaders I've met, almost all started in that industry when they were young and learned every aspect of the business. Almost everyone started at the bottom."

    The easy choice would have been to go to an investment bank. There was status and compensation and instant gratification. My dad said, "You can do that, but in a short period of time you're going to be wanting something else to do. If you're going to be significant at something, you've got to learn it from the ground up. There's no shortcut to success."

    Retailing was fast moving, like playing a sport. I could have taken a job in strategic planning at Dayton Hudson [parent company of Mervyn's at the time], but I said, "No. I want to learn the business," and that's why I started in Glendale [as a store management trainee]. Today the same lessons apply to everything I've done, whether it's good design at Target or building the Apple Store. There are no shortcuts.

    I remember when Apple went through a tough period. I didn't feel the pain as much as Steve [Jobs] did. When you are in the leadership position, the tough times can be much more difficult, because your job is really to shield your team through that, to keep them from taking shortcuts. We are building J.C. Penney for the next century. It's not about the quarter or the year.