How do you grow and use your brand of influence? Anna Wintour provides an interesting example for us. A recent issue of the WSJ Magazine profiled Wintour in an article called The Business of Being Anna by Joshua Levine. As editor of the U.S. edition of Vogue since 1988, she is arguably the most powerful person in the fashion industry. Her boss says that “she has a remarkable ability to impose her will.” Another friend says “you can make a film in Hollywood without Steven Spielberg’s blessing, and you can publish software in Silicon Valley without Bill Gates’s blessing, but it’s pretty clear to me you can’t succeed in the fashion industry without Anna Wintour’s blessing.” Another famous designer said “If I get a request (from Wintour) for something I don’t want to do…now I don’t even bother to say no.”
Wintour has influence and impact not only in the fashion world, but in industries such as film, sports, art, retail, music, business, politics and food. She’s a major fundraiser, has developed a role that is broader than simply editing a magazine, and is described as “a kind of consigliere to the entire fashion and retail industry.” She’s not only intuitive in leveraging the power of fashion in many aspects of society, but she carefully crafted her image, her persona, her personal brand, and leverages her influence to impact her arena.
As I learned more about Wintour, I couldn’t help but wonder how others build and use their influence. My observation is that she, and others like her, don’t pursue a job or a career. They have a different perspective on their life and work that drives them to transform their environment. They pursue a revolutionary approach to their area of expertise, rather than try to fit in to the established norms. They don’t accept status quo. This means that they must be fully confident in themselves, their abilities, and their point of view. They know how to sell others on their perspectives, and sincerely believe that their actions are for the greater good of many.