Leading with Purpose in the Luxury World with Gena Smith, LVMH

Bob Goodwin welcomes Gena Smith, North American CHRO for luxury powerhouse LVMH, for a masterclass in leadership development and cultivating excellence across iconic brands like Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Tiffany.Gena shares her unexpected journey from small-town Texas to leading human resources for one of the world's most prestigious luxury groups. A pivotal study abroad experience in Greece awakened her passion for people and culture, establishing a personal benchmark that guided her career choices: "Any role had to have an international dimension and I had to be working with people." This philosophy ultimately led her to LVMH, where she now champions a culture built on creativity, innovation, excellence, and entrepreneurship.Gena's conversation with Bob explores how LVMH maintains the delicate balance between preserving brand heritage while pushing creative boundaries. "We don't want our brands sitting in museums," Smith explains, highlighting the tension between honoring each brand's DNA while ensuring contemporary relevance. This balancing act requires diverse perspectives and trustful environments where creativity can flourish.Leadership development emerges as a cornerstone of LVMH's success. Smith details their comprehensive succession planning process that examines potential leaders across all 75 brands, paired with targeted development experiences. She emphasizes that leadership must be approached with the same intentionality as any business objective: "You actually have to want to be a great leader. That has to be something that's important to you."Looking toward the future, Smith discusses LVMH's "HR New Deal" initiative, which positions employees at the center of their career journey with access to opportunities across all brands. While acknowledging technology's growing role, she returns to a fundamental truth that transcends industry or era: "At the end of the day, we rely on talented, motivated, inspired, engaged people to drive our business."Ready to discover what truly lights your fire professionally? Tune in to this insightful conversation about finding your passion, developing leadership excellence, and creating environments where people and creativity thrive.Support the showFeature Your Brand on the HRchat PodcastThe HRchat show has had 100,000s of downloads and is frequently listed as one of the most popular global podcasts for HR pros, Talent execs and leaders. It is ranked in the top ten in the world based on traffic, social media followers, domain authority & freshness. The podcast is also ranked as the Best Canadian HR Podcast by FeedSpot and one of the top 10% most popular shows by Listen Score. Want to share the story of how your business is helping to shape the world of work? We offer sponsored episodes, audio adverts, email campaigns, and a host of other options. Check out packages here.Follow us on LinkedInSubscribe to our newsletterCheck out our in-person events