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The TLDR: French fashion house Chanel named Leena Nair as its global CEO—who will now run one of the world’s biggest luxury brands. This is just the latest achievement in a career marked with a number of ‘firsts’. Here’s a quick introduction to the latest NRI hotshot in town.
Who is Leena Nair?
Education: Unlike many other Indian-born CEOs, Nair did not follow the typical IIT/Ivy League track. She studied at Holy Cross Convent School in Kolhapur and got a degree in engineering from the Walchand College of Engineering in Sangli. She went on to study management at XLRI—where she earned a gold medal.
The early years at HUL: Nair started her career in 1992 as a summer trainee in Hindustan Unilever—and became one of the first women managers to opt for a factory stint in the industrial belt of Taloja. She was also the first woman on HUL’s management committee and its youngest executive director. And she soon became famous for her HR skills:
“During her stint at HUL, she transformed employee relations from a fire-fighting function to a proactive employee-centric one. For instance, HUL had 40 units and 96 unions with whom she negotiated. From losing 50,000 man days per year, Nair helped reduce this to less than 100 man days.”
Next, Unilever Global: In 2013, Nair moved to the company’s headquarters in London as global senior vice-president for leadership and organisation development—and never looked back. In 2016, she became the first woman and Asian to be appointed the company’s Chief HR Officer. At 46, Nair was also the youngest ever CHRO in Unilever’s history. This year, she was #16 in Fortune’s list of most powerful Indian women in the world.
Big point to note: Nair has drawn notice for a number of diversity-friendly initiatives such as ‘Career by Choice’—which allows women who have fallen off the career track to reenter the workforce. Under Nair’s leadership, Unilever has achieved a 50/50 gender balance across global leadership. Also notable: Her commitment to pay a living wage across the company’s whole supply chain.
Key quote to note: In a Harper’s Bazaar interview, she said this of her career of many ‘firsts’:
“Being the first woman in every single job I have done, means I get to see just what it means to be in a job that feels built for someone else. I always say, ‘We're all in the same storm, we're not in the same boat’. My experiences have made me incredibly conscious of wanting the workplace to work for everyone, and knowing that that means catering to individual circumstances.”
Personal deets: on Nair are scarce. All we know is that she is married to Kumar Nair, who runs his own financial services company, and has two sons. But here’s a fun photo from her Insta handle:
Ok, tell me about her Chanel gig
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