钟彬娴在清华学子时代论坛上的演讲 Andrea Jung(1)

内容摘要： Good afternoon everyone. I can't tell you how honored I am to be here with you to talk about my thoughts on leadership and to share my experiences as one of only a handful of women today running ... Good afternoon everyone. I can't tell you how honored I am to be here with you to talk about my thoughts on leadership and to share my experiences as one of only a handful of women today running a major global corporation.
As I look out at all of you .... some at the beginning stages of your careers....some well along the road to your future.... wherever you are on your own personal path I can promise you a world of opportunity and excitement. Anything you choose to do is within your reach. How far you go will depend on how high you set your dreams and how hard you work to achieve them. But whatever path you take, the foundation provided by a good education will make success come that much easier, I promise you.
I have shared my experiences on leadership with many different groups of people all over the world. But being here in the country where my parents and grandparents were born - a country to which I continue to feel strong emotional and intellectual ties -- is an enormous privilege and a dream come true.
I consider myself a relatively recent member of a new generation of business leaders faced with a dizzying pace of change and a global economic and political environment that are redefined by the day in this tumultuous 21st century.
I was offered the job as CEO of Avon four years ago, and it has certainly been an experience of a lifetime for me ever since. We've had a spectacular success, modernizing everything about the company from top to bottom.
With sales that this year will top $6.7 billion USD and a stock price which is at an all-time high, we've certainly had some incredible results. Avon has been named one of Fortune magazine's most admired companies and we've made Business Week's list of the world's most valuable brands for three years in a row.
You may not realize this, but Avon does business in 143 countries and we sell our products through more than four million independent sales representatives through our now-famous direct selling distribution model.
Of all the countries where Avon does business, China is without doubt our fastest growing market. Avon entered China in 1990, and we were the first international direct selling company to open our doors here. Over the years we have adapted our selling techniques to the unique needs of the Chinese consumer. Today, we sell our products in a variety of different ways, with broad distribution through 5,000 independent Beauty Boutiques, owned and operated by entrepreneurs who are building successful Avon businesses.
The majority -more than three-quarters-- of these Beauty Boutique owners are women, in keeping with Avon's founding principles of providing business and financial opportunities for women. This is really the core of our business vision and it is consistent from market to market all over the world.
Today, Avon is proudly known as "The Company for Women" in every country in which we do business. And our ability to provide women with both quality products and a significant earnings opportunity has become an important competitive advantage.
It is one of the reasons our business in China has grown so rapidly right from the start. Over the past four years we have experienced robust sales growth of 30% annually. In 20xx, we expect to achieve total sales of $150 million to $200 million U.S. dollars. We have become the number one brand of skin care for Chinese women, and we're also one of their top three favorite makeup brands. Our facilities include 74 Branches in 27 Provinces, plus a $41 million state-of-the-art global manufacturing facility in Guangzhou.
Going forward, our strategy for Avon recognizes China as the number one market in the world for future expansion, reflecting our strong commitment to bring new business opportunities to entrepreneurial women in every corner of this great country.
As I look back to all that we have accomplished over the past decade and particularly over the past four years, it has been a real period of breakout success for our company .... breathtaking, but also exhausting. The roller coaster ride has opened my eyes to many things....about the increasingly complex demands of running a business today, about my own competencies and the need to constantly challenge and renew my own commitment to being a better leader.
I had no idea at the moment I became CEO that I would experience such great fortune and such great challenge both at the same time....and how enormously my life would change as a result. No idea what privilege, yet what responsibility comes with being the first woman to lead the company, to be constantly scrutinized as one of less than a handful of women CEOs today - what it would be like to balance my Chinese cultural background - what the responsibilities of the office would entail in this unparalleled environment. And what it would mean to be a business leader that could distinguish him or herself in today's world where the game is changing by the minute.
As I reflect on my rapid rise to the top as one of the few women running a major global corporation, I have found myself thinking a great deal about my Chinese heritage and how enormously fortunate I am to have been given this very precious gift.
I was raised in a traditional Chinese family where achievement was not demanded, but expected. My father, born in Hong Kong, was a successful architect. My mother, born in Shanghai, was the first female chemical engineer in her graduating class at the University of Toronto in Canada. They arrived in America not speaking a word of English but through hard work, both were able to fulfill their full potential, and their success has set a wonderful example for me.
My parents were always, and continue to be today, the single biggest influence in my life. They raised my brother and I with a respect for the values and traditions of our Chinese heritage, yet also with an unwavering commitment to bring us up with all the opportunities for higher education and a desire to prepare us to adapt to American society and to succeed in this world of great change.
My brother and I were given all the opportunities of our American friends - the same schools, the same tennis lessons, the same piano teachers....but we had the wonderful advantage in my mind of a cultural heritage that we were always taught to be proud of. Mom and Dad always wanted us to be proud of being Chinese - my brother and I smile today when we reminisce on growing up in our house. We grew up believing that being Chinese was the greatest advantage in life; in our house, everything important in life came from China, was invented in China, owed all to the Chinese.

　 内容摘要： Good afternoon everyone. I can't tell you how honored I am to be here with you to talk about my thoughts on leadership and to share my experiences as one of only a handful of women today running ... We went on elementary school field trips to pulp plants, where they taught us how paper was made. Paper was invented in China, Mom said, after we relayed the process in awe. Our favorite neighbors were Italian and invited us over for spaghetti. When we came home and raved, Dad would remind us that Marco Polo brought pasta home from China. Not Italian....Chinese....and so it went. And how wonderful they were to instill in us the sense of pride in our heritage that we have never forgotten.

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