The need for retail change. Seeing true human nature. Finding a new kind of leadership. The speakers at the second Foundation Talks dealt with these topics and more at the Florence Gould Hall at the French Institute.

“Tonight we continue the journey we began earlier this year with President Bill Clinton,” said Fragrance Foundation president Elizabeth Musmanno, who served as the emcee of the evening.

Doug Stephens, the founder of Retail Prophet, opened the evening with dire predictions for retail as we know it. “If you’ve ever been shopping and enjoyed it,” he said, “I have bad news – retail is dead.” He added, “Everything about the why, where and when we shop is changing.”

And the media has a lot to do with it. The 5 billion mobile devices that exist today will swell in number to 50 billion in 10 years, which will change the way we shop. “The store is anywhere,” he said. “Media is becoming the store and the store is becoming media.”

Stores become places to experience the brand. “The store will be less about conversion (to a sale) and more about creating converts to the brand,” Mr. Stephens explained. “In a world of one click, nobody needs what you sell. They need how you sell it in a differentiated way. It has to be remarkable. Reimagine what you do, what you sell and how you sell.”

Journalist and author Joshua Prager delivered an incredibly compelling talk about his experiences in the aftermath of the accident that changed his life.

The author of Half-Life: Reflections from Jerusalem on a Broken Neck, recounted many of the little things that stuck with him – seeing his defined leg muscle when presented with a picture of his broken body being removed from the crash site, regaining his sense of smell when his aunt presented him with a gardenia blossom, or how the driver who caused his accident minimized 27 moving violations down to one or two problems.

A journalist by trade, he shared many of his astute observations about human nature: “No matter how stark the reality is, a human fits it into their narrative;” what matters: “We have to enjoy the good;” and happiness in general: “You have to be mindful of what you don’t have to be mindful of what you do.”

Simon Sinek spoke extensively about leaders building a circle of safety for their employees where people come first. He cited the case of Bob Chapman, CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, a company based in St. Louis. Mr. Chapman wondered why people in his offices were trusted to make minimal personal phone calls, had access to office supplies and to know when to start and stop work when people in his factories did not. When he applied office standards to the factory, putting people first, theft disappeared.

“Great leaders never sacrifice people to make numbers,” Mr. Sinek explained. “Leadership is a choice to put the lives of our worker before us. They will offer us their blood, sweat and tears in return.” He continued: “Leadership is not about ran
k – it’s about making a choice to look after the people around us.” “Almost all behavior is about the need to be safe.”

The talk was attended by executives from Coty, Firmenich, Givaudan, L’Oreal, Estee Lauder Victoria’s Secret, CoScentrix, Mane and more.

Photo courtesy of The Fragrance Foundation (L-R): Doug Stephens, Elizabeth Musmanno, Jill Belasco, Simon Sinek, Joshua Prager