J.C. Penney首席執行官

????我是1984年從哈佛商學院（Harvard Business School）畢業的。畢業時就業機會很多，我有不少選擇。我當時猶豫的是去高盛（Goldman Sachs），還是Mervyn's，后者的工資只是前者的三分之一。因此，我和父親談了一回。他曾在通用磨坊（General Mills）工作。他說：“我遇到過的所有偉大的管理者，年輕時幾乎都是從這個行業起步，學習業務的方方面面。幾乎所有人都是從底層做起。”

????簡單的選擇當然是去一家投資銀行。即刻獲得令人尊敬的社會地位、豐厚的薪酬和回報。我的父親說：“你可以這樣做，但很快你就會想做點別的什么了。如果你打算做好一件事，就需要從底層學起。成功沒有捷徑。”

????零售業變化很快，就像體育一樣。我本來還可以去Dayton Hudson（當時Mervyn's的母公司）從事戰略規劃工作，但我心想：“不行，我想學業務。”因此，我的第一份工作是在Glendale（做店面管理培訓生）。今天，同樣的經驗也適用于我做的每件事，不管是塔吉特（Target）的出色設計，還是打造蘋果（Apple）商店。凡事沒有捷徑。

????我記得在蘋果處于低谷時期，我并沒有像史蒂夫·喬布斯那樣感受到極大的痛苦。處在領導崗位時，困難時期尤其難熬，因為你需要帶領整個團隊渡過困難時期，決不能走捷徑。我們正在著眼于下個世紀打造J.C. Penney，而不是下一個季度或下一年。

Ron Johnson

CEO of J.C. Penney

????I graduated from Harvard Business School in 1984. Jobs were abundant, and I had many choices. I was torn between going to work at Goldman Sachs and a job at Mervyn's, which was one-third the salary. So I talked to my dad. He worked at General Mills. He said, "Of all the great leaders I've met, almost all started in that industry when they were young and learned every aspect of the business. Almost everyone started at the bottom."

????The easy choice would have been to go to an investment bank. There was status and compensation and instant gratification. My dad said, "You can do that, but in a short period of time you're going to be wanting something else to do. If you're going to be significant at something, you've got to learn it from the ground up. There's no shortcut to success."

????Retailing was fast moving, like playing a sport. I could have taken a job in strategic planning at Dayton Hudson [parent company of Mervyn's at the time], but I said, "No. I want to learn the business," and that's why I started in Glendale [as a store management trainee]. Today the same lessons apply to everything I've done, whether it's good design at Target or building the Apple Store. There are no shortcuts.

????I remember when Apple went through a tough period. I didn't feel the pain as much as Steve [Jobs] did. When you are in the leadership position, the tough times can be much more difficult, because your job is really to shield your team through that, to keep them from taking shortcuts. We are building J.C. Penney for the next century. It's not about the quarter or the year.