Lindsay Wyatt
CORP-Leadership Profile/Style Analysis Condé Nast
PART ONE: Leadership Profile
Fashion Industry Leader: Condé Montrose Nast (March 1893-September 1942)
Personal Background: Condé Nast’s father was an unsuccessful inventor/speculator,
and his mother was the descendant of the French aristocracy. His grandfather, Wilhelm
Nast, was a German immigrant and leader in the German Methodism in America
movement, and was the publisher of the movement’s leading newspaper. At three,
Nast’s father left the family for Europe, not to return for thirteen years. It is though that
Nast inherited his passion and instinct for the publishing business from his grandfather.
Nast attended public school in St. Louis, and was said to have impressed a wealthy
aunt with his intelligence, assiduousness, and attention to detail so much that she
financed his attendance at Georgetown, where he was again highly successful in both
academics (especially math) and extracurriculars. It was a Georgetown that he met
Robert Collier, who would later give him an entrance into the publishing industry
through a job at his own magazine, Collier’s Weekly. He earned two degrees at
Georgetown, then went on to earn a law degree at Washington University in 1897.
Although highly educated, the law was not Nast’s passion, and he was soon lured back
to his birthplace, New York City, to work for Robert Collier at Collier’s weekly, where he
achieved phenomenal success, working his way from a position at twelve dollars a
week to forty-thousand dollars a year, and increasing Collier’s profits from $5500 a year
to one million dollars.
While working at Collier’s Weekly Nast was introduced to the fashion world by
becoming a co-founder of the Home Pattern Company, a manufacturer of dress
patterns. In 1909 he bought a small weekly society magazine called Vogue that
became the center of his publishing empire, as well as a platform for the success of his
central business model: create a publication that focused on developing readership in
a certain demographic (the wealthy) rather than attempting to attract large
circulation numbers. In this way, advertisers of high-end merchandise could be
persuaded to pay large fees for ad space, while being guaranteed that their ads
would be seen by those with ability to afford such merchandise. Nast himself described
his “...approach with the metaphor of two million needles, only 150,000 of which had
gold tips. Rather than searching through the pile, he proposed it would be more
efficient to devise a magnet for gold” (American Decades). Vogue was designed to
meet the news needs of the most elite tier of society, reporting on “vacations,
marriages, charity events, tennis tournaments, country clubs, horseback riding, summer
homes, boarding schools, garden clubs...”, and, of course, fashion (Encyclopedia of
World Biography Supplement).
Condé Nast went on to hire two of what would become the most famous and
influential magazine editors in history: Edna Woolman Chase and Frank Crownshield to
edit Vogue and Vanity Fair, respectively. With the help of his hand-picked staff, Nast
became the first publisher to create overseas versions of his magazines, and
demonstrating that specialized “class” magazines could be hugely successful,
increasing Condé Nast Publication’s earnings to ten million dollars by 1930.
Although with two divorces under his belt, Nast did not achieve as much success in his
personal life as in his career, he reveled in his wealth, and lived extravagantly. He
though huge parties at his Park Avenue penthouse, and mingled with the crème de la
crème of society, from the Hearsts and Asters to Hugo and Groucho Marx. He was said
to have given his friends and colleagues generous gifts- he once gave Edna Woolman
Chase a box of chocolates with a solid gold coin underneath each one.
Despite his success at building a publishing empire, Condé Nast’s life was somewhat
less successful at its end. The stock market crash of 1929 left him in debt, and caused
Condé Nast Publications to be seized by Nast’s bankers and even cease publication for
a short time. Eventually though, Nast reclaimed control of his empire and even
renovate and modernize his publishing plants, as well as introducing color photographs
into his magazines, and introducing the magazine Glamour, which focused on
Hollywood’s impact on fashion and was marketed to “career girls” rather than the very
wealthy.
Career Path: (see above)
Work Philosophy: Condé Nast was said to be in control of every aspect of his business,
and very particular about whom he delegated decision-making capabilities to. Even
as his health declined, he kept a tight reign on the development of Condé Nast
Publications.
Leadership Style: Intense, exciting, inspiring, controlling, exacting, highly-motivated,
demanding, driven, passionate
Events/People that influenced him: Edna Woolman Chase and Frank Crownshield, as
well as his grandfather, Wilhelm Nast and Robert Collier (see above).
PART TWO: What would it be like working for Condé Nast?
Would he value the CLIC? Yes- to provide demographic information, to research trends
especially within the wealthier echelon of society, keep abreast of the latest fashion
developments, as well as competitive intelligence and environmental regarding what
competitors are doing. The CLIC would likely investigate new markets for specialized
magazines with lucrative advertising potential, as well as investigate other magazines
that might be taken into the Condé Nast publishing empire.
What kinds of services would the CLIC offer to be in sync with his leadership style and
values? Because Condé Nast liked to be in control of every aspect of his publishing
empire and delegated control to a very small group of employees, the CLIC
researchers would likely report right to him or to his closest group of editors.
Librarian/researchers would likely do much of the investigating (above) themselves,
and reporting results directly to Condé Nast and his editors.