Avon's Andrea Jung: CEOs need to reinvent themselves

— -- Q: Hard decisions are being made daily by companies to stay afloat. How do you order layoffs, save every possible dime and maintain morale?

A: Communicate, communicate, communicate frequently and face to face, not in an e-mail. Communicate the purpose of the vision and the reason for tough decisions. Whether it's a layoff or pay freeze, they must understand the rationale and why it will make the company healthier. It's more than morale, it's trust and respect. In 2005, we announced a delayering of our organization, and a third of our managers left. We started fixing the roof when the sun was shining.

Q: What else has this recession taught you?

A: Reinvent yourself first before you reinvent your company. This is one unusual environment, and I'm lucky that I didn't have to go through this my first year. There are pros and cons of experience. A con is that you can't look at the business with a fresh pair of eyes and as objectively as if you were a new CEO. Fire yourself on a Friday night and come in on Monday morning as if a search firm put you there as a turn-around leader. Can you be objective and make the bold change? If you can't, then you haven't reinvented yourself. If you can, then you can have a decade of tenure that is like having different jobs. I'm not the same leader I was even last year, because those skills have rendered themselves not as useful. I've had to reinvent myself every year.

Q: Cash conservation seems to be the only strategy now. How is Avon conserving without hurting the company long-term?

A: Don't touch market share or the consumer. We've not pulled back on advertising or philanthropic efforts, even though that is the natural tendency. We've spent too many years laying the foundation.