{"id":4597,"date":"2018-09-10T13:35:57","date_gmt":"2018-09-10T17:35:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/?page_id=4597"},"modified":"2018-11-01T10:53:51","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T14:53:51","slug":"a-ceo-with-extra-sparkle","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/fall-2018\/a-ceo-with-extra-sparkle\/","title":{"rendered":"A CEO With Extra Sparkle"},"content":{"rendered":"
Beryl Raff<\/a> (BSBA\u201972)<\/span> didn\u2019t have to apply for the job of Helzberg Diamonds<\/a> chairman and CEO\u2014she was handpicked for it by Warren Buffett. It\u2019s not the first time she\u2019s been headhunted: in 2001, Allen Questrom (BSBA\u201964, Hon.\u201915) recruited her to the management team at JCPenney. Raff started her retail career as an executive trainee in the housewares department at Macy\u2019s, rising over nearly two decades with the company to become executive vice president and general merchandising manager of fine jewelry. She then spent six years at Zales, including a term as the jeweler\u2019s chairman and CEO\u2014just the tenth female chair of a Fortune 1000 company. At Helzberg, a Berkshire Hathaway company, she oversees 211 stores in 36 states. If you want a career like Raff\u2019s, you\u2019ll need to:<\/section>\n
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Ask why.<\/span> \u201cToo often we do things today because we did them yesterday, then we do them tomorrow without asking why. One day, many years from now, a different team will be here and they will assess all the different functions of this organization and wonder why we did things this way. That\u2019s what we have to do ourselves every single day\u2014challenge the status quo.\u201d<\/section>\n
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Do more than excel.<\/span> \u201cI find that when people get to a high-level position but haven\u2019t yet crossed to the C-suite, it\u2019s because they don\u2019t understand the difference between leadership and doing an outstanding job. They feel like because they\u2019re producing a result, they should have that top seat\u2014but that\u2019s not the case. Being a leader means becoming more of a generalist and less of a specialist. If you don\u2019t have that critical leadership component, you won\u2019t succeed.\u201d<\/section>\n
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Look around corners.<\/span> \u201cBusinesses need to reinvent themselves every five years or so. My job is that of a visionary and a strategist. I look around the corners, speculate as to what I think is going to happen\u2014not just for the rest of the season, but over the next three to five years\u2014and get the company ready for those changes.\u201d<\/section>\n
Go with your gut.<\/span> \u201cYou have to have the courage of your convictions and the courage to balance critically important data with your gut to make a call. I\u2019ve learned through the years that when I don\u2019t listen to my gut, I regret it every single time.\u201d<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Beryl Raff (BSBA\u201972) didn\u2019t have to apply for the job of Helzberg Diamonds chairman and CEO\u2014she was handpicked for it by Warren Buffett. It\u2019s not the first time she\u2019s been headhunted: in 2001, Allen Questrom (BSBA\u201964, Hon.\u201915) recruited her to the management team at JCPenney. Raff started her retail career as an executive trainee in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14430,"featured_media":0,"parent":4426,"menu_order":17,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"story.php","meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nA CEO With Extra Sparkle - Questrom Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/questrom-magazine\/fall-2018\/a-ceo-with-extra-sparkle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A CEO With Extra Sparkle - Questrom Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Beryl Raff (BSBA\u201972) didn\u2019t have to apply for the job of Helzberg Diamonds chairman and CEO\u2014she was handpicked for it by Warren Buffett. 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