“Those that win the most are those that give the most”
Advice from Elliot Lifson, Vice Chairman of Peerless Clothing and Patron of the McGill-HEC Montreal EMBA Class of 2020
Over a lunchtime conversation, Elliot Lifson, who will be following ‘his’ class throughout the year, shared his advice for how to get the most out of the EMBA experience, and on what he finds important in life and business. He synthesized it down to four points:
- Network.
- Learn from each other.
- Give to each other.
- Think outside the box.
Mr. Lifson considers these four points the foundation of his considerable success. He is Vice‐Chairman of Peerless Clothing Inc., a company privately owned which employs 3,000 people, who work in a modern and technologically advanced manufacturing facility in Montreal. If you buy a men’s suit that’s made in Canada, whether it’s Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, or many others, it’s most likely made by Peerless Clothing. The Peerless Montreal factory is considered the world’s most efficient factory, so much so that it acts as a research centre for SAP. How did it get that way? By thinking outside the box. While other clothing manufacturers were outsourcing, Peerless decided not to follow the trend, but instead looked at the problem differently: how could they get an edge by remaining in Canada. The rest, as they say, is history.
The real heart of Elliot’s message, though, was the importance of giving and sharing and networking. These are key philosophies that the EMBA Program also promotes. Networking, in Elliot’s way of thinking, is not transactional. It’s not at all ‘what’s in it for me’, but rather, ‘what can I do for you?’ He’s always looking for ways to help people, and to understand them, so that he can connect people that might be able to help each other. He is persuaded that sustainable success is due more to relationships than strategies. He refers to relationships at all levels: with employees, with experts, with competitors and partners. It’s those relationships which will enable a strategy to be turned into reality.
Elliot encouraged the class to make the most of their time together, noting what a luxury it is, and how “technology connects, but face-to-face binds”. He underlined the importance of giving and being generous with others, noting that, “those that win the most are those that give the most”, and emphasizing that “seul on va plus vite, mais ensemble on va plus loin”. The class is already looking forward to their next meeting with Mr. Lifson, so that they can network, learn, give, and think outside the box with him.
