Gabrielle Bonheur (Coco) Chanel

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Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel was born on August 19, 1983 in Saumur, France. She was born to Albert Chanel and Jeanne Devolle. When Chanel later on arose and became very famous, it was very hard for biographers to find her roots and where she came from because her parents were illiterate. They were not able to check the birth certificate for spelling when she was born, and her last name was misspelled as Chasnel. Coco had five siblings; two sisters and three brothers. When she was twelve years old her mother died of tuberculosis, then after a short period of time her father left and she was left at an orphanage for six years. She then spent time with her relatives where she learned how to sew. She dreamed of becoming as rich as a singer, but she never would have imagined she would instead become rich because of her famous designs.

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Chanel showed leadership through integrity because she helped her relatives get through life after she was reunited with them. She was one of the more settled ones since she was older as they were reunited when she was twenty. Chanel was also a very thankful person because she never forgot about the nuns who helped her get through her life during the time she lived in the orphanage. After her success she went back to the orphanage and would try to help in any way possible. Chanel also did things to try to help others and her relatives. Since she was one of the oldest, after her success and their reunions she would help them with some of the money issues they had in order to live a more comfortable life. These characteristics all show integrity from her part.

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Coco was a very outgoing person. She would speak her mind and wasn’t like other usual girls of that time; timid and quiet. She would tell people the truth and she didn’t care how that would make them feel. That’s why many say she was rude and mean, but I personally think it’s better to be disliked for what you are and be truthful than be liked by many for being fake and always saying what people want to hear. Chanel also had to have good communication skills in order to have the success she had in her company. She would communicate with many people from her employees to the public and to people who had even more power than she had. She was able to communicate different things and ideas to all types of people, helping to make her company successful.

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Chanel had a lot of confidence. She’s known for introducing the little black dress to women all over the world, and she also introduced the women’s suit. I see Chanel as a very confident woman, because many others would just design clothing that went along with the time period they were in or what everyone else had come out with already. But instead of following along with everybody else, she decided to do her own thing and that shows she had much confidence in herself. She trusted her ideas would be good ones and that everyone would like them as well. She was right. If she hadn’t had confidence in herself, she probably would have had just her hat shop. Confidence, I think, is one of the most important skills that a leader should have because, before you expect people to believe in yourself, you need to believe in you first and without confidence it would be hard to get yourself and others to believe in you or any ideas you might have.

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Motivation was something that played a big role in Chanel’s life as well. I think she came to be what she is nowadays because of the self motivation she had, and also because of all the people that doubted her and she wanted to prove wrong. One of those people was her dad. Chanel could never really get over the fact that her dad had left her at an orphanage for work matters as he said. She decided she would work hard to become someone very famous so her dad could see she went on with her life and became what she became on her own, without his help. This is something a good leader should have, because they should be independent as well and not rely on someone else for help all the time.

From my point of view Chanel was, and even after her death still is, a great person to consider a leader. Through her life, she showed all the characteristics a leader should have. She had motivation, confidence, communication, and integrity. These are the characteristics someone should have in order for others to look up to them and consider them a leader.