Kenny Moscot on Business Leadership.

Question: What is the difference between leading a small business and a major corporation?

Kenny Moscot: I think you have to be a really good delegator to-- you have to evolve yourself into being a very good delegator if you’re going to go from small to large. You have to trust the people that you work with. You have to have the right people there. You know, you have to have a little bit of a leap of faith and make those right hires so you have the right people in place to help you grow a company because you cannot do it alone. So you definitely need as much help and support and passion as you can possibly get. So I think that’s the difference. Small businesspeople, I mean I’m a victim of it too, myself. As much as I preach, you know, the opposite, but you know, I like to make sure things are done. You know, you can be a hands-on employer of a big company as much as you can on a small company, but I think the key is delegation.

Question: Can an individual be both a good leader in both a small and large corporation?

Kenny Moscot: I think you have to really exude the passion that you have for what you do.  That will transcend small or large.  You can’t get to large without being passionate about what you do.  It’s a, you know, it’s a big leap from small to large.  So I think if you’re-- I guess we’re weighing smoke, but to me, it’s kind of an evolution.  You got to be small before you’re large, and if you have aspirations to be large, then you’ll possess those traits when you’re a small company.

Question: Who taught you the most in business?

Kenny Moscot: Who has taught me the most?  My uncle is a mentor of mine.  I have a tremendous amount of friends and peers that are entrepreneurial and successful, but I just-- I love to hear how other people are doing things and kind of listen and feed off that as well.  I like to, again, passion wins the day.  So how is someone translating their passion into an executable business plan and really making that happen?  That’s really exciting to me.

Question: Who is your leadership idol?

Kenny Moscot: Steve Jobs.  I mean, that guy, in terms of branding, the experience, the product development, the innovation.  The guy’s got it all.  I mean, I’m from-- you know, I try to make Moscot your favorite place to shop, you know, not just a place to buy eyeglasses, you know.  So people that are able to that in other arenas, I really admire.  So for example-- that’s always the example I’ll always go back to.

Question: What do you want people to think and know about Moscot?

Kenny Moscot: I would say integrity, number one, that we’re-- embody New York.  I really want to be the essence of New York City.  We’ve been around so long.  We celebrate New York.  A very social environment, somewhere where you don’t feel pressured, somewhere where you can feel comfortable to come and really do whatever you want, ultimately walk out extremely happy.  You know, things are commoditized today.  It’s not about the product; it’s about the experience.  So those are the most important things to us.  I want everyone to feel good.

Recorded on: 03/25/2008