Tim Gunn should teach a course in leadership.
Whether he's coaching a nervous designer with a wayward sense of color in "Project Runway" or offering fashion advice to a fledgling fashionista without a clue in "Guide to Style," Gunn remains calm.
He's critical yet supportive, incisive yet kind. He leaves you with dignity intact and a "Make it work!"
And that voice, that soothing voice that is never raised.
From the high school teacher to the corporate honcho in the corner office, everyone who leads could learn from Gunn.
The every-seat-filled, standing-room-only crowd of mostly women that made a pilgrimage to Belk on Saturday was happy with the Liz Claiborne fashions, but absolutely thrilled to see and hear the man.
"He's funny, genuine and humble," said Elizabeth Ireland, 22, of Charlotte, who spoke with Gunn one-on-one at a prefashion-show brunch. "He pushes people forward without shutting them down."
Rachel Powers, 33, had bought her $100 worth of Claiborne clothes the day before so she could be at the head of the line for a photo with Gunn. "I'm going to e-mail it to all my friends."
During the Q&A, every question was prefaced with "I love you," or, in the case of 37-year-old Latonjia Gill, "All my friends love you!"
"He tells you the truth," she said. "He tells you so that it helps you."
So how do you do it? I asked him. How are you nice, tough and honest, all at once?
It's something he learned in his decades of teaching, he said. When he approaches designers and their creations, he first tries to understand what they're trying to achieve, Gunn said. If you're mean-spirited, people will shut down. They have to believe you want them to succeed.
Gunn in action is Lesson No. 1.
He welcomed all the ages, shades and sizes in the crowd and on the runway. He joked about anorexic high-fashion models that look as though they "haven't left puberty yet."
Gunn led the applause when Carol Farley of Indian Trail stood to ask a question about leggings and announced she had lost 135 pounds.
"He doesn't realize how great an impact he made on my life," said Farley, 50, who turned to Gunn's televised advice as she went from size 24 to size 10.
"I'm going to live off this for days."
The crowd only loved Gunn more when he admitted he's not perfect, another lesson invulnerable leaders might take note of. The supreme multitasker said he is "a hair shy of a psychotic breakdown."
He took time for private chats with all those standing in line for their commemorative photos and a copy of his book. "What's your name?" he asked a young fan. "Grace," he repeated. "I love that name."
Kristina Hannum of Charlotte, with a Ph.D. in leadership development, looked with admiration at the Gunn style of dealing with others.
"If we could just bottle that and sell it to people," said Hannum, 41.
"I only wish I could translate it to interacting with my own children."
IN MY OPINION Mary C. Curtis
