Booking “Desperate Housewives” marked a pivotal juncture in Eva Longoria’s professional trajectory.
The acclaimed actress solidified her presence in the entertainment industry over an eight-season tenure as Gabrielle Solis on the popular ABC dramedy, subsequently broadening her scope to encompass directing, producing, and entrepreneurial ventures.
During her time on the set of “Desperate Housewives,” Longoria gleaned invaluable career insights. Having collaborated with a diverse array of directors, Longoria shared with CNBC Make It that she observed leadership paradigms she found commendable, alongside those she actively chose to eschew.
A core tenet she consciously rejected was the notion that “the director is always right.”
“I find that not to be the case,” Longoria, aged 51, stated, emphasizing that this conviction has proven beneficial far beyond the confines of Hollywood.
She posits that both filmmaking and entrepreneurship are fundamentally collaborative endeavors. This entails not only recruiting and consulting individuals possessing superior expertise but also actively engaging with those who have navigated analogous experiences, gleaning lessons from both their triumphs and setbacks.
“So that [idea] of, ‘Go at it alone, you and only you can make it happen,’ is not true,” Longoria articulated. “There’s a village of brains that you should be tapping into.”
Longoria, who recently initiated a partnership with the technology company Lenovo to provide guidance to small business owners, highlighted the significant role of mentorship in her development as a director and leader. She notes that some of her most influential mentors are individuals she has never personally met or with whom she lacks close personal ties.
“One thing that I learned is: You don’t have to even know your mentor” to derive benefit from their influence, Longoria explained. She elaborated that identifying individuals whose work is admired, studying their publications, or consuming their interviews can constitute meaningful forms of mentorship.
“I love Martin Scorsese as a filmmaker, and I’ve never met him,” she remarked. “I love Oprah and everything she’s done. I’ve met her, but I don’t know her [well], but she’s been a mentor to me.”
According to Longoria, the capacity to seek out and maximally leverage mentorship opportunities is intrinsically linked to resourcefulness – a quality she consistently prioritizes when evaluating potential hires or collaborators.
“I love people who figure it out” and demonstrate a willingness to “do what it takes to get to the end solution,” she asserted. This attribute, she clarified, does not necessitate possessing comprehensive knowledge but rather the ability to formulate pertinent inquiries and identify the appropriate resources required to attain a resolution.
“Resourcefulness means more than [being] Harvard-educated or Ivy League-educated,” she added. “Do you have the capacity to figure it out?”
Conversely, Longoria identified the assumption of possessing answers without undertaking the requisite diligence to validate them as a significant red flag.
“Assumption is a very dangerous thing, and so you really need to clarify [and] ask the questions” with an attitude of humility, she advised. “Don’t be afraid to [tell] people: I don’t know that. I’m so unfamiliar with that. Can you walk me through how that works?”
These guiding principles have demonstrably served Longoria effectively throughout her multifaceted career. Beyond her accolades as an actor and director, her portfolio includes co-ownership of professional soccer franchises, co-founding the spirits brand Casa Del Sol Tequila, authoring a cookbook, and establishing a philanthropic foundation dedicated to addressing economic opportunity disparities for Latinas.
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Business Style Takeaway: Eva Longoria’s insights underscore the critical importance of collaborative intelligence and proactive resourcefulness for leaders and entrepreneurs. Her emphasis on humility and diligent inquiry over assumption provides a strategic framework for navigating complex business environments and fostering sustainable growth, particularly relevant in today’s interconnected global economy.
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