Michael W. Smith Of The Estée Lauder Companies & Carrick Rangers On Five Things You Need to Be a Highly Effective C-Suite Executive
…One thing I always tell young talent about is the value of becoming a T-shaped employee — broad across many areas and deep in one. That’s what happened to me. I was deep in tech, but I gained a lot of breadth along the way…
I had the pleasure of talking with Michael W. Smith. Michael is an American technology executive and business leader currently serving as Chief Information Officer (CIO) of The Estée Lauder Companies. With a career spanning multiple industries, including retail, pharmaceuticals, and beauty, he has played a key role in digital transformation efforts at global corporations such as Nike and Mylan. His work in integrating technology with business strategy, consumer engagement, and operational efficiency has established him as a leader in enterprise IT and digital innovation.
Born and raised in the United States, Smith developed a strong sense of teamwork and resilience through his involvement in competitive sports. He played soccer throughout his youth and into college, balancing athletics with academics. Despite an initial disinterest in technology — finding his high school computer class unappealing — he discovered his passion for IT while working part-time at a grocery retailer during college. Learning to program on the job, he began to see the potential for technology to drive efficiency and business growth.
Smith attended Christian Brothers University in Memphis, Tennessee, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Humanities with a minor in Information Systems. His interdisciplinary education, which combined liberal arts with technical training, provided him with strong communication skills and a foundation in technology. The experience of managing both academic and athletic commitments shaped his leadership style, emphasizing selflessness, constant growth and courage.
His professional career began in 1988 at AutoZone, then America’s largest auto parts retailer. In 1990, he took a job at Nike, where he spent 22 years in a variety of roles across technology, supply chain, customer service, and sales operations. During his tenure there, Nike grew from a $1-billion footwear company primarily based in the U.S. to a $25-billion global brand. Smith played a significant role in the company’s overall growth in general and digital evolution in particular.
He led major initiatives, including the development of NikeID, an early customization platform, and Nike+, which integrated digital tracking with athletic performance. He was also instrumental in launching Nike’s global e-commerce platform and implementing an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, helping the company expand its omni-channel retail capabilities.
In 2012, Smith transitioned to the pharmaceuticals industry, joining Mylan as CIO and Global Head of Digital Innovation and Business Services. He arrived at a time when the company’s IT infrastructure was struggling to keep pace with its rapid expansion. Over four years, he led an extensive transformation of the company’s technology systems, introducing data analytics and business intelligence tools to improve decision making. He also spearheaded the development of connected medical devices, including digitally-enabled inhalers for patients with respiratory conditions. His efforts helped modernize Mylan’s technology operations, enhancing both business performance and patient care.
Following his tenure at Mylan, Smith took a year-long career sabbatical in 2016 to spend time with his family. During this period, he remained engaged in the industry by founding Boma Technologies, a consulting firm advising companies in sports, life sciences, and tech.
In 2017, Smith joined The Estée Lauder Companies as Senior Vice President and CIO. Under his leadership, the company has advanced its technology strategy, focusing on digital commerce, data analytics, and cybersecurity. His work has included leveraging artificial intelligence for customer engagement and exploring immersive digital experiences in the metaverse. During the COVID-19 pandemic, his efforts helped Estée Lauder adapt to shifting consumer behaviors, accelerating digital transformation to support e-commerce growth. His contributions have been widely recognized, including being inducted into the CIO Hall of Fame last summer in honor of decades of achievement and business impact; receiving the New York CIO of the Year ORBIE Award in 2022; and being named to Forbes’ “CIO Next 50” list in 2021.
Beyond his corporate work, Smith has been an advocate for diversity and inclusion in technology. In 2020, he co-founded TechPACT, a coalition of IT leaders focused on expanding opportunities for underrepresented groups in the industry. He also has led philanthropic initiatives, including Tech Day of Pink, an annual campaign that mobilizes IT professionals to support breast cancer research in partnership with the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
In addition to his professional and philanthropic commitments, Smith is involved in sports leadership. In August 2023, he finalized a deal to purchase a majority interest in a soccer team in the Northern Ireland Football League, Carrick Rangers FC in Carrickfergus. He became the first American owner of a club in Northern Ireland’s top division. Recognizing the club’s long-term potential, he has invested to fund strategic initiatives like upgrading the coaching and player talent; launching the first women’s professional team in the club’s 86-year history; creating a global academy to develop young players; and improving the stadium and infrastructure. He’s also helping to raise capital for the club by offering small ownership stakes to fans around the world.
Throughout his career, Smith has been recognized for his ability to drive innovation and align technology with business growth. Whether in retail, pharmaceuticals, or beauty, he has remained at the forefront of digital transformation, helping organizations adapt to an increasingly technology-driven world. His leadership style, shaped by his background in sports and humanities, emphasizes empowerment, courage, and creating a vision of the future.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series Michael. Before we dive into our discussion, our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory of what brought you to your specific career path?
Michael: I grew up in Memphis, Tennessee — near Elvis’ home at Graceland — and I was there all the way through college. My first real job was at AutoZone’s headquarters in Memphis, so I was definitely rooted there for a long time.
Then I got recruited by Nike, which brought me out to Oregon. I ended up working at Nike for 22 years, doing a variety of jobs. I started in tech and ended in tech, but in between I worked in supply chain, customer service, and sales operations. I opened our pan-European distribution center in Belgium, worked on a project to turn around our U.S. apparel business, and re-engineered our supply chain — just a lot of different experiences.
After that, I spent four years in Pittsburgh working at a pharmaceuticals company that made generic drugs, with the lofty goal of providing high-quality, affordable healthcare to the world’s seven billion people. Then I took a year off to spend time with my son during his senior year of high school. I had been flying across the country every week for work — a job I was passionate about and loved — but I realized I had one last year with him at home, and I didn’t want to miss it.
After that, I joined The Estée Lauder Companies, and I’ve been here for eight years now.
Yitzi: Reflecting on your 22 years at Nike, can you share more about your work and key experiences during that time?
Michael: When I started, Nike was a $1-billion footwear company, primarily in the U.S. By the time I left, it had grown to roughly $25 billion, spanning footwear, apparel, equipment, and digital, with operations all over the world.
When the company was smaller, people tended to do a little bit of everything — you kind of got thrown into different roles. At one point, Nike even sent me back to Memphis for a role in the distribution center there. My boss at the time was actually a marketing major — he played a pivotal role in signing Michael Jordan to his Nike endorsement deal. One day, he got a call asking, “What do you know about running distribution centers?” Next thing he knew, he was sent to run our center in Greenland, New Hampshire. After that, he moved into a supply chain planning role.
That was just the kind of company Nike was. Another general manager I worked with in Memphis had been the company’s general counsel, then ran HR for a while, then became general manager of Memphis, and later went on to lead European operations. We all moved around a lot, but there was some structure to it.
Once the company identified you as talent, they tried to move you around. In my 22 years there, the first 11 were spent moving around. I’d go from being an individual contributor to getting promoted to manager, then I’d move to a new area and become an individual contributor again, then a manager. I did this zigzag for about a decade. Then, when I moved back to tech, my career really took off.
One thing I always tell young talent about is the value of becoming a T-shaped employee — broad across many areas and deep in one. That’s what happened to me. I was deep in tech, but I gained a lot of breadth along the way.
Yitzi: Can you share the most interesting story that has happened to you since you started your career?
Michael: I’ll actually go all the way back to my time in university. I was a Humanities major with a concentration in religion — not exactly the path you’d expect for a tech executive.
At one point, I even ran for City Council in Memphis while I was in school. I thought I was going to change the world through politics, but I got disillusioned pretty quickly. Around that time, I landed a summer job where they taught me how to code. That summer job turned into a part-time job all the way through college — I’d work three or four hours a day between classes and soccer practice.
That’s where I really discovered coding as a creative outlet. People don’t always think of tech as creative, but I believe it is. You’re building something, you can see the results, and, in many ways, there are no limits to what you can do. That experience pulled me into the world of tech, and it was a pivotal moment for me.
Right after college, I got a job at AutoZone, a sister company to the place where I had my summer job. At the time, AutoZone was the largest retail auto parts company in the world, and I was the only person there who really knew PCs — which definitely dates me! But it also meant I had the opportunity to do a little of everything.
I was learning on the go — setting up local area networks, developing what we now call analytics (back then, we just called it reporting) for our CEO. One moment, I’d be in his office; and the next, I’d be on the floor in a distribution center working on warehouse management or shipping systems. That kind of exposure, working at the highest levels of the company, gave me a different type of experience and, more importantly, confidence.
Early in my career, I was terrified most of the time. I felt like I had been thrown into something with no safety net, and I was too proud to ask for help. Instead, I’d grab books, read, and try to figure things out on my own. That would be a lot easier today — between YouTube and AI, you can learn almost anything now.
Another pivotal moment came at Nike. There was a project that had been struggling for a long time — over budget, not making progress. I went to the CIO, who was a couple of levels above me, and said, “Let me take this project on. Let me pick four people, and I promise you we can deliver this in six weeks.” I told them I didn’t need all the consultants or extra resources, and I’d do it in addition to my current job. I wasn’t looking to change roles — I just wanted the opportunity to fix it.
They let me do it. And we delivered — not because of me, but because of the four people I picked. They were incredibly talented, passionate, and committed, working crazy hours to make it happen. That moment put me on the radar.
It also reinforced a piece of advice I always give to young professionals: raise your hand. When you see a problem, step up and offer to solve it. Don’t expect anything in return. Don’t hold back because it’s not your job or because you think you should be promoted first. Just take it on as extra, stretch yourself, and prove what you can do. That’s how you get noticed, and that’s exactly what happened to me.
Yitzi: Please tell us the story of your journey to buy Carrick Rangers Football Club.
Michael: This might be a bit of a long journey, but let me go back.
I played in college and desperately wanted to play professionally. I went to every open tryout I could find for professional and semi-professional teams. But the fact is, I wasn’t even a very good college player. I was usually the guy coming off the bench — unless we knew we were going to dominate a team, then I’d get a start.
When I realized playing professionally wasn’t going to happen, I thought the next best thing would be to own a team. At one point, I had serious conversations about buying a small, semi-pro team in Portland. I could afford to buy the team, but I quickly realized I couldn’t afford to run it. The travel costs alone would have been too much, and there was no way we’d sell enough sponsorships or tickets to cover even travel — let alone salaries and everything else.
Over the years, I dabbled in many different areas of the soccer world, made a lot of inquiries, and looked at a lot of opportunities. I was very serious about investing in a team in the English National League well before the whole Wrexham story, but nothing was affordable. And, honestly, I was just dabbling. I thought I was serious, but clearly, I wasn’t — because nothing was happening.
Then, I was sitting on the beach in Costa Rica on vacation, just reflecting like you normally do. My father had recently passed away, which had me thinking about how short life is and what I really wanted to do. That’s when I decided to get serious.
I picked up the phone and called Steve Parish, who’s involved with a company called Fan Owned Club. My initial pitch was, “What if we went in together and bought a team? Fan Owned Club takes 50%, I take 50%.” But Steve told me they were moving away from that model of multi-club ownership. Still, he offered to connect me with some people, and one connection led to another, which led to another.
Next thing I knew, I was introduced to the Northern Ireland Football League. Several teams in the league were actually profitable, and it quickly became clear to me that it was an undervalued league. I realized I needed to strike first before others caught on. At that point, only two major investors had come into the league.
UK real estate entrepreneur Kenny Bruce had purchased his hometown team Larne — our biggest rival — and he took them from the second division to winning the first division championship two years in a row. They even competed in the Europa Conference League group stages this past season. The other big investment came from Ali Pour, a British-Iranian businessman, who put money into Glentoran.
But outside of the UK, there wasn’t any foreign investment. I was the first American investor to come in. Sure enough, right after I did, a consortium associated with Real Salt Lake in Utah invested in Linfield. The Veeck family, who own the Chicago White Sox, also got involved. Other American groups started looking into Bangor, which is in the second division. Coleraine got major investment from a couple of guys from England, and now a 24-year-old has become the majority owner over there. He’s an impressive young man. We have coffee and lunch together whenever we play each other, and I really respect him.
Since then, even more investment has been coming into the league, and there are still ongoing talks. I feel like I got in at the early stages, right before valuations started rising dramatically. Now, we at Carrick Rangers get a lot of inquiries about investment.
One of the biggest things for me was meeting the people in Carrickfergus, where Carrick Rangers have played for 86 years. When Peter Clarke, the club’s chairman, and I had our first Zoom call, everything just clicked. Peter was a major shareholder and remains so today. When I met him and heard about his commitment to the club and the community, as well as his ambitions, I realized they aligned almost 100% with mine.
Our shared vision is to see the club consistently in the top half of the league, competing to qualify for European tournaments, and playing in Europe. One of the great things about investing in a first-division club like Carrick Rangers is that the best teams from each first division in Europe get to compete against each other in lucrative tournaments every season.
Peter and I also share the goal of building an elite global academy with branches around the world — one that not only develops talent for our club but also generates revenue. Once we get that engine running, then we can really start talking about competing for championships. Not just qualifying for Europe, but actually competing for league titles in Northern Ireland. The academy will be key to that, both by developing talent directly and by providing the funds to go out and buy players.
Beyond that, we both share a passion for growing the women’s team and the women’s academy. These were all things we were aligned on, and that was really important to me.
Of course, we know it’s not going to be a straight road. Right now, we’re sitting in 11th place, and odds are we’ll have to win a playoff at the end of this season to avoid being relegated to the second division. That’s not where we want to be, but I have a lot of faith that we can win that.
One of the things that impressed me about Peter and the board was their wisdom and experience — they understand the importance of financial stability. They’ve been smart about saving for a rainy day. So, if the unthinkable were to happen, we’re in a position to weather it and bounce back.
Yitzi: Okay, super. Here’s the main question of our interview: What are your Five Things You Need to Be a Highly Effective C-Suite Executive? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.
1. Seek Out Great Talent and Empower Them
Nobody is successful on their own. The most important thing a C-suite executive can do is surround themselves with the right people — both inside and outside the workplace. When building a team, hire people who are as good as or even better than you. Trust them and empower them to do their jobs.
A big part of leadership is creating a culture of joy, which includes empowerment. When employees feel empowered, they contribute at their highest level. Achievement happens when you celebrate success, build personal accountability, and hold each other to high standards. And when people achieve, they experience joy — even in small ways, like checking off a task.
However, empowerment also relies on well-being. People need a safe and supportive environment, fair pay, good benefits, and flexibility. But most importantly, they need to know their leader has their back. Empowerment isn’t just about making decisions — it’s about knowing that when things don’t go as planned, your leader will support you as long as you act within the company’s values and the law.
2. Commit to Continuous Growth
Leadership is about constant learning. A book that has shaped my leadership philosophy is Leadership Is an Art by Max De Pree, the former CEO of Herman Miller. One quote from it stands out: “We cannot become what we need to be by remaining what we are.”
Growth happens through experience, which aligns with the 70–20–10 rule for learning and development:
- 10% comes from formal training — classes, books, and structured learning.
- 20% comes from mentorship — seeking out those with more experience and learning from their insights.
- 70% comes from experience — putting yourself in situations where you learn by doing.
Being a T-shaped professional is key — broad in many areas but deep in one. The willingness to stretch yourself and take on new challenges is what fuels long-term success.
3. Have the Courage to Take Bold Steps
One of the most essential traits of a great leader is courage. Courage isn’t the absence of fear — it’s acting despite fear. It means stepping up to take on challenges even when the outcome isn’t guaranteed.
At Nike, we had a saying: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” So much of what we accomplished started with simply declaring, “We’re going to do this,” and then committing to making it happen — even if we didn’t know exactly how at the start.
I prefer the phrase “take the leap and figure it out on the way down” rather than the overused “build the plane while flying it.” It captures the essence of leadership: not just taking risks, but trusting your ability to navigate the unknown.
Many leaders fail because they hesitate — overanalyzing instead of acting. If you wait for the perfect moment, it will never come. By the time you move, your competition will already be ahead.
4. Find Purpose Beyond Personal Gain
A great leader finds motivation in something bigger than themselves. There’s a quote from Leadership is an Art that resonates deeply with me: “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
C-suite roles come with immense pressure and high-stakes challenges. If your only motivation is money, title, or status, you’ll either burn out or eventually walk away. But when you are driven by service — whether to your employees, your customers, or a mission — it fuels your energy and makes you a far more effective leader.
Purpose sustains you through tough times. It gives you the resilience to keep going, the perspective to make better decisions, and the ability to inspire those around you.
5. Guard Your Heart
One of the most important leadership lessons I share with young professionals — especially interns who go on to become full-time employees — is: Guard your heart.
There’s another quote from the book I’ve been reflecting on recently: “Leadership is an art, a belief, a condition of the heart rather than a set of things to do.”
As you advance in your career, you gain financial success, titles, responsibilities, and influence. But if you don’t protect your heart, it’s easy to lose sight of what really matters. Many leaders go astray because they start making selfish or poor decisions to protect themselves rather than doing what’s right.
The higher you rise, the more critical it is to stay grounded — remember where you came from, stay humble, and continue to put in the effort. Leaders who fail to guard their hearts lose touch with their teams, their values, and, ultimately, their success.
At the end of the day, the most effective C-suite executives empower great talent, commit to continuous growth, take bold steps, find purpose beyond personal gain, and guard their hearts. Those who create a culture of joy — one that fosters well-being and achievement — set their teams up for lasting success.
Yitzi: Have you been able to apply any of these lessons or concepts that you’ve just talked about to Carrick Rangers yet?
Michael: There are definitely some things I’ve applied.
For one, the board is super empowered. As the majority owner, I obviously have control. But I have significant trust in the board — the chairman, the vice chairman — and in our manager, who runs things on the football field. One of the things we’re committed to as a board, and something I’m committed to as an owner, is that the manager has the final say on all football-related decisions. Now, the manager has to be accountable — ultimately accountable — but you can’t hold someone accountable if you don’t empower them to make those calls. So that’s definitely in play.
This idea of having the courage to make bold moves, to take leaps — I think we’ve definitely done some of that. The current capital raise is one. We weren’t the first club in the world to offer ownership stakes to fans, but we were certainly the first in this market. I believe we’re the first top-flight club in the world to do it. Granted, it’s a small league — we’re not talking about the English Premier League or the Bundesliga — but still, it was a big step.
Also, we launched Plus Fan, an insider-access membership program, which was a bold move. A lot of people were skeptical about it, and it probably wasn’t well understood in Northern Ireland. People there wondered why fans would sign up for it. It didn’t seem like something that would make sense, especially for fans who had never heard of Carrick Rangers until they invested in us a few months ago, But we thought, let’s try it. It could be a colossal flop, but we’re going to give it a shot.
Starting the women’s team, launching the women’s academy — those are major steps we’re taking to move the club forward in a big way.
So, I’ve been able to apply some of these lessons, but not all of them yet. I’m looking to step away from my day job so that going into next season, I can be much more involved with the club on a regular basis. It’s where my heart is, where my passion is. This club is a community asset, and my goal is to own it for the rest of my life and pass it down to my kids.
Yitzi: Tell me more about your support for women’s soccer?
Michael: We’ve been making major investments in our women’s program. Last year was the inaugural competitive season for our women’s teams, Carrick Rangers Falcons. I’m really pleased that both teams earned promotion, from division six to five and from division three to two, respectively.
I won’t be shy about it — our goal is to win both leagues and secure another double promotion. We need to keep climbing the divisions to realize our vision of reaching the Premiership within the next five years, or certainly within six or seven. Ultimately, we want to see the women’s team competing in European play, which would be an incredible milestone.
Yitzi: How can our readers follow your progress online?
To follow all of our teams and get general updates: https://www.carrickrangers.co.uk/
To follow the women’s teams on social: https://www.facebook.com/crfcfalcons
To follow the academy on social: https://www.facebook.com/CRFCAcademy
To learn more about investing in Carrick Rangers: https://wefunder.com/carrick.rangers
Yitzi: That’s fantastic. Thank you for this amazing interview.
Michael W Smith Of The Estée Lauder Companies & Carrick Rangers On Five Things You Need to Be a Hig was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.