Zena Arnold on Evolving Leadership Through Self-Reflection

What I’ve Learned

For Zena Arnold, leadership begins with self-reflection. “I definitely feel that I’m a work in progress on what my purpose is and how I’m trying to live that on the canvas of my career.”

Growing up in an immigrant family, her early definition of success reflected her parents’ pursuit of stability and prestige. “Like many Southeast Asian families, my parents wanted me to be a doctor,” she recalls. “It was the most stable job in the world, the most prestigious.”

Over time, exposure to builders, entrepreneurs, and high-growth environments reshaped her view of achievement.

“There are people who are hugely successful that don’t fit that corporate mold.”

That realization gave her permission to define success on her own terms and to focus her growth on learning, curiosity, and impact. “Going to where the growth is happening has been a theme I come back to time and time again,” she says.

Leadership, she’s found, evolves as you do.

How I’ve Sharpened

Through reflection and experience, Zena has shaped her own leadership framework, one that helps her stay grounded in her values while flexing to the moment.

• Flex with authenticity. “Leadership isn’t about authority, it’s about authenticity,” she says. “The best leaders flex their style depending on the moment, sometimes stepping forward, sometimes holding back, and often creating space for others to shine.”
• Redefine success through experience. Each chapter of her career, from GE and P&G to Google, PepsiCo, and now Sephora, has expanded her perspective on growth. She learned to balance confidence with humility, structure with experimentation, and drive with empathy.
• Embrace vulnerability as strength. “Self-reflection is essential, not just in moments of crisis but as a continuous practice that shapes who we are as leaders,” she says. Vulnerability, for Zena, builds trust and resilience and turns awareness into connection.
• Challenge your own beliefs. “The biggest points of growth I’ve had come from challenging what I believe,” she says. “It doesn’t mean abandoning your values, it means being open enough to include other ways of thinking.” That mindset, she notes, is what keeps her learning, leading, and growing—both as an executive and as a person.

Why It Matters

For Zena, “self-reflection is essential—not just in moments of crisis but as a continuous practice that shapes who we are as leaders.”

The work of leadership begins within—revisiting your core, refining your operating system, and staying connected to what anchors you. When you lead from that authentic center—anchored to your values yet flexible to the moment—you create clarity, steadiness, and trust that others can follow.

About Zena Arnold

Zena Arnold is Chief Marketing Officer at Sephora. Her career spans GE Capital, Procter & Gamble, Kellogg, Google, Kimberly-Clark, and PepsiCo—an arc defined by choosing high-growth learning environments, building modern capabilities, and scaling through people.