👉 The year 2020 has been a completely unusual year for many of us. It was definitely a year of transformation for me. 👉 Transformation in pain, with the death of my father, the Corona, fortunately in a light version, an aortic dissection which I miraculously survived, and people around me affected by illness or crisis and sometimes struck by death. 👉 Transformation in joy & hope too: very rich reflections, numerous exchanges, exciting projects to transform companies and le

👍 We are as strong as our weakest actions! 👉 As human beings - and this is even more true as leaders and entrepreneurs - we tend to evaluate ourselves according to our successes, our positive actions, our most flattering behaviors. 👉 As a human being, we also tend to see the darker, more negative sides of others first. 🎯 This calls for the utmost vigilance as a leader. Let us know how to see the positive in others! Let's not forget to recognize it explicitly! 🎯 Let us al

What has become clearer to you in one year? Over the last few weeks, I have had the opportunity to listen to many leaders, managers and employees. What they say, on a positive note: we lose less time in transportation, we have had to optimize our work organization, we are more autonomous, more productive, we have more time for children, etc. On the negative side: we are losing the emotional link with our brand, I feel alone, isolated, it's not easy for newcomers, we can't do

The word 'crisis' in Chinese is composed of two characters: 危机 The first one, 'danger', symbolizes a man on the edge of the precipice. The second, 'chance' or 'opportunity'. These moments of crisis test the leadership of our leaders and managers. But they also forge it. To take up another Asian concept, the Japanese speak of Takumi, the master craftsmen who have been refining their art for decades. It should be the same with leadership. It is an art that is cultivated over th

👿 Sailing in normal conditions allows some mistakes without consequences. Yet, in rough seas, every mistake can send the team overboard. 👿 That's why I wanted to review essential leadership practices especially in the current circumstances. 👿 To conclude this overview, I'd like to emphasize the importance of asking ourselves one question: how can I make sure I am an asset for my organization, not a liability? 👿 Our organizations are under pressure. Our employees are livin

👿 Leaders are humans full of emotions. These emotions serve as both a driving force and a signal. 👿 In times of crisis, they are exacerbated among employees, within each leader and in the markets. 👿 In this context, we have three mechanisms at our disposal: 👿 Flight: this is reflected in behaviors such as not making decisions, avoiding certain discussions, focusing on one's favorite functions to the detriment of those that make sense. 👿 Fight: this results in aggressive

👿 A leader is not a coach, but sometimes s/he needs to become one. 👿 Coaching is one of the 6 available leadership styles and in some circumstances, the most appropriate. It rests on four essential pillars: the ability to ask questions, to suspend judgment, to challenge and help the employee to set stretching goals, and the discipline to follow up. 👿 There are three types of coaching situations. 👿 First, the employee asks himself a question with a clear and unique answ

👿 Are people less productive when they work from home! 👿 I recently heard business leaders conclude: 'we have seen a decrease in productivity of our employees as a consequence of home-based work'. Interesting statement when compared to other completely opposite reactions. 👿 So, more or less productive? 👿 Each situation is different and it would be inappropriate to draw hasty conclusions. However, I can't help but notice that the behavior of remote employees is often the d

👿 Sometimes, the overall inefficiency of a system results from the accumulation of many tactical faux pas. This happens for example with empowerment, one of the mechanisms to optimize available human resources. 👿 Here are a few examples: - delegating with the sole purpose of getting rid of something you don't want to do. - delegating to individuals only to divide and keep control, rather than delegate collectively. - delegate, then disappear. The lack of presence often se

👿 Paul (or Pauline) is absorbed by his business. That said, his employees consider him absent. He only 'comes down to the arena' when things are going badly or to make a hollow announcement!’. 👿 When a leader asked me last week how often he should communicate with a team spread over three continents, I had only one word: Presence. Make sure you are present, perceived as such. 👿 This presence will take different forms and combine different moments: virtual sessions in plena

👿 John is a brilliant leader. Not that he is the best expert in his field - he is surrounded by experts. But he has this talent for inspiring people to go the extra mile. 👿 Pauline is struggling. She is intellectually brilliant but her impact on teams is questionable and sometimes even toxic. 👿 We all have a little bit of John and Pauline in us. I could have reversed the first names, by the way. 👿 But how do we make sure that we don't give in to the temptation of the 7 de

Back home, a new life began. I wanted to walk, run, move, act, lie, sleep as before. But my body would call me to order. 'It will take you several weeks or even months to recover fully!'. This is a metaphor of life in a way. Life requires patience. Patience is a virtue. It is one of the foundations of some religions. But let’s not confuse patience with passivity. Waiting for a situation to improve without doing anything about it is not patience, it is passivity. Patience impl

The food was bland, the day was flat. The only exciting part of the day was when my wife or one of my daughters would visit me - I was allowed one person per visit, from 6 to 7 p.m. - and yet the days went by quickly. On the other hand, the nights were endless, I couldn't turn around, I had to make sure I stayed flat. I couldn't sleep a wink. All these hardships and the emotions they engendered forge character and resilience. As the saying goes: 'What doesn't kill you makes y

I woke up at night, sweating, I couldn't move. I called the nurse. Courageously, she rolled me from one side to the other and changed my sheets again. My convalescence was punctuated by the visit of devoted nurses who did everything for me as I had limited mobility. For the hospital staff, I was patient X. A humbling experience. My successive room neighbors - the single rooms were all full - reminded me of the fragility of life. In room one, my neighbor was a regular guest. E

I woke up in a dark room. My eyes opened and stopped on a clock. The needle pointed at one. I suddenly remembered that I was in a hospital. I probably had my surgery during all that time. I tried to move, and I realized that it hurt and that I was connected to an impressive set of tubes, electrodes, and other barbaric instruments. I was at a standstill. A few hours later, I would be forced to sit down. Then to walk a few meters, then a whole corridor. Then up a few stairs. Th

As I was lying on the scanner, the doctor came up to me to announce that they had detected an issue that required immediate transfer to a university hospital for an emergency surgery '... this is a very serious situation. It is going to be a long operation (around 8 hours), but you will be in the best hands'. From then on, I was forbidden to make any effort. I had to let myself be carried to the ambulance. After a ride with all sirens wailing, I found myself in the operating

In my last post, I promised to come back to you soon. Eight weeks after my operation, I have almost completely recovered physically, and I am working on my business again. Of course, you do not come out of such a life-changing experience unscathed - I call it my "near-death experience". Because it mows you down without warning. In an instant, you lose all control over your life. It forces you to wait without knowing what is happening. Then it confronts you with the brutal new

Dear readers, I nearly died and I am so blessed to be able to write to you again. Thousands of you have followed me weekly and shared ideas and experience. In some cases, we have become friends or mutual clients/suppliers. In many cases, we have maintained a sense of connection across the globe. One of my commitments back in December 2019 was to produce one weekly post no matter what. Losing my father end of January, catching Covid-19 in February, only gave me more determinat

En tant que leader, vous contrôlez deux manettes. La manette des résultats. Ils se mesurent en parts de marché, en revenus, en marge, en taux d'admission, en taux de rejet, etc. La manette des personnes: diriger avec intelligence émotionnelle. Eléments de mesure: image de l'employeur, rétention, engagement du personnel, confiance. Aujourd'hui, nos organisations ont besoin, plus que jamais, d'humanité. Je rencontre des dirigeants qui me disent que leur personnel est revenu tra

As a leader, you control two joysticks. The Results joystick. They are measured in market shares, revenue growth, margin, admission rate, new membership, rejection rate, etc. The People joystick: leading people with emotional intelligence. This is measured in employer branding, retention, engagement, trust. Today, while getting results is more difficult and pressure mounts, our organizations need humanity, more than ever. I am meeting leaders who tell me that their people hav