LEAD WITH RADICAL OPTIMISM - WATCH THE VIDEO




INSEAD ESSENTIALS & GLOBAL DAY 2013 - WATCH THE VIDEO HERE

3 months ago INSEAD Alumni Association France held a superb conference in Paris, at the beautiful College des Bernardins, on my favourite theme : How to make the world a better place.

The topic attracted a large audience of business people (over 500) and our tag-line drew their attention because of its unusual nature, especially in pessimistic France : How to be radical optimists in the worst turbulent times.

Paris was indeed a challenging location for this event, as David Jones, CEO of Havas, pointed out in his fantastic closing speech: "In Paris nobody believes that tomorrow can be better than today, whilst in New-York nobody believes that tomorrow can be worst than today"... David wrote a remarkable book on leadership which I recommend: Who cares wins. In this book he insists on the way social media contribute to make the world better, by inciting companies to do well by doing good. Doing good is not anymore a management fashion or a competitive advantage: It has become a vital component of corporate DNA.

All speakers on stage were top leaders of businesses, non profit organizations, churches... speaking wholeheartedly about their passion for growth and social responsibility. Their radical optimism was clear and infectious, energizing the audience and proving that optimist leaders can really change the world, and make their organization successful !

Even bankers :-) were speaking, demonstrating that optimism and authentic leadership can transform their industry which deeply suffered in the past years, being held responsible for the traumatic financial crisis. Antonio Horta-Osorio, CEO of Lloyds Banking Group, used a famous quote of Churchill to underline his testimonial: "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity. An optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."

Jacques Seguela, the advertising master and guru, was on stage too and brilliantly summarized the huge need for optimistic leaders to make our world better, in one of his famous slogans : "Merde à la déprime" ... which translates poorly in English a.k.a. "F--- depression"... His last book, Merde à la déprime, covers this topic in great detail.

Have a look at the short video-clip showing all speakers live: Video INSEAD Essentials

Or watch the full 3-hour event on INSEAD Alumni YouTube channel: IAAFchannel

Be inspired and connected !

SAVE THE DATE FOR INSEAD ESSENTIALS 2014 on SEPTEMBER 11...

COURAGEOUS LEADERSHIP - THE 3 R's of MADIBA

Two Courageous Captains and Legends

The entire world has seen the global tribute paid this week to Nelson Mandela, Madiba.

I had the privilege a few weeks ago to visit his country, "the place to be" in Africa these days for business reasons, and to attend a conference with many testimonials from his peers, friends or fellow Nobel Peace Prizes - Ahmed Kathrada, Manphela Rampele, Kofi Annan, François Pienaar...

In particular, I was very impresssed and personally touched by François Pienaar, the legendary Springbok captain who, against all odds, led the South African Rugby Team to victory at the 1995 World Cup, defeating the almighty All Blacks in the final game in Johannesburg 15-12. A legend was born - the hero of the movie Invictus.

And there in Johannesburg I saw this living idol crying on stage, in front of 1500 people, when talking about another captain, a master of courage and leadership, Nelson Mandela. It says a lot about "Madiba" when you see a Springbok captain, used to severe enduring pain, wiping off some tears of emotion... We can certainly learn a lot from Madiba.

His attitude of Courageous Leadership can be summarized in 3 R's :

1) Resilience : Spending 27 years in jail, 18 of those years in a microscopic cell in the infamous jail of Robben Island, is an experience that few political leaders have survived to. Many prisoners in isolation or breaking rocks would end up physically or psychologically damaged. Not Madiba, who managed during 18 years to learn, teach, meditate, exercise... and get ready to win a national election for presidency! The famous poem from William Henley that Madiba kept reciting every day, Invictus, illustrates well his unique Resilience : I am the master of my fate - I am the captain of my soul.

2) Recovery : Being able to fail, learn from mistakes and recover is a great characteristic of courageous and effective leaders... Madiba has faced many challenges, huge difficulties and overcame them everytime, not without some scars. Apartheid, violence, insecurity, poverty... are many of the battles (and scars) of Madiba - many of them not fully won, but all fought with courage and determination. Many times Madiba failed, but always learnt... and tried again. The deepest scar is probably his failure to assess the risk of AIDS in South Africa, until his own son died from this lethal disease in 2005. Then again Madiba learnt and recovered, despite the huge personal pain, with a national program against AIDS.

3) Reconciliation : Most importantly, like a modern Ghandi, Madiba understood the imperative of reconciliation. This act of courageous leadership is extremely difficult, and not a natural inclination of mankind. Courageous leadership requires compassion and humility first, to be able to seek reconciliation, and impose it to the entire population of South Africa. This is a daunting task, that very few political leaders are capable to undertake, preferring the "easy" route of retaliation rather than reconciliation. Retaliation is definitely the wrong "R" : Madiba chose the other route, against advice of all his fellow ANC comrades, and the strong opposition of the white people of South Africa... and through this supra-natural Reconciliation effort, Madiba succeeded to forge the Rainbow Nation !

But let's now give the final word to Madiba himself on "Courageous Leadership" - His definition is undoubtedly much better than my 3'R interpretation :

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear"

Inspiring !