You want to flourish.
You want your loved ones to flourish.
You want your community, company,
or team to flourish.
You want the planet to flourish.
You're in the right place.
You want your loved ones to flourish.
You want your community, company,
or team to flourish.
You want the planet to flourish.
You're in the right place.
"The planet does not need more 'successful people'. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds. It needs people to live well in their places. It needs people with moral courage willing to join the struggle to make the world habitable and humane and these qualities have little to do with success as our culture is the set."
Dalai Lama
Dalai Lama
Evolution is a fascinating process: life begins from a single cell and turns into complex ecosystems. People strive for development, technological progress has been making "big steps". We managed to explore space, cure many diseases and eradicate others. We can instantly communicate with anyone around the world.
BUT!!! Is it worth stopping there ?! People have tremendous potential. The abilities of the human brain are far from 100% studied. We continue to focus on short-term benefits rather than developing and supporting future generations. Perhaps this is due to the fact that our technological capabilities have evolved faster than our brains.
BUT!!! Is it worth stopping there ?! People have tremendous potential. The abilities of the human brain are far from 100% studied. We continue to focus on short-term benefits rather than developing and supporting future generations. Perhaps this is due to the fact that our technological capabilities have evolved faster than our brains.
Despite the fact that we create machines that can analyze huge amounts of data and send people to the moon, our brains are not different from the brains of our cave ancestors. No one is openly opposed to making the world a better place. We are driven by fears of our ancestors, which lead to clan behavior aimed at protecting us from people who deny this point of view. We all have contradictions driven by different parts of our brain. Therefore, we are all susceptible to both higher goals and fear-based ideas.
Both the modern and the business world are now facing 3 major trends:
1. The crisis of environmental sustainability.
On the one hand, risks of reaching the point of no return in many aspects become specific, and on the other hand, awareness of problems is growing due to the consequences of our wrong choices, as well as thanks to social networks that spread viral messages.
On the one hand, risks of reaching the point of no return in many aspects become specific, and on the other hand, awareness of problems is growing due to the consequences of our wrong choices, as well as thanks to social networks that spread viral messages.
2. Job satisfaction decreases.
Employee engagement and job satisfaction are declining. Young people are less eager to work in corporations, which are the main drivers of economics and social change. Corporations increasingly have to tackle this problem and align their economic imperatives with the search for meaning in the lives of younger generations.
Employee engagement and job satisfaction are declining. Young people are less eager to work in corporations, which are the main drivers of economics and social change. Corporations increasingly have to tackle this problem and align their economic imperatives with the search for meaning in the lives of younger generations.
3. Digital technologies.
Digital technology has a profound effect on our brains and minds. One of the most valuable assets that companies are fighting for is our focus. On the other hand, the unprecedented ease of communication around the world allows changing to happen faster, which gives hope to revise in the right direction.
Digital technology has a profound effect on our brains and minds. One of the most valuable assets that companies are fighting for is our focus. On the other hand, the unprecedented ease of communication around the world allows changing to happen faster, which gives hope to revise in the right direction.
Let's take a look at a few facts about each of these three trends:
1. We sit on a burning platform.
Our planet went through 5 major episodes of extinction, during which the vast majority of living organisms were destroyed, which made it possible for the surviving species to thrive. Scientists agree that we are in the middle of the 6th major extinction, called the Holocene or anthropogenic extinction, which underlines our responsibility in this process. The bitter reality is that our species are facing a formidable survival challenge, and our choices in the coming decades will determine whether our planet remains habitable or whether we experience a severe survival crisis that leaves good people dead.
Unfortunately, one problem, raised at the meetings / conferences, is global warming, but there are other issues: pollution and acidification of oceans, a sharp decline in populations of pollinating insects, air toxicity in large cities and an unprecedented rate of extinction of species (1000 times faster than before than humans). We are aware of these dangers that threaten the delicate balance of life on our planet. YES! We have solutions to remove them, but we have not taken enough action in recent decades. The choices will be the key to securing the future for next generation. Solutions to the ecological crisis exist, but they require us to disrupt our economic model and sometimes our way of life, for example, by reducing meat consumption, developing organic farming, alternatives to plastic packaging or renewable energy sources. The younger generation understands and sees problems, corporations are ready to join in solving problems, but we all lack a collective intelligence, capable of acting on a global scale. The separation of our planet into independently-managed countries is not working anymore to address the challenges we are facing. Corporations, on the other hand, are breaking those national barriers, and therefore have the potential to bring the needed change at a global level. Sustainability policies are not anymore mere marketing arguments to include in annual reports. They become a must-have in order to engage employees, customers and partners.
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has published a study in 2017 showing a clear correlation between Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) measures and valuation in several industries (consumer goods, biopharmaceuticals, oil and gas, banking) (https://www.bcg.com/publications/2017/corporate-de...). The study describes how measures such ensuring a responsible environmental footprint, minimizing impact of products and packaging, socially and environmentally responsible sourcing, or combatting corruption have a positive impact on Margins and EBITDA.
1. We sit on a burning platform.
Our planet went through 5 major episodes of extinction, during which the vast majority of living organisms were destroyed, which made it possible for the surviving species to thrive. Scientists agree that we are in the middle of the 6th major extinction, called the Holocene or anthropogenic extinction, which underlines our responsibility in this process. The bitter reality is that our species are facing a formidable survival challenge, and our choices in the coming decades will determine whether our planet remains habitable or whether we experience a severe survival crisis that leaves good people dead.
Unfortunately, one problem, raised at the meetings / conferences, is global warming, but there are other issues: pollution and acidification of oceans, a sharp decline in populations of pollinating insects, air toxicity in large cities and an unprecedented rate of extinction of species (1000 times faster than before than humans). We are aware of these dangers that threaten the delicate balance of life on our planet. YES! We have solutions to remove them, but we have not taken enough action in recent decades. The choices will be the key to securing the future for next generation. Solutions to the ecological crisis exist, but they require us to disrupt our economic model and sometimes our way of life, for example, by reducing meat consumption, developing organic farming, alternatives to plastic packaging or renewable energy sources. The younger generation understands and sees problems, corporations are ready to join in solving problems, but we all lack a collective intelligence, capable of acting on a global scale. The separation of our planet into independently-managed countries is not working anymore to address the challenges we are facing. Corporations, on the other hand, are breaking those national barriers, and therefore have the potential to bring the needed change at a global level. Sustainability policies are not anymore mere marketing arguments to include in annual reports. They become a must-have in order to engage employees, customers and partners.
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has published a study in 2017 showing a clear correlation between Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) measures and valuation in several industries (consumer goods, biopharmaceuticals, oil and gas, banking) (https://www.bcg.com/publications/2017/corporate-de...). The study describes how measures such ensuring a responsible environmental footprint, minimizing impact of products and packaging, socially and environmentally responsible sourcing, or combatting corruption have a positive impact on Margins and EBITDA.
“
We're running the most dangerous experiment in history right now, which is to see how much carbon dioxide the atmosphere can handle before there is an environmental catastrophe.
If a building becomes architecture, then it is art
2. Workforce engagement is dropping
The most recent global Gallup research on employee engagement show that only 15% of the workforce is engaged in their work. The vast majority of employees, 67% are not engaged, meaning that they show up at work, but lack the energy and passion required to drive performance and innovation. Even worse, 18% are actively disengaged. The latter behave as toxic elements in a corporate culture and undermine the efforts of their engaged colleagues out of frustration and negativity. For each engaged employee, there are 4.5 employees disengaged, and 1.2 employee actively disengaged. Even if you engaged employees have the best intentions and are intrinsically motivated, it is easy to imagine how the other 5.7 can ruin their morale.
When breaking down these figures by region and country, we realize that there are major differences. While engagement in the US is as high as 31%, it goes down to 10% in Western Europe, and even below 6% in France, Spain and Italy. Even worse, in France and Italy, 25% and 30%, respectively, are actively disengaged. For each French employee engaged, 4 are actively disengaged. For each Italian employee engaged, 6 are actively disengaged.
The consequences of these figures do not concern only employee happiness and satisfaction. Gallup has shown that employee engagement drives business performance on metrics such as sales, profitability, productivity, customer satisfaction and employee loyalty.
The most recent global Gallup research on employee engagement show that only 15% of the workforce is engaged in their work. The vast majority of employees, 67% are not engaged, meaning that they show up at work, but lack the energy and passion required to drive performance and innovation. Even worse, 18% are actively disengaged. The latter behave as toxic elements in a corporate culture and undermine the efforts of their engaged colleagues out of frustration and negativity. For each engaged employee, there are 4.5 employees disengaged, and 1.2 employee actively disengaged. Even if you engaged employees have the best intentions and are intrinsically motivated, it is easy to imagine how the other 5.7 can ruin their morale.
When breaking down these figures by region and country, we realize that there are major differences. While engagement in the US is as high as 31%, it goes down to 10% in Western Europe, and even below 6% in France, Spain and Italy. Even worse, in France and Italy, 25% and 30%, respectively, are actively disengaged. For each French employee engaged, 4 are actively disengaged. For each Italian employee engaged, 6 are actively disengaged.
The consequences of these figures do not concern only employee happiness and satisfaction. Gallup has shown that employee engagement drives business performance on metrics such as sales, profitability, productivity, customer satisfaction and employee loyalty.
What are the root causes behind these engagement figures? The lack of sense of purpose in our jobs.
Employees are expecting more and more their job to be linked with a purpose, and the paycheck is not enough to keep them motivated and engaged. Most companies claim on their websites to be driven by a higher purpose, but few of them actually make this purpose come to life in their corporate culture and governance.The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has published in 2019 a series of articles studying the impact of purpose in companies. They measured how well the company purpose was articulated, how much it inspires employees, how deeply it is integrated, and how well it is recognized. The assessment on those items allowed to calculate a "purpose score", which correlates with long-term performance.
What are the root causes behind these engagement figures? The lack of sense of purpose in our jobs.Employees are expecting more and more their job to be linked with a purpose, and the paycheck is not enough to keep them motivated and engaged. Most companies claim on their websites to be driven by a higher purpose, but few of them actually make this purpose come to life in their corporate culture and governance.The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has published in 2019 a series of articles studying the impact of purpose in companies. They measured how well the company purpose was articulated, how much it inspires employees, how deeply it is integrated, and how well it is recognized. The assessment on those items allowed to calculate a "purpose score", which correlates with long-term performance.
If the company purpose is well defined, and articulated into the company culture, it can serve as a compass for processes and decision-making. The discussion around company purpose should go way beyond the official purpose that companies put on their websites. Having a stated purpose is not enough. It should permeate all aspects of the company processes and culture in order to orient strategic decisions and drive employee and customer engagement. Three types of decisions should be influenced by an embedded purpose: customer-focused decisions, employee-focused decisions and community-focused decisions. When the company purpose is reflected in all aspects of its operations and culture and is aligned with the individual purpose of most employees, these employees turn into advocates, unleash their creative potential, and can become a driving force to ensure success in achieving that purpose.The young generation is often criticized by their managers in companies for being difficult to manage, having a low span of attention, and lacking company loyalty. However, while most people currently over40 years old have spent most of their early lives pursuing financial success before awakening in their late-thirties and searching for their purpose in life, we see a lot of young adults in their twenties already driven by a higher purpose.All of this gives hope that the rapid shift in consciousness needed to save our planet is still possible. In order to achieve this, we need to raise the collective level of consciousness so that we start thinking as one species with common risks and interests, instead of thinking as countries or companies competing with each other for economic domination. This has to go through individual transformation of the leaders, which have a systemic impact on many people.Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, the world's largest investment firm managing $6 trillion of investments, is insisting for 2 years in a row in his annual letter to CEOs that companies should take responsibility towards the community they serve. He presents it as an imperative for them to survive during the coming $24 trillion wealth transfer between baby boomers and millennials in an increasingly divided world and emphasizes the inextricable link between profit and purpose.
Employees are expecting more and more their job to be linked with a purpose, and the paycheck is not enough to keep them motivated and engaged. Most companies claim on their websites to be driven by a higher purpose, but few of them actually make this purpose come to life in their corporate culture and governance.The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has published in 2019 a series of articles studying the impact of purpose in companies. They measured how well the company purpose was articulated, how much it inspires employees, how deeply it is integrated, and how well it is recognized. The assessment on those items allowed to calculate a "purpose score", which correlates with long-term performance.
What are the root causes behind these engagement figures? The lack of sense of purpose in our jobs.Employees are expecting more and more their job to be linked with a purpose, and the paycheck is not enough to keep them motivated and engaged. Most companies claim on their websites to be driven by a higher purpose, but few of them actually make this purpose come to life in their corporate culture and governance.The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has published in 2019 a series of articles studying the impact of purpose in companies. They measured how well the company purpose was articulated, how much it inspires employees, how deeply it is integrated, and how well it is recognized. The assessment on those items allowed to calculate a "purpose score", which correlates with long-term performance.
If the company purpose is well defined, and articulated into the company culture, it can serve as a compass for processes and decision-making. The discussion around company purpose should go way beyond the official purpose that companies put on their websites. Having a stated purpose is not enough. It should permeate all aspects of the company processes and culture in order to orient strategic decisions and drive employee and customer engagement. Three types of decisions should be influenced by an embedded purpose: customer-focused decisions, employee-focused decisions and community-focused decisions. When the company purpose is reflected in all aspects of its operations and culture and is aligned with the individual purpose of most employees, these employees turn into advocates, unleash their creative potential, and can become a driving force to ensure success in achieving that purpose.The young generation is often criticized by their managers in companies for being difficult to manage, having a low span of attention, and lacking company loyalty. However, while most people currently over40 years old have spent most of their early lives pursuing financial success before awakening in their late-thirties and searching for their purpose in life, we see a lot of young adults in their twenties already driven by a higher purpose.All of this gives hope that the rapid shift in consciousness needed to save our planet is still possible. In order to achieve this, we need to raise the collective level of consciousness so that we start thinking as one species with common risks and interests, instead of thinking as countries or companies competing with each other for economic domination. This has to go through individual transformation of the leaders, which have a systemic impact on many people.Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, the world's largest investment firm managing $6 trillion of investments, is insisting for 2 years in a row in his annual letter to CEOs that companies should take responsibility towards the community they serve. He presents it as an imperative for them to survive during the coming $24 trillion wealth transfer between baby boomers and millennials in an increasingly divided world and emphasizes the inextricable link between profit and purpose.
“
Companies that fulfil their purpose and responsibility to stakeholders reap rewards over the long-term. Companies that ignore them stumble and fail. This dynamic is becoming increasingly apparent as the public holds companies to more exacting standards. And it will continue to accelerate as millennials – who today represent 35% of the workforce – express new expectations of the companies they work for, buy from, and invest in.
3. Digital technologies have a major impact on our brains and our human interactions
Digital technologies, and in particular smartphones, have taken an impressive place in our lives and impact tremendously the way we think and react. For those of us who discovered social media as adults, it is already hard to imagine our lives without them. We still do not know what the impact will be on digital natives.
They have 4 main types of impact:
Digital technologies, and in particular smartphones, have taken an impressive place in our lives and impact tremendously the way we think and react. For those of us who discovered social media as adults, it is already hard to imagine our lives without them. We still do not know what the impact will be on digital natives.
They have 4 main types of impact:
- They highjack our attention skills
- They get us addicted
- They lead to social isolation and increased risk of mental illness
- They make us vulnerable to targeted advertising or political messages
On top of highjacking our attention, digital technologies hook us in similar ways to drugs. Social media notifications lead to the release of dopamine, the pleasure hormone, which addictive potential leads drug addicts to a self-destructive behavior. The difference with drug addicts is that we are almost all concerned by this addiction. If you prevent someone from picking up the phone or reading an SMS after hearing a notification, he or she will experience a measurable stress reaction similar to our ancestral fight or flight mechanism.We see more and more families dining out in restaurants where all family members, children and adults, are constantly on their phones instead of talking to each other. This reflects how deep the ongoing societal transformation due to digital technologies is. Several studies have shown that the amount of social media use is linked to social isolation, and higher risk or anxiety and depression, in particular in children and teenagers. Social media lead us to compare our lives with the lives that others project on those networks, which is often very different from their real lives. This comparison can lead to negative feelings, since too many young people judge their self-worth with the amount of recognition they receive on social media.Social media can also be used to manipulate people into buying things or making electoral choices like the Cambridge Analytica scandal unraveled, but they can also be used to raise awareness on societal or environmental issues. Despite attempts to protect privacy, social media companies collect enormous amounts of data on us, our friend networks, our likes and dislikes, our customer habits, our travels, our political and religious opinions. Since they live out of selling this data to advertising companies, users are indeed their product, not their customers. Communication agencies can make very precise profile of each one of us thanks to the private data we give away for free on social media, allowing them to predict very precisely our customer and voting behaviors, and how susceptible we will be to different types of messages.
On top of highjacking our attention, digital technologies hook us in similar ways to drugs. Social media notifications lead to the release of dopamine, the pleasure hormone, which addictive potential leads drug addicts to a self-destructive behavior. The difference with drug addicts is that we are almost all concerned by this addiction. If you prevent someone from picking up the phone or reading an SMS after hearing a notification, he or she will experience a measurable stress reaction similar to our ancestral fight or flight mechanism.We see more and more families dining out in restaurants where all family members, children and adults, are constantly on their phones instead of talking to each other. This reflects how deep the ongoing societal transformation due to digital technologies is. Several studies have shown that the amount of social media use is linked to social isolation, and higher risk or anxiety and depression, in particular in children and teenagers. Social media lead us to compare our lives with the lives that others project on those networks, which is often very different from their real lives. This comparison can lead to negative feelings, since too many young people judge their self-worth with the amount of recognition they receive on social media.Social media can also be used to manipulate people into buying things or making electoral choices like the Cambridge Analytica scandal unraveled, but they can also be used to raise awareness on societal or environmental issues. Despite attempts to protect privacy, social media companies collect enormous amounts of data on us, our friend networks, our likes and dislikes, our customer habits, our travels, our political and religious opinions. Since they live out of selling this data to advertising companies, users are indeed their product, not their customers. Communication agencies can make very precise profile of each one of us thanks to the private data we give away for free on social media, allowing them to predict very precisely our customer and voting behaviors, and how susceptible we will be to different types of messages.
The flip side of that phenomenon is that many social movements have been created and coordinated through these platforms, some leading to positive changes. These technologies act as an amplifier and accelerator of social trends, good or bad. On the one hand, one can worry that they push users to feel more isolated and vulnerable to fear and hate messages, but on the other hand, they also provide the hope that positive change can occur at a large scale much faster that any change we have seen before.
On top of highjacking our attention, digital technologies hook us in similar ways to drugs. Social media notifications lead to the release of dopamine, the pleasure hormone, which addictive potential leads drug addicts to a self-destructive behavior. The difference with drug addicts is that we are almost all concerned by this addiction. If you prevent someone from picking up the phone or reading an SMS after hearing a notification, he or she will experience a measurable stress reaction similar to our ancestral fight or flight mechanism.We see more and more families dining out in restaurants where all family members, children and adults, are constantly on their phones instead of talking to each other. This reflects how deep the ongoing societal transformation due to digital technologies is. Several studies have shown that the amount of social media use is linked to social isolation, and higher risk or anxiety and depression, in particular in children and teenagers. Social media lead us to compare our lives with the lives that others project on those networks, which is often very different from their real lives. This comparison can lead to negative feelings, since too many young people judge their self-worth with the amount of recognition they receive on social media.Social media can also be used to manipulate people into buying things or making electoral choices like the Cambridge Analytica scandal unraveled, but they can also be used to raise awareness on societal or environmental issues. Despite attempts to protect privacy, social media companies collect enormous amounts of data on us, our friend networks, our likes and dislikes, our customer habits, our travels, our political and religious opinions. Since they live out of selling this data to advertising companies, users are indeed their product, not their customers. Communication agencies can make very precise profile of each one of us thanks to the private data we give away for free on social media, allowing them to predict very precisely our customer and voting behaviors, and how susceptible we will be to different types of messages.
The flip side of that phenomenon is that many social movements have been created and coordinated through these platforms, some leading to positive changes. These technologies act as an amplifier and accelerator of social trends, good or bad. On the one hand, one can worry that they push users to feel more isolated and vulnerable to fear and hate messages, but on the other hand, they also provide the hope that positive change can occur at a large scale much faster that any change we have seen before.
How can we address those trends? By reconnecting with our inner humanity!
The 3 trends described above have one thing in common: they stem from our disconnection with our human nature, and reconnecting to what makes us humans can hold the key to these challenges.
Nobody takes pleasure in consciously destroying our planet. Some decision-makers compromise their values for short-term profits, and on the other hand of the spectrum, poor people are simply trying to survive, for example by burning patches of forest to plant crops. In both cases, those destructive actions are driven either by craving or by fear, which are both very primal and animalistic instincts. In the first case, shifting from short-term profit considerations to higher purpose agendas, as Larry Fink, the CEO of Black Rock investment firm, urges CEOs to do, would address the issue. In the second case, the action of the poor farmer is understandable, and blaming him is not the solution. Our responsibility as a society is to offer alternatives to these people and our responsibility as customers is to stop buying products that we know are not coming from sustainable sources. It is our responsibility as customers to decide whether we want to buy these products or look for more sustainable alternatives.
Nobody takes pleasure in consciously destroying our planet. Some decision-makers compromise their values for short-term profits, and on the other hand of the spectrum, poor people are simply trying to survive, for example by burning patches of forest to plant crops. In both cases, those destructive actions are driven either by craving or by fear, which are both very primal and animalistic instincts. In the first case, shifting from short-term profit considerations to higher purpose agendas, as Larry Fink, the CEO of Black Rock investment firm, urges CEOs to do, would address the issue. In the second case, the action of the poor farmer is understandable, and blaming him is not the solution. Our responsibility as a society is to offer alternatives to these people and our responsibility as customers is to stop buying products that we know are not coming from sustainable sources. It is our responsibility as customers to decide whether we want to buy these products or look for more sustainable alternatives.
Another phenomenon which is slowing down positive change is the belief that we are too small to make a difference, and change must come from those in power. Governments have proven very ineffective at driving positive change. We started hearing about the environmental urgency more than30 years ago. The inaction to address those challenges since then has been striking, mostly because politicians have a short-term agenda focused on the next election. Change has to come from each one of us, through our daily decisions, as consumers, as employees, as leaders, as citizens, and as voters.
The more people will raise their level of awareness, and shift from self-centered concerns to caring about our future as a species, the more we have a chance to reverse the damage already done. Evolution has equipped us with higher brain functions essentially driven by our oversized prefrontal cortex. This "thinking" brain part is what makes us human and has the capacity to override our lower emotional centers responsible for our fears and cravings.
The key to saving the planet is see more people leverage our unique human cognitive capabilities for the greater good instead of selfish objectives.
The more people will raise their level of awareness, and shift from self-centered concerns to caring about our future as a species, the more we have a chance to reverse the damage already done. Evolution has equipped us with higher brain functions essentially driven by our oversized prefrontal cortex. This "thinking" brain part is what makes us human and has the capacity to override our lower emotional centers responsible for our fears and cravings.
The key to saving the planet is see more people leverage our unique human cognitive capabilities for the greater good instead of selfish objectives.
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The planet does not need more 'successful people'. The planet desperately needs more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers and lovers of all kinds. It needs people to live well in their places. It needs people with moral courage willing to join the struggle to make the world habitable and humane and these qualities have little to do with success as our culture is the set.
Leaders have a great responsibility in that shift, in particular business leaders. As we have seen, embracing sustainability topics is a moral and financial imperative for today's and tomorrow's business leaders. By embracing a higher purpose and articulating it in every aspect of the culture and governance of companies, this has the potential to reverse the employee disengagement trend. If employees resonate with the company purpose, and see it becoming a day-to-day reality, they can unleash their creative potential that will ensure company success. Most of our management practices have been put in place in a time when creativity was not such as important aspect of work. For example, research has shown that financial incentives have a negative impact on performance when the job requires some degree of creative thinking, while most companies still try to motivate their employees through financial incentives linked with performance. With the ongoing digital revolution, most jobs that do not require creative thinking will be replaced by Artificial Intelligence, and the only way to remain relevant is to get back to what differentiates us from machines: creative thinking, empathy, human connection, communication and purpose. Leaders of tomorrow have the challenging task to design a work environment where employees can flourish by having a sense of purpose every workday, the autonomy to organize their work the way they want, and the feeling of growing as individuals through their work. In order to do that, they need to tap into their own humanity. Since they are in the center of the spotlight, the individual transformation of the leaders has the potential to spread across the organization through mirroring and emotional contagion.
Finally, the impact of digital technologies on our cognitive, emotional and social skills can be addressed by gaining enough will-power and self-discipline to address our technological addiction, and use those tools wisely for our own benefit. Although figures on digital addiction are worrying, it is possible to think that digital natives will address their digital addiction early on. If they grow up with these technologies present from the start of their lives, one can infer that they will become aware that their career and their future will be compromised if they do not set their own rules to self-regulate. Digital technologies get us addicted by playing on our animalistic instincts (fears and cravings), and therefore re-empowering our higher cognition centers also holds the key to that issue.
In summary, the key to addressing those challenges and starting to think collectively as a species is to reconnect to our human nature and gain mastery over our minds. This is exactly what ancient mindfulness practices are offering. When those practices were developed thousands of years ago, the need to empower our higher minds was not as pressing as it is now. They were not initially intended to manage stress and bring well-being, but to allow practitioners to reach enlightenment through control and mastery of the mind. Gaining back control over our minds is today more important than it has ever been. Millions of mindfulness practitioners have witnessed the effects of those practices since they were developed, and modern neuroscience is now proving their benefits. The amount of scientific research on the effect of mindfulness practices has literally exploded over the last decade, after scientists realized that they are among the most efficient ways to get us out of the negative mental states that we create for ourselves. A meta-analysis conducted in 2015 revealed that Mindfulness interventions are more effective than therapy for treating anxiety disorders. Their efficacy is only surpassed by medication, with all the side effects can accompany them.
Finally, the impact of digital technologies on our cognitive, emotional and social skills can be addressed by gaining enough will-power and self-discipline to address our technological addiction, and use those tools wisely for our own benefit. Although figures on digital addiction are worrying, it is possible to think that digital natives will address their digital addiction early on. If they grow up with these technologies present from the start of their lives, one can infer that they will become aware that their career and their future will be compromised if they do not set their own rules to self-regulate. Digital technologies get us addicted by playing on our animalistic instincts (fears and cravings), and therefore re-empowering our higher cognition centers also holds the key to that issue.
In summary, the key to addressing those challenges and starting to think collectively as a species is to reconnect to our human nature and gain mastery over our minds. This is exactly what ancient mindfulness practices are offering. When those practices were developed thousands of years ago, the need to empower our higher minds was not as pressing as it is now. They were not initially intended to manage stress and bring well-being, but to allow practitioners to reach enlightenment through control and mastery of the mind. Gaining back control over our minds is today more important than it has ever been. Millions of mindfulness practitioners have witnessed the effects of those practices since they were developed, and modern neuroscience is now proving their benefits. The amount of scientific research on the effect of mindfulness practices has literally exploded over the last decade, after scientists realized that they are among the most efficient ways to get us out of the negative mental states that we create for ourselves. A meta-analysis conducted in 2015 revealed that Mindfulness interventions are more effective than therapy for treating anxiety disorders. Their efficacy is only surpassed by medication, with all the side effects can accompany them.
How WCHPO can help address global challenges?
Recent advances in Neuroscience offer us an unprecedented understanding of our own minds. They have shifted our understanding from describing the functions of different parts of our brains to how the balance between the activity of several brain networks is affecting our minds for the better or for the worse. Understanding what is happening in our heads and bodies is the first step to mastering it. Recent research has also shed light on how we interact with other people, how our brains can enter in synch during those interactions, both cognitively and emotionally. This tends to reinforce the fact that our minds are much more interconnected than we initially thought. This field is still in infancy and future research might shed further light on our interconnection as human beings.
This knowledge is interesting, but not enough to help us grow, transform and achieve mastery over our minds. This is where Mindfulness comes into play. The main benefit of rooting Mindfulness practice into Neuroscience is that by showing the data about the efficacy of these techniques, and explaining how they act on the different aspects of our nervous systems, those of us who would probably never have tried them can gain interest to test them and put them into practice in their daily lives. In our programs, we have seen many senior executives with no prior interest in Mindfulness being convinced by Neuroscience of the benefits of those practices, and deciding to implement them in their daily lives in order to observe how it can change their lives. After a few months of practice, most of them reported profound shifts on various aspects of their lives.
This knowledge is interesting, but not enough to help us grow, transform and achieve mastery over our minds. This is where Mindfulness comes into play. The main benefit of rooting Mindfulness practice into Neuroscience is that by showing the data about the efficacy of these techniques, and explaining how they act on the different aspects of our nervous systems, those of us who would probably never have tried them can gain interest to test them and put them into practice in their daily lives. In our programs, we have seen many senior executives with no prior interest in Mindfulness being convinced by Neuroscience of the benefits of those practices, and deciding to implement them in their daily lives in order to observe how it can change their lives. After a few months of practice, most of them reported profound shifts on various aspects of their lives.
LEADING WITH WISDOM
Find your sources of wisdom
This leadership program is for you if you are a life-long learner, a high performer, a challenger, a dreamer and a leader who wants to make a positive difference in the world. Leadership is no longer about the position you have in the organization, about power or the number of people you manage. It is about becoming more human, about connecting with others to build trust-based teams and foster the collective intelligence.
Learning how to tap into your inner and outer sources of wisdom is key to thrive in a highly demanding business world. During the Leading with Wisdom program, you will learn how to build focus, resilience, trust, effective communication, well-being and how to stay fully aligned with your purpose.
This modular leadership program is highly experiential, and its content is designed based on latest Neuroscience research, ancient Mindfulness tools and effective Leadership practices.
This leadership program is for you if you are a life-long learner, a high performer, a challenger, a dreamer and a leader who wants to make a positive difference in the world. Leadership is no longer about the position you have in the organization, about power or the number of people you manage. It is about becoming more human, about connecting with others to build trust-based teams and foster the collective intelligence.
Learning how to tap into your inner and outer sources of wisdom is key to thrive in a highly demanding business world. During the Leading with Wisdom program, you will learn how to build focus, resilience, trust, effective communication, well-being and how to stay fully aligned with your purpose.
This modular leadership program is highly experiential, and its content is designed based on latest Neuroscience research, ancient Mindfulness tools and effective Leadership practices.
Mindfulness practices were developed thousands of years ago, mostly in India and Asia, and gained in popularity in the West over the last few decades thanks to the evidence accumulated by scientific research on their efficacy, and to the development of Mindfulness training protocols that has removed the cultural and religious aspects that colored those practices as they were initially taught.
Individuals turn towards Mindfulness for the personal benefits they reap from the practice, but Mindfulness is also making more and more its way into the corporate setting. Google pioneered that trend with the program Search Inside Yourself, created in 2007, which became the favorite training program of Googlers, and is now delivered outside Google by an independent non-profit organization.
Nowadays, many companies embrace Mindfulness trainings to boost their employee's performance. Just to name a few, eBay, IBM, Intel, Apple, General Electric, Ikea, Lego, Nike… The initial intent behind these trainings might have been to improve employee well-being, but those companies soon realized that on top of being happier, their employees practicing Mindfulness became more performant, both individually and in a teamwork context. This is the reason why many successful business leaders have embraced a daily mindfulness practice, such as Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, or Bill Ford, Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company.
Individuals turn towards Mindfulness for the personal benefits they reap from the practice, but Mindfulness is also making more and more its way into the corporate setting. Google pioneered that trend with the program Search Inside Yourself, created in 2007, which became the favorite training program of Googlers, and is now delivered outside Google by an independent non-profit organization.
Nowadays, many companies embrace Mindfulness trainings to boost their employee's performance. Just to name a few, eBay, IBM, Intel, Apple, General Electric, Ikea, Lego, Nike… The initial intent behind these trainings might have been to improve employee well-being, but those companies soon realized that on top of being happier, their employees practicing Mindfulness became more performant, both individually and in a teamwork context. This is the reason why many successful business leaders have embraced a daily mindfulness practice, such as Jeff Weiner, CEO of LinkedIn, or Bill Ford, Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company.
A recent study from 2018 analyzed the effects of a Mindfulness training intervention on 425 people from 4 companies in various industries. The researchers observed 5 categories of benefits:
- Decrease of burnout and perceived stress
- Improvement of attention, awareness, presence and acceptance
- Improvement in well-being (joyful mood, relaxed, active, fresh and whether their day was filled with things of interest)
- Improvement in team climate (cooperation and collaboration, leadership and organization, decision-making and creativity) and organizational climate (appraisal, respect, atmosphere and satisfaction)
- Increase in personal performance (Pressure and stress coping, productivity and concentration)
Our coaching program is not per se a deep dive into Mindfulness practices like MBSR programs can be. It is much more of a door opener for executives who are life-long learners, high performers, challengers, dreamers and leaders who want to make a positive difference in the world. The program taps into 2 aspects of leadership: Leading self and leading others.
Contact us if you would like to know more about the Leading with Wisdom program designed to address some of these challenges. It's our little drop in the ocean, what is yours?
- Self-leadership is a key step in the growth journey, since teams mirror the emotional states of their leaders. Therefore, individual growth and mastery of the self is a prerequisite to support others to grow. This covers the aspects of performance, resilience and well-being.
- Then, once a leader has developed self-mastery, he or she will be much more effective at connecting with others to build trust-based teams, foster the collective intelligence and inspire them by articulating and leveraging a common sense of purpose.
Contact us if you would like to know more about the Leading with Wisdom program designed to address some of these challenges. It's our little drop in the ocean, what is yours?
References:
Eve Turow Paul. "Calling All Tweens: Brands begin their push for generation Z". Forbes 2018 Gallup — "State of the Global workplace report" — 2017
Loh K. and Kanai R. "Higher media multi-tasking activity is associated with smaller gray-matter density in the anterior cingulate cortex." PLoS One 2014
J.M. Twenge, W.K. Campbell. "Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study". Preventive Medicine Reports 12 (2018) 271–283
Youtube video: RSA ANIMATE: "Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us"Bandelow B. et al., "Efficacy of treatments for anxiety disorders: a meta-analysis". International Clinical Psychopharmacology 2015
Kersemaekers et al., 2018 – "A workplace mindfulness intervention may be associated with improved psychological well-being and productivity. a preliminary field study in a company setting" – Front. Psychol., 28 February 2018A
Eve Turow Paul. "Calling All Tweens: Brands begin their push for generation Z". Forbes 2018 Gallup — "State of the Global workplace report" — 2017
Loh K. and Kanai R. "Higher media multi-tasking activity is associated with smaller gray-matter density in the anterior cingulate cortex." PLoS One 2014
J.M. Twenge, W.K. Campbell. "Associations between screen time and lower psychological well-being among children and adolescents: Evidence from a population-based study". Preventive Medicine Reports 12 (2018) 271–283
Youtube video: RSA ANIMATE: "Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us"Bandelow B. et al., "Efficacy of treatments for anxiety disorders: a meta-analysis". International Clinical Psychopharmacology 2015
Kersemaekers et al., 2018 – "A workplace mindfulness intervention may be associated with improved psychological well-being and productivity. a preliminary field study in a company setting" – Front. Psychol., 28 February 2018A
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