In the political arena, a number of citizens are calling for a 6th Republic.
In other words, a Republic that strengthens the role of Parliament, and does not place all powers in the hands of a single individual.
In short, a less top-down approach to public affairs. And what if this need for evolution – whether justified or not in politics – also concerned the corporate world? The answer is clearly yes.
Because corporate governance in France is a real issue.
Particularly the way boards operate. An American-born director of major French companies recently confided to me her astonishment at the way US and French boards operate.
Unlike their American counterparts, French boards have little involvement in corporate strategy, except in M&A transactions.
As a result, they are not sufficiently involved in providing strategic support to the CEO and the comex, limiting their contribution to analyzing reports and certifying accounts.
“There’s still a cash register syndrome”, she confided to me.
This lack of leadership is undoubtedly detrimental at a time when COMEXs are under increasing pressure.
There’s still the cash register syndrome,” she confided.
This lack of leadership is undoubtedly detrimental at a time when COMEXs are under increasing pressure.
Politics and business: a synchronous evolution
So why this comparison with the political world?
Because these organizational systems initially developed around the same model, and that model needs to change today.
Whether in politics or business, this model seemed to work well until now.
The problem is, it’s no longer adapted to today’s world.
In politics, the management of affairs is becoming increasingly complex for those in power, torn between criticism emanating from all sides: Gilets Jaunes, management of Covid too severe for some but too lax according to others, the ecological crisis… We have to take into account the opinions of stakeholders and affected populations, while risking being reproached for a lack of clear directives.
In short, we have to manage the paradoxical injunctions intrinsic to our times.
And the company is following suit.
Historically, it has modelled its organization on existing models (monarchical, ecclesiastical and military).
Models of governance based on the existence of a powerful leader and a pyramidal organization that leaves little room for dialogue and controls standardized tasks.
These were the days of Fordism and the “Trentes Glorieuses”, before companies moved towards more matrix-based models in the 80s and 90s, as a result of globalization, in order to manage different geographical areas in particular.
Except that nothing has changed for boards or CEOs. 
It’s just the stratum below, the comex, that has had to adapt, with power oscillating between regions, BUs and central functions.
This is borne out by the history of successive reorganizations within the CAC40 in recent years.
Renault is a good example of this over the last 10 years: from a very top-down and centralized historical model, Carlos Ghosn wanted at the end of his presidency to give more and more power to the regions on the Nissan model, and today Lucas de Meo has just announced a new organization by product BU.
Financial crisis, digital transformation, Covid: the pressure is on
On the surface, it wasn’t so bad.
Except that two major economic factors have disrupted the picture, exposing and stretching realities: the crisis of 2008 and then the digital transformation, to which we can also add ecological pressure.
With this added pressure, managers are caught between a need for extreme reactivity in terms of decision-making and a near-impossibility of developing a long-term vision.
In short, the way companies operate is already clearly challenged.
And now the coronavirus has come to top it all off.
It serves as an eye-opener, bringing to light the fact that French companies are lagging behind in changing their corporate governance.
The result is a double whammy: the health crisis has led to a collapse in demand at a time when, on the contrary, there is a need to over-invest in order to make up for lost time in digital transformation.
And as if that weren’t enough, this double whammy also affects economic players whose mode of governance is proving insufficiently open and agile for the responsiveness that the market demands of them.
Managers, don’t be ashamed to train and be coached
So, how do we get out of it?
By giving the CEO some oxygen.
One of the constraints he has to deal with is short-term financial pressure.
How can you maneuver a costly corporate transformation, which will only yield results in the medium-to-long term, when you have to manage your results on a quarterly basis?
To get out from under this pressure, the CEO needs the full support of the board, with the right to make mistakes and an invitation to experiment, which presupposes that the board itself understands what is at stake.
The first step is to transform the casting. The board needs to be more feminine, younger and more tech-savvy.
The first step is to transform the casting. The board needs to be more feminine, younger and more tech-savvy. Admittedly, there have been developments in recent years, notably with the Copé-Zimmerman law on balanced representation of women and men on boards of directors and supervisory boards (from 12% to 45% of CAC40 boards are women in 10 years!). But much remains to be done, particularly in SMEs, and in the meantime, companies are depriving themselves of the riches of diversity: it’s hard to understand the challenges of digital technology when 71% of directors are over 50 and only 10% under 40 (source: BSB annual survey, June 2020), and it’s hard to grasp the challenges of globalization when only 25% of SME directors are of foreign origin. In this respect, it is interesting to note the initiative underway in Quebec, which would require boards to have at least one director under the age of 35. https://youtu.be/5MErInHbMFI Furthermore, boards should not hesitate to take advantage of specific training to raise their awareness of these issues. There’s no shame in managers being trained and coached in agile management. The challenge is to stimulate their ability to stand back and listen empathetically to their employees, while at the same time – paradoxically! – to the company as a whole. As part of my experience in helping boards become aware of these issues, I invited a team to co-design a training and coaching program to help them manage complexity and paradox in these complex times. In our research and coaching at Connection Leadership, we ask ourselves one overriding question: how can we move from a reactive to a creative mode, and how can we generate deeper alignment within the company, including middle management, in the face of the disintegration of the classic managerial pyramid, reinforced by the boom in teleworking? Giving each employee a clear vision of his or her contribution, through a clearly defined raison d’être, and acculturating the board to new collaborative modes are also key objectives in this quest for new leadership. 
Co-founder of Connection Leadership, a consulting, training and coaching firm specializing in business transformation, Patrick Hoffstetter spent 30 years in a number of management positions at SNCF, Yahoo, SFR, lastminute.com and Renault. He is a senior advisor at Vivatech, and a member of several boards. For advice on your transformation, contact us at formations@connectionleadership.com
