Augustin de Romanet, servant of the State with entrepreneurial values, and Sébastien Henry, author and entrepreneur imbued with meditative philosophies, gave us a fascinating dialogue on the need to detach from pressing daily concerns in order to reflect on the essential.
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DIn the “suffocating present” of the daily pressure borne by business leaders, full of deadlines and short-term objectives, it is necessary for decision-makers to take a step back to distinguish the essential from the important or from the important. the urgent. Augustin de Romanet and Sébastien Henry expressed it in turn, by encouraging decision-makers to reserve time for reflection, either individually through practices of self-reflection inspired by spiritual meditations, or by dialoguing with people who do not feel daily pressure and can challenge them by providing a more global vision or opening up to other ways of thinking and organizing.
It is in fact a question of “resetting your GPS”, as Augustin de Romanet explains, of getting out of daily concerns to check that the general course is maintained. At the same time, taking a step back makes it possible to better anticipate very impactful developments for a company, by detecting signs that may seem anecdotal but whose analysis can give the intuition of a major change in the market. To be able to take the necessary distance from this process, three key qualities are necessary. The decision maker must combine the modesty of accepting to be challenged, with the deep conviction that he can do something useful, and the courage to take note of these ideas or convictions. To these three qualities of modesty, courage and conviction, he adds a principle:never stop working.
Augustin de Romanet went on to explain to us that the manager’s role is close to that of football coach: in fact, according to him, the manager must: give meaning by showing the goal to be reached, recruit the best players (which must occupy a large part of the leader’s time) and organize the game to circulate the ball and reach the goal.
To then communicate his vision of the course defined and engage his employees, it is important to give everyone their place: by avoiding an overly cumbersome hierarchy, it is a question of allowing each individual to value the people who work for him and to encourage them. to realize their potential.
Augustin de Romanet and Sébastien Henry are well aware of the major challenge for young generations to find meaning in their work, and draw the attention of decision-makers to the need to fully integrate this dimension in order to have a chance to capture the elements. the most talented young graduates. As expressed by the growing importance of social entrepreneurship at the end of school, the fame of a large company is no longer enough and young graduates want to act in response to the major challenges of today, by working in a structure that respects their convictions for the environment or social justice, for example.
