Heart intelligence in action

Obstacles & Levers

What is heart intelligence (HI)? Is it possible to teach and learn it? To what extent can a leader transform themselves by developing it and, beyond that, evolve their company? What are the drivers and obstacles to this transformation? What are the impacts of the “heart to action” program developed by our association on participating leaders? These are the questions at the heart of the research program that we entrusted in June 2021 to Stéphane Labranche, sociologist and scientific coordinator of the International Group of Experts on Behavioral Change (IGECO).

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To conduct this action research, Stéphane La Branche relied on:

  • a review of the academic literature dealing with the different dimensions of emotional intelligence (intuition, empathy, courage);
  • three rounds of semi-structured interviews conducted with participants of the first cohort of the “From Heart to Action” program (June 2021 to January 2023)

Action research made it possible to identify whether and to what extent the course, through its educational structure and its specific learning methods (through practice, meetings and peer exchange), provided the right conditions and appropriate tools for leaders to transform themselves and their company.
The small number of leaders, their predominantly humanistic value system, and their pioneering nature do not allow us to assert that the program is in itself a systematically efficient (and reproducible) tool for the profound transformation of a leader and their company, but three key facts can be noted in this sample:

  • The journey greatly enriched the leaders' self-awareness, enabling them to gain personal alignment and a stronger, more solid foundation for taking action.
  • The program's highly practical nature made it effective for real-world implementation across a variety of strategic areas. Indeed, changing practices is more efficient through active learning (experimentation, practical application): you can't teach IDC theoretically, but you can get leaders to practice it and support each other.
  • The obstacles to taking action were identified and, where possible, totally or partially removed: obstacles internal to the leader (in particular certain fears), obstacles specific to the organization (its type of governance and its rigidities, the culture and the common norm of thought, the resistance of employees), and finally external obstacles (cyclical or more structural relating to the vision of the role of a company).

The journey, through numerous encounters, mutual support and in-depth self-reflection, enabled several participants to dare to take action (knowingly and confidently), and to make atypical, out-of-the-ordinary decisions.

Download the report (May 2023)

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The IPCC is an international and interdisciplinary group of scientists focused on behavior. Its objective is to produce reports summarizing the state of the art of knowledge on behavioral change related to the environment, and to integrate multiple disciplines around behavior/Human Factor (HF), in order to make knowledge, indicators and practices more robust and predictive for sustainable, desirable and just transitions.

This research complements the “Power of the Heart” program conducted by the Prophil consulting firm, which focuses more specifically on governance issues. Learn more on the dedicated page.