Heart Leadership
Case studies
Project objectives
We work with leaders who do not rely solely on rational analysis and figures, but also on the sensitive and specific aptitudes of human beings (courage, empathy, intuition) to run their business and make decisions.
Our aim is to document, make visible and promote these different ways of making decisions and managing, in order to :
- demonstrate the variety of possible situations in the different areas of strategic decision-making (corporate governance, product innovation, recruitment/HR, strategic partnerships, taxation, ethics, digital, research, crisis management, taxation etc.)
- provide a range of concrete situations in different sectors, sizes, types of business (for purpose, for profit) and phases in the life of a company.
- be a source of inspiration for other leaders and to disseminate its new practices through networks of managers
- provide practical tools for leaders taking part in the "Straight from the Heart" program developed by HLU and, more generally, for any organisation providing training and support for managers.
Ultimately, by illustrating the possibility of doing things differently, the aim is also to help renew the imagination of leadership.
Case studies like no other!
The case studies focus on the leader, his questions and the reasons behind his decision. Why did I decide to tackle such issue in my company? What were my personal motivations and why was it necessary for my organisation? What obstacles/support did I encounter?
This is where the project stands out from existing case studies in academic literature or in business schools, which generally focus on the implementation of strategic and operational changes in companies, but rarely on the role of the manager and the reasons behind his or her decisions.
The Heart Leadership case studies we present here are intended solely to describe a specific decision made by a leader in a given context. They are neither an analysis nor an opinion on the leader’s personality or the company’s business.
Read our first case studies
Jean-Noël Thorel
NAOS – Mid-sized company – Cosmetics industry
Theme : managing a crisis from the heart
Strategic field: crisis management
Skills required: intuition, courage, empathy
Cyrille Vu
Seabird – SME – Insurance sector
Theme: Sharing value to reconcile meaning and performance
Strategic field: governance
Skills required: intuition & courage
Florence Guemy
Groupe Bayard – Mid-sized company – Media’s industry
Reinventing Bayard in a time of major change
Strategic field: governance
Skills required: intuition, courage
Michel Meunier
Janus – Very small business – Construction industry
Theme: Turning down a client in the name of his values
Strategic field: crisis management
Skills required: intuition & courage
Antoine Fiévet
Bel – Large company – Agri-food industry
Fairer remuneration for milk producers to help transform the industry
Strategic field : supply-chain
Skills required : intuition, courage.
Stephan Schenk and Hannah König
Stapelstein – Very small business – Toy industry
Regaining self-determination and autonomy
Strategic fiel: governance
Skills required: intuition, courage
Our partners
Case study writers
Magali Sartre has worked for over 20 years in major groups listed on the Paris, New York and London stock exchanges, including Suez, Lexmark International, Diageo and Danone. For them, she was responsible for communications, corporate social responsibility and public affairs. Dismayed by the inertia of large organisations in the face of the climate and human emergency, she decided to create Positive Practice©, a consultancy business, with the aim of helping to accelerate the transformation of managers and companies. She is also Chief of Staff to the Chairman of Groupe Bel. Her driving force: to be true to herself, so that she can be more to others.
Emmanuelle Paillat has been working on the ecological transition for 15 years. She created Nature et Découvertes’ CO2 accounting system in 2007, then joined the Carbone 4 consultancy to help companies count and reduce their GHG emissions. She then spent 7 years helping organic farmers to raise funds on the crowdfunding platform Bluebees, before returning to her first area of expertise and helping companies to develop their skills in decarbonising their value chain.