The power of the heart
Impact study and reflections on the transformation of corporate governance through the intelligence of the heart
How can heart intelligence transform organizational governance practices? How can the governance framework foster the expression of emotional intelligence within an organization? These are the key issues at the heart of the research-action program “The Power of the Heart” that we entrusted to the firm Prophil.
Research objectives
Drawing in particular on the discussions of the leaders of the first cohort of the “From Heart to Action” program, Prophil aimed to:
- highlight the interrelationships between emotional intelligence and governance;
- to study the impacts of the Heart to Action journey on the governance of the companies represented as well as on the governance practices of the participating managers;
- to identify specific governance patterns (recognizable structures, institutionalized or latent practices) and to understand how they could prove more or less favorable to the expression of the intelligence of the heart of leaders.
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Main results
- The journey proved transformative for the leaders.
They became aware of their role and the leverage that governance represents. The tools provided by the program strengthened their ability to act. Because it taught them to more effectively mobilize their emotional intelligence, the participants gained legitimacy and were able to deploy their courage, intuition, and empathy to transform their company’s governance.
- The process has generated or facilitated transformations in governance within all the companies represented.
The majority shareholders (and/or founders) of their companies found in the process an opportunity to reflect on issues of succession and dispossession, whether these concerned material and financial matters or an intangible value system. These reflections led to changes in company bylaws or a greater sharing of governance through structural and/or informal transformations. Non-shareholder managers, for their part, mobilized their emotional intelligence to transform their governance “from the ground up,” deploying various strategies analyzed in the final report.
Governance thus appears as a factor that acts at best as a facilitating framework—at worst as a hindrance—but which always yields to individual initiatives, provided they are adequately equipped. The structure most often evolves subsequently, to validate and solidify the changes brought about by the disruptive initiatives of individuals. That being said, governance could represent a significant support or obstacle for the expression of our participants’ emotional intelligence.
- Three characteristics stand out to make governance a facilitating framework for the expression of the heart intelligence of leaders.
The existence of legal mechanisms that statutorily anchor an ambition consistent with the intelligence of the heart (stating a mission in the statutes, transferring part of the shares to a shareholder foundation, etc.); the sharing of power that limits the abuses linked to the power of one and grants more legitimacy to non-shareholder managers; and the presence of a culture of the intelligence of the heart that promotes the emergence of a “collective heart” capable of supporting the transformations of governance.
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Prophil is a mission-driven consulting and research firm dedicated to helping businesses contribute to the common good. Its mission is to pave the way for accelerating this contribution and supports committed entrepreneurs in implementing alternative strategies. Through its research activities, Prophil has notably contributed to the emergence of shareholder foundation and mission-driven company models in France, and has applied the post-growth perspective to businesses.
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This research complements the “Heart Intelligence in Action – Obstacles and Levers” program led by Stéphane La Branche of the IPCC. Learn more on the dedicated page.