Leading from the centre rather than the top

I love this clear-eyed insight from Paul Hudson, the CEO of Sanofi (a company I know well and appreciate):

"𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵 '𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘶𝘳 𝘊𝘌𝘖𝘴' 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘫𝘰𝘣. 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝑵𝒐𝒘, 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒂𝒚𝒊𝒏𝒈 '𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏'𝒕 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑨𝑰, 𝒐𝒍𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒏! 𝑰 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒃𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒅𝒐 - 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚, 𝑰'𝒎 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉 𝒊𝒕 𝒖𝒑 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒚 𝒃𝒐𝒔𝒔, 𝑰'𝒎 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒎𝒚𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒇.' 𝘚𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘵𝘸𝘰-𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴' 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸?!"

Some of the most pragmatic senior execs I've ever worked with had an uncanny ability to 'work the edges of the organisation', staying close to the interface with the customer, to where the real work gets done and fresh insights can be gathered.

The Ready call this "𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓, 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒐𝒑" - pulling the wisdom from the edges to the center of strategy and operational rhythms.

I also see this kind of inter-generational learning helping senior leaders overcome what Megan Reitz calls "𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒖𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏" (the more senior you are the more likely you are to think that others are being open with you - when they aren't).

Being digitally native and so much more well-versed in AI means younger talent now have an opportunity to break through the hierarchy and use their voice -- if senior leaders are willing to '𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒏 𝒖𝒑'...

Stay fierce and curious! 

Alina