Corporate Activism: Celine Schillinger's Journey

Celine Schillinger, a former entrepreneur, went on a mission to inject diversity, equity, and inclusiveness into the corporate world. Joining the renowned pharmaceutical giant Sanofi after a decade of entrepreneurial pursuits, she encountered the rigid structures and male-dominated hierarchy prevalent in many corporate settings.

Feeling stifled by the lack of diversity and oppressive leadership, Schillinger took action. In 2010, she boldly emailed the CEO, advocating for greater diversity within the company. This email, shared with a few colleagues, quickly spread, revealing the power of activism and networks.

Rather than confront the organization head-on, Schillinger and her colleagues opted to influence its direction from within. They united individuals across hierarchies and departments, rallying them around a common goal. This diverse coalition sparked a transformation at Sanofi.

Before Schillinger's initiative, Sanofi had little experience with employee activism or collective movements. However, her coalition swiftly grew to encompass 2,500 people across 50 countries, extending its influence beyond the confines of the corporation itself.

Empower Change in the Workplace

Schillinger's time at Sanofi inspired her to rally different groups to empower employees, promote fair workplace practices, and champion other causes. She used online tools to organize a community called breakdengue.org, which quickly gathered 250,000 volunteers within a year to combat Dengue Fever spread by mosquitoes.

Afterward, Schillinger moved to Boston to lead Quality Innovation and Engagement at Sanofi, teaming up with leadership expert John Kotter.

Despite spending millions and hiring many consultants over 15 years, Sanofi struggled to make its workplace fairer. Despite efforts, the old system persisted, with knowledge mainly flowing from the top down and change happening slowly, if at all. Sanofi hoped people would naturally adopt new practices, but real change requires much more than that.

Meaningful Change Through Empowered Leadership

Schillinger realized that people crave meaning, not orders. When bosses dictate tasks, they face pushback. Instead, leaders can inspire positive shifts by tapping into each person's sense of duty and freedom. This involves moving away from traditional bossy leadership towards a system that champions teamwork and independence.

Individuals who feel empowered at work share certain traits. They have what's called a growth mindset, a term coined by Professor Carol Dweck in her book Mindset. While those with fixed mindsets feel stuck, those with growth mindsets believe they can evolve, so they actively strive to enhance their skills. They see challenges as chances to grow.

Outdated Leadership in the 21st Century

Life and work today are nothing like they were in the days of Frederick Taylor and Henry Ford. Their old-school top-down management style and assembly-line thinking just don't cut it anymore. These approaches only add to the frustration employees feel about decision-making, how companies are run, global issues, and how society functions.

Many companies still rely on old-fashioned hierarchical methods to solve problems. When a problem arises, they form a special team of experts to deal with it. These experts work separately from the rest of the company, making plans and holding meetings. Eventually, they come up with a solution and expect everyone else to follow along, even though nobody else has a say in the matter.

But here's the problem: when you impose solutions on your employees without involving them, they're less likely to care or commit. This leads to lower efficiency and performance. Change initiatives often flop because they don't fit the needs of the people who have to carry them out. People care more about what they help create. If you force them to do things your way, they'll just push back and ignore you.

Modern Leadership: Inspiring Change Through Collaboration

In Schillinger's collaboration with a European airline, we see a remarkable example of modern leadership in action. The airline wanted to upgrade its sales technology, but instead of imposing changes from the top down, it took a different approach. They invited employees from all levels and backgrounds to volunteer for a special group tasked with leading this change.

Out of the volunteers, 30 individuals were chosen and given digital tools to brainstorm and implement ideas for transforming the company's operations. For instance, this effort empowered the sales team to expand their roles and collaborate across different levels and departments.

Even though many volunteers were new to digital transformation, they surprised themselves with their creativity and courage. Through this experience, they gained new skills, a deeper understanding of their work, and a stronger ability to make a difference. This boosted their confidence and added value to both the employees and the company.

Schillinger facilitated the creation of an internal movement where any employee could join and contribute, regardless of their position. Together, they worked closely with company leaders, overcoming any "us versus them" mentality. With shared goals and collective ownership, they successfully co-created the airline's digital transformation project.

Engagement leadership sparks enthusiasm and self-drive.

Companies that value their employees' freedom ignite engagement, creativity, teamwork, and responsibility. This method proves more fruitful than orders and limitations and yields greater benefits.

When everyone has the same information and faces similar situations, they can build the understanding and trust needed for effective teamwork. This emphasizes the need to ditch outdated leadership styles that focus solely on individual traits like confidence and vision. Instead, the workforce can view leadership as a shared ability within a group, community, or network.

Develop Engagement and Empowerment in the Workplace via "liberty, equality and fraternity."

To boost employee engagement and empowerment, leaders need to focus on building strong connections within their teams. This means encouraging everyone to participate in decision-making and welcoming healthy debates. These discussions are crucial because they can lead to changes in perspectives, which is a key aspect of effective leadership.

As the world evolves, traditional hierarchies and titles are becoming less important. This shift requires those in privileged positions to let go of certain perks. However, some individuals might worry about how this change affects their status and role within the company.

Companies need to find new ways to evaluate performance and support their employees. Individuals should also be open to learning new digital tools and sharing their work with others. This involves embracing imperfections, seeking feedback, and building relationships rather than focusing solely on finding quick solutions.

The French motto "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite" (liberty, equality, brotherhood) serves as a functional analogy for this degree of transformation.

Liberty: Liberty is all about setting yourself free from old ways of doing things that don't help workers, organizations, or the world anymore. It's like hitting the fast-forward button on a company's success. Liberty gives people the freedom to make their own choices, avoid making random decisions, and take charge of their own actions. It's like stepping into a world where you have the power to make things happen.

Starting the journey toward freedom as a group begins with freeing each person individually. It's about transforming yourself so you can do more and be more.

Equality: Equality isn't just about looking fair on the surface. It's about adopting our differences and ditching old-fashioned power dynamics between bosses and workers. When there's inequality in status or limited sharing of information, it holds back progress in organizations. Simply pretending to be equal won't fix the real problems that come with managing diverse teams.

But here's the exciting part: networks, both the connections between people and the technology that supports them, offer huge opportunities. They break down barriers and let everyone contribute their unique talents. By fostering equality and leveraging networks, organizations can unleash their full potential.

Fraternity: Choosing to work alongside others, known as fraternity, is a powerful idea. It means willingly teaming up with others for a common goal. This idea is appealing to both employees and leaders because it brings fulfillment and interest. In today's world, where individualism, mistrust, and competition are common, fraternity can be challenging. But it goes beyond just building teams or being efficient. True fraternity comes from people coming together for a cause they believe in, like in activist movements.

In the corporate world, being activists can create communities or networks that aim for impact and purpose. This isn't just good for people"it also boosts economic performance. By being active in causes they care about, organizations and leaders can grow in many ways. They can motivate their teams better, engage them more effectively, and use new tools to achieve their goals.

Organizational Freedom through Innovative Practices

Within internal networks, there's a potential for fresh, efficient teamwork methods that ditch traditional power structures for peer-led leadership. This shift boosts flexibility and creativity, offering a different path from the usual organizational norms.

To spread this freedom further, leaders need to embrace unconventional strategies. By weaving these principles into how they are managed, organizations set the stage for a liberated and thriving future.