Once in a while you come across a person who embodies, in their thoughts and deeds, a kind of archetype or ideal form of a role – the great artist, the wise philosopher, the genius physicist. Hervé Coyco, for me, is the archetype of the best of business leaders. In our conversation he shares some of the wisdom, humility and practices which have made him such a successful leader and impressive human being.

Hervé spent his whole corporate career at Michelin – 30 years - where he started as an entry level engineer and rose to be the President of the Passenger Car Division – at the time, a 60,000 employee, 8 billion Euro/year business unit – before finishing as the President of Michelin Asia-Pacific Operations. In this podcast, Hervé and I discuss what he learned during that time. This includes what he sees as the three styles of leadership needed to succeed in different situations: the jet airplane pilot, the skipper of a boat and the coach. Next we turn to the leadership challenge of hitting short term performance and efficiency goals while simultaneously preparing the organisation for the future. This leads on to a discussion of the role of empowerment and managing failure – when to accept failure, the need to adopt a ‘no surprises’ policy with your own boss, and the importance of ethical and value alignment.

For the last 15 years, I have had the privilege of working with Hervé in his role as Professor at HEC-Paris. We conclude our conversation here with Hervé ’s reflections on what he has learned from his role as a program director of customised executive education at HEC – both about the academy but also about how leaders in some organisations fall short in their roles.

I have learned so much from Hervé about ethical and learning based leadership, I wanted to share his insights with you! I hope you enjoy the conversation!

Citations

Covey, S.R. & Merrill, A.R. (1994) First Things First. Simon & Schuster.

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My guest for this episode is Laurence Lehmann-Ortega. Laurence is one of the world’s leading experts on how existing firms can create innovative new business models. In this episode we discuss the newest edition of her book, Re(Inventing) your Business Model: The Odyssey 3.14 Approach, co-authored with Helene Musikas and Jean March Schoettl. The book has also been adapted into a MOOC by Coursera.

Like many of the best business schoolteachers, Laurence started her career in the consulting world before transitioning to academia, first at GSCM Montpellier and from 2010 at HEC Paris. At HEC she teaches strategy and business model innovation in the masters programs, the MBA, EMBA and in customised executive education programs. She has won multiple teaching awards at HEC. Laurence is also the Academic Director of the Masters in Strategic Management and our very own TRIUM EMBA program. In addition, she is the academic director on a number of large and complex programs in HEC’s custom executive education portfolio.

In this episode we discuss the problems of alignment between business models’ value propositions and the existing firm’s value architecture; the challenge of trade offs across different values – profit, people and planet – when evaluating the contribution new business models will make to the firm’s goals; how to tell if a firm has a healthy innovation culture; the need for proper, scientific testing of innovation, and; the problem of applying ROI to innovation spending.

We finish the discussion with a short conversation about the executive education industry. Laurence and I are both in the ‘supply side’ of this business. Here, we put ourselves on the ‘buy side’ and discuss what we would look for if we were making the decision to spend time and money on learning and development – both for the individual consumer and the corporate client.

Laurence is one of the most talented teachers and academic directors I have ever met. I always look forward to our conversations because I walk away feeling like I’ve learned something. This conversation is no exception. I hope you enjoy!

Citations

Laurence Lehmann-Ortega, Hélène Musikas & Jean- Marc Schoettl (2023) (Ré)inventez votre Business Model - 3e éd.: Avec l'approche Odyssée 3.14. English version to be available in June 2024.

Gawande, Atul (2010) The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. Picador Paper.

Cylien Gibert & Sihem BenMahmoud-Jouini (2020) Créez le prochain Uber et soyez rentables d’ici la fin de l’année : Les managers de labs d’innovation face aux contradictions entre mandat et gouvernance. Revue Française de Gestion.

Breaking Boundaries : The Science of Our Planet (2021) Netflix Series. Directed by Jonathan Clay.

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I am delighted to be joined by Suzy Welch for this episode. Suzy has had an amazing career! After graduating from Harvard, she became a crime beat reporter for the Miami Herald but after a short time was re-assigned to the business section – a change which would set the stage for the rest of her career. She then left journalism and went back to Harvard for her MBA. After graduating with honours, Suzy launched into a successful stint at Bain and Company as a consultant working with heavy manufacturing clients in the Midwest of the USA. 

Suzy left a successful career in consulting to return to journalism with a job at the Harvard Business Review, where she was eventually named editor-in-chief in 2001. At HBR she conceptualised and edited articles on topics as diverse as strategy, operations and organisational behaviour and penned her own on leadership, change and crisis management, the role of boards, the proper functioning of HR and career dynamics. 

With her late husband, Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric, Suzy co-authored two international best-selling books – Winning published in 2005 and The Real-Life MBA in 2015. An interesting little fact, during the promo tour for Winning, I interviewed Jack at the LSE at a TRIUM event! Suzy is also the sole author of the New York Times and Wallstreet Journal bestseller, 10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea – which we discuss during this episode. Suzy has also been a regular contributor to the US television network CNBC and the popular program, the Today Show.

In addition to her writing and media work, amongst other projects, Suzy serves on the board of ANGI as well as being a senior advisor at the Brunswick Group.

And last, but not least, Suzy is currently a professor at NYU Stern School of Business, creating and teaching one of its most popular and impactful classes – ‘Becoming You: Crafting the Authentic Life You Want and Need.’ In this episode I talk to Suzy about the reasons she put this course together and the secrets to its success. 

Suzy Welch is a kind of force of nature with some important things to share which she has learned from a lifetime in leadership and around other leaders. I was delighted when she agreed to be on the show and I hope you enjoy our conversation!

Citations

Welch, S. (2009) 10-10-10: 10 Minutes, 10 Months, 10 Years: A Life-Transforming Idea. Scribner.

Welch, J. with Welch, S. (2005) Winning: The Ultimate Business How-To Book. HarperCollins.

Welch, J. & Welch, S. (2018) The Real-Life MBA: The No-Nonsense Guide to Winning the Game, Building a Team and Growing your Career. Harper Thorsons.

Cunk on Earth (2022) Television Show starring Diane Morgon and produced by Charlie Brooker.

Succession (2018-2013) Television show produced by HBO Entertainment.

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