A look back at the 5th edition of the INSEEC MSc & MBA Paris Leadership Week

From November 4 to 9, 2019, the Paris campus of INSEEC MSc & MBA hosted the 5th edition of Leadership Week, which was once again a success !

For the past two years, INSEEC MSc & MBA Paris has been organizing a series of conferences, Leadership Week, on its campus twice a year for all its Masters of Science and^2nd year MBA students, whether they are English or French speaking. Leadership Week is a highlight of the school year. Business leaders and human resources managers come to share their experience and their vision of leadership.

Definition of leadership by our guests

This bi-annual lecture series on the notion of leadership is a real professional opportunity for our Masters of Science and MBA students in Paris. It is an exceptional opportunity for them to exchange with high-level professionals from various fields, to develop their curiosity and their professional network. These exchanges are part of interactive conferences, where students discuss live with our guests via tablets and/or live chats.

All Parisp Masters of Science and MBA students can participate in Leadership Week, whether they come from the Finance, Sports, Communication, Marketing, Business Development or Human Resources divisions. This mix favors inter-pole interactions and allows students to get to know each other better while confronting their fields of expertise.

We had the great pleasure to welcome :

• Pierre-Henri Até Chuet, Consultant and former Air Force pilot
• Bénédicte Taranto, Human Resources Manager at Korn Ferry
• Pierre Sinodinos, CEO and Founder of ANEO
• Raphaëlle Laubie, CEO of the Leadership Circle
• Camy Puech, Founder of QualiSocial
• Mohamed Deaif, Founder of DEAIF Consulting
• Marie-Hélène Caillol, President of the European Laboratory of Political Anticipation
• Fabienne Mignonac-Crave, Healthcare Managing Director ofAir Liquide
• Karine Armand-Fedida, Human Resources Manager at Schneider Electric
• Sandra Laville, Human Resources Manager for Jimmy Fairly

Each of our guests had the opportunity to position themselves on leadership, a concept defining the influence of an individual on a person and/or a group of people in a given situation. Their lectures were peppered with concrete cases, based on their experience and professional background.

The leader/manager distinction

In the run-up to this 5th edition, the students produced infographics on the theme ” Leader/Manager “, two notions that are a priori synonymous. In an era where well-being in the workplace is a key issue and vertical management is increasingly being questioned, our students have understood that the leader/manager distinction is a current issue within companies.

An interesting point emerged from this work. Indeed, our students perceived the manager as a person expressly designated by a third party as being ” the leader ” or the person in charge of a team, with all that this implies in terms of ideas and negative connotations  Indeed, they perceive the manager as someone who puts pressure on his or her team according to the objectives. It also sanctions and controls the work.

But, conversely, they presented the leader with a load of more positive and empowering ideas.  Indeed, the leader is perceived as an inspiring and motivating person, guiding teams with benevolence, but not being formally designated as ” the leader ” by a third party. They have therefore systematically opposed these two notions, creating a marked duality between the manager and the leader, similar to the opposition between good and evil.

A nuanced view of leadership

The conference cycle of the 5th edition of Leadership Week in Paris allowed our students to realize that the reality is more nuanced, and that these two notions do not necessarily have to be opposed but should rather be complementary.

The group work, under the supervision of coaches during this week, allowed them to better refine this issue. Afterwards, the Paris Masters of Science and MBA students are asked to work on their Leadership Project, which is due at the end of the school year. This project consists of a report of all the lectures and a long case study on a selected company. This work confronts them with a notion that seems vague to them, which they take hold of to better professionalize themselves later on. In fact, our students have a better understanding of the notion of leadership that they will be confronted with during their final internship.

See you in May 2020 for the 6th edition of Leadership Week in Paris !

 

Updated 24 February 2022