ESSEC's Leading@Scale Chair

How do scaleup leaders build their culture across phases of hyper-growth? David Sluss, our “Leading@Scale” chaired professor, is spending time in #siliconslopes (Utah, USA) learning from some of the best (next to France 🇫🇷 of course)! Silicon slopes is a talent hotspot with a wide range of scaleups and hyper-growth startups - rife with talent development best practices. Thanks to Dallin J Baker, SHRM-CP from fabulous Weave for a great and rich conversation… #growthmindset #culture #scaleups Nicolas Landrin Yann Motte Virginie de MAUPEOU Bertrand Stephann Valerie Daoud Henderson Charles Doxuan François Roth Romain Delebecque Jean-Michel Deligny Philippe Notton Carolina Angulo Laure Perfetti Philippe Makowski Jean-Christophe Braun Patricia Braun Braun

How does a scaleup build a culture that "works"? It's all about identifying your key "dilemmas" or "crucible moments" as a firm. Don't have endless meetings about desired values and more endless meetings wordsmithing your culture statement. Instead, think together about critical and key moments, during the startup phase, that define WHO YOU ARE today. For example: "When our key client backed out and we could have sued, we let it go and worked together to find an even better client." Why are dilemmas (and their stories) more powerful? 1. This simple short-story is so much more "alive" than a "We persist together in the face of adversity" statement. 2. These are naturally-occurring dilemmas. Just be adept at capturing and sharing them as they occur. 3. You can then share these stories during new employee onboarding, investor meetings, and company-wide events - so key for scaleups. Thanks to Erin Meyer to the research and "stories" that inspires these concepts... #scaleup #leadershipdevelopment #growthmindset Nicolas Landrin Yann Motte Virginie de MAUPEOU Bertrand Stephann Valerie Daoud Henderson Charles Doxuan François Roth Romain Delebecque Jean-Michel Deligny Philippe Notton Carolina Angulo Laure Perfetti Philippe Makowski Jean-Christophe Braun Patricia Braun https://lnkd.in/gjUR8Tn7

Leader development in hyper-growth and scaling organizations? Pipedream or Reality? Well, reality, of course! It's all about "developing while doing" AND "creating while connecting"... David Sluss - Leading@Scale Chair Professor - will present theory and evidence as a distinguished speaker at the Leadcog's (www.leadcog.net) Academy of Management caucus on Navigating Leadership Development. [If you are interested in a summary of his remarks, DM us and we will send a summary shortly after the talk.] Nicolas Landrin Yann Motte Virginie de MAUPEOU Bertrand Stephann Valerie Daoud Henderson Charles Doxuan François Roth Romain Delebecque Jean-Michel Deligny Philippe Notton Carolina Angulo Laure Perfetti Philippe Makowski Jean-Christophe Braun Patricia Braun

🚀 Scaleup leaders 💥 – Do you need a senior hire but cannot commit full-time resources (yet)? Fractional C-suite leaders may be the way to go… Great HBR article providing guidance on how to make it happen! Agile scaleup organizing at its best… 3 conversations for building effective fractional leadership arrangements: 1. Start with the work, not the role… (let the tasks inspire agility in the role)… 2. Ensure a good fit (not just for YOU as the scaleup leader but the rest of the team as well)… 3. Maintain an effective relationship… (don’t just leave the “new” leader on their own) #leadershipdevelopment #fractionalleaders #scaleup #growthmindset Nicolas Landrin Virginie de MAUPEOU Bertrand Stephann Valerie Daoud Henderson Charles Doxuan François Roth Romain Delebecque Jean-Michel Deligny Philippe Notton Carolina Angulo Laure Perfetti Philippe Makowski Jean-Christophe Braun Patricia Braun https://lnkd.in/dR3c2ZKP

LEADING@SCALE INSIGHT – Imposter syndrome can strike anyone at any time. Scaleups tend to hire ambitious leaders. These new scaleup leaders are under pressure to prove their capabilities, avoid failure, and develop their leadership exponentially – exacerbating feelings of inadequacy. In short, scaleup leaders feel sooner or later like "imposters" which eats into much needed confidence and energy during the scaling phase. Here are four key ways – translated for scaleup leaders – to better "deal with" the imposter syndrome: 1. Remind yourself what YOU bring to the organization. They NEED you.   2. Get a mentor (within another scaleup) from whom get advice. 3. Accept that you have the responsibility and privilege to set an example. 4. Great leaders focus on process (as well as content) - which includes how your peers do their work (again, process is key). https://lnkd.in/daq3cWia #scaleup #leadershipdevelopment #growthmindset Nicolas Landrin Virginie de MAUPEOU Bertrand Stephann Valerie Daoud Henderson Charles Doxuan Francois Roth Romain Delebecque Jean-Michel Deligny Philippe Notton Carolina Angulo Laure Perfetti Philippe Makowski Jean-Christophe Braun Patricia Braun Raphaelle d'Ornano Lauren Goodenough Yann Cramer

Long-term REAL growth takes multiple paths! (And HINT, it isn’t linear either…) CHAIR LEARNING EXPEDITION to Amsterdam – Report #2 Rich learnings and panoramic perspectives on the Amsterdam startup and scaleup ecosystem. What did we learn? - Scaling for the long-term requires “smart scaling.” Otrium's Paul A. provided such a compelling story for how scaling for the long-term requires disciplined, focused, and smart growth – rather than growth at all costs. This “soonicorn” has a bright (and sustainable) future! Then, we visited VU StartHub. Three advanced-stage startups with different growth strategies… - BeeGrateful. Super neat social impact startup that focuses on replenishing urban biodiversity (via Bee Hotels). What is their growth strategy? Strength in their project volunteers… Zoe van Helvoirt, Florence van Haastrecht. - Bamboi. B-corp providing sustainable hygiene to consumers and businesses. What is their growth strategy? Building alliances (e.g., manufacturing, sales, distribution) for growth (thus keeping a VERY small internal team)… Joseph Nickisch - Datacation. Cool name and even cooler data transformation consultancy. What is their growth strategy? Building deep relationships within their markets rather than internationalizing… Nina Krommedijk Thank you to Axel Blaauw of Austral Education Group for the assist! A special shoutout to Mohith Majety for the photos! #scaleup #leadershipdevelopment #scalingup #hypergrowth Nicolas Landrin Virginie de MAUPEOU Bertrand Stephann Valerie Daoud Henderson Charles Doxuan Francois Roth Romain Delebecque Jean-Michel Deligny Philippe Notton Carolina Angulo Laure Perfetti Philippe Makowski Jean-Christophe Braun Patricia Braun Raphaelle d'Ornano Lauren Goodenough Yann Cramer

It takes a “village to raise a child” OR an “ecosystem to scale a venture”… CHAIR LEARNING EXPEDITION to Amsterdam – Report #1 Rich learnings and panoramic perspectives on the Amsterdam startup and scaleup ecosystem. What did we learn? 1. Focused and durable “first clients” can be key to sustained growth. Thanks to Cornelia Dinca from Amsterdam Economic Board, we learned how public-private partnerships provide a platform upon which to build and then scale a new venture. 2. Corporate venturing is difficult but doable. How about starting and scaling from within a corporation? We had two wonderful learnings. First, we surveyed a caveat-filled case study – thanks to Rienk Franken (BlueMind Company) – showing that incentive (both internal and external) alignment is KEY! Second, we were in awe of Matthieu Bodin from Mach49 to see how corporate venturing building is really done. What an amazing process! Incubators could learn a lot from their process… 3. Scaleups reap rewards from using executive recruiters. Yes, you heard us correctly. Thanks to Marinka de Groot of Olivi.Growth, we learned how utilizing executive search firms for scaleup talent may accelerate the frequency and – more importantly – the fit of hiring success. More detailed reports to come from Amsterdam Learning Expedition. Stay tuned! #scaleup #leadershipdevelopment #scalingup #hypergrowth Nicolas Landrin Virginie de MAUPEOU Bertrand Stephann Valerie Daoud Henderson Charles Doxuan Francois Roth Romain Delebecque Chloé Poisbeau Cantelli Jean-Michel Deligny Philippe Notton Carolina Angulo Laure Perfetti Philippe Makowski Jean-Christophe Braun Patricia Braun Raphaelle d'Ornano Lauren Goodenough Yann Cramer

Scaling up the organization as you scale your business.... Thank you Philippe Notton, CEO of SiPearl, for taking our "chair fellows" on your SiPearl "growth journey" retrospective....   Key lessons: 1. Take the time to hire the right people for key positions - and you might need to hire a "fractional" leader (or consultant) first to get things moving... 2. There seems to be a specific sequence for building out key functions - and specific each scaleup... 3. That said, one of the first hires should be HR - especially for DeepTech...   #leadershipdevelopment #growthmindset #scaleup

Searching for evidence-based insights on scaling? Don't miss "evidence day" at Scaleup Week (out of Alberta Innovates). An international scope of speakers! David Sluss will be sharing latest evidence-based insights on how leading within scaleups is distinct than both startups and more mature organizations. Leading for hyper-growth is indeed a different "ball game"! Join him and many other thought leaders and researchers to learn more.... #scaleup #leadershipdevelopment #scalingup #hypergrowth Nicolas Landrin Virginie de MAUPEOU Bertrand Stephann Valerie Daoud Henderson Charles Doxuan Francois Roth Romain Delebecque Chloé Poisbeau Cantelli Jean-Michel Deligny Philippe Notton Carolina Angulo Laure Perfetti Philippe Makowski Jean-Christophe Braun Patricia Braun Raphaelle d'Ornano Lauren Goodenough Yann Cramer European Scaleup Institute Veroniek Collewaert (she/her) Dr. Simon Raby, Ph.D.

“Want to grow your scaleup’s culture to be a strategic competitive advantage? Ask 2.5 existential questions: (1) Who are we? (What makes us distinctive?) & (2) What do we value? Forget the ping pong tables and sleep pods… Focus on what makes YOU… well, YOU! Scaleup leaders should know the ABCs of growing their distinctive culture. Make sure your culture is: Articulated, Behavioral, and Conscious… Know what you stand for and THEN put it front and center in your employee value proposition. Then, and only then, will you attract, develop, and retain talent that align! ” David Sluss shared these research insights with the chair’s partners, honored guests, and chair fellows at our 2024 Scaleup Learning Meetup… Wonderful venure, crisp learnings, and great networking… #scaleup #leadershipdevelopment #scalingup #hypergrowth Nicolas Landrin Virginie de MAUPEOU Bertrand Stephann Valerie Daoud Henderson Charles Doxuan Francois Roth Romain Delebecque Chloé Poisbeau Cantelli Jean-Michel Deligny Philippe Notton Carolina Angulo Laure Perfetti Philippe Makowski Jean-Christophe Braun Patricia Braun Raphaelle d'Ornano Lauren Goodenough Yann Cramer