For many years now, I've been lucky enough to be teaching leadership at the HEC in Paris. This is a real opportunity for a manager. It allows me to stay in contact with young people and more broadly, with all those women and men, who decide to go back to school to improve their knowledge or simply for a personal challenge. It's also an effective way of keeping up-to-date on the latest theories and trends in ideas and practices in this field of study that has always fascinated me.

1. Loyalty, an essential value for a leader
For many years now, I've been lucky enough to be teaching leadership at the
HEC in Paris. This is a real opportunity for a manager. It allows me to stay in
contact with young people and more broadly, with all those women and men,
who decide to go back to school to improve their knowledge or simply for a
personal challenge. It's also an effective way of keeping up-to-date on the
latest theories and trends in ideas and practices in this field of study that has
always fascinated me.
A few months ago, a student, having learned much from his first professional
experience, asked me the following question: "I have perfectly understood
what makes a leader. You particularly insisted on the importance of courage.
Is this the most important quality you take into consideration before making a
nomination?"
I replied in a synthetic way: "First of all, a leader is the one who has a vision
and who decides the speed it is to be implemented. He (or she) will therefore
set the pace and give rhythm to the action. He believes in himself and in the
future. He is reasonably optimistic. He sets ambitious objectives for everyone
and helps those who follow him to believe in themselves. He is a team player
and develops an extraordinary ability to listen. In reality, he has many, many
intrinsic qualities. He has a sense of reality, is genuine, controls his emotions
without curbing them, has a highly developed relational intelligence, and
shows great humility and an irreproachable code of ethics in all
circumstances. He is also and above all courageous. Nowadays, cowardice is
not acceptable. So, yes, I regard courage as a determining factor. However,
managerial ability is first measured through another characteristic …"

2. “A leader must have convictions and moral values”
I have always been utterly convinced that ambitious people must not be
confused with careerists. The former generally wants to move things forward,
while the latter thinks only of themselves and never work as part of a team. I
have esteem for the former, and reservations — to put it mildly — about the
latter. A leader must have convictions and moral values. This is often
incompatible with a hardline careerist agenda: moral values could be
sacrificed for recognition or even better, for a promotion. This is why I have
always taken "loyalty" into account. This is the characteristic that I mentioned
earlier and which is, in my opinion, a condition that is necessary, although not
sufficient, when considering making changes.
In loyalty, there is the desire to honor one's commitments, whether this serves
one's own interests or not. You can talk about faithfulness or a sense of
responsibility, although these notions are not exactly equivalent. Loyalty also
goes hand in hand with consistency and duration. In fact, it's easy to be loyal
for a while, but more difficult over a very long period.
Loyalty — a moral quality — consists in not betraying those you are supposed
to be serving, those who once placed their trust in us. If there is
disagreement, a sense of honor should dictate that we express this and

3. accept our responsibilities. Otherwise, it is advisable to remain aligned and
join forces with the others.
“Being loyal is to have a sense of honor and a sense of
the group”
However, it's not a question of accepting everything. It is never a question of
doing what could be judged as unacceptable. The fact of being committed to
saying or doing something does not justify being compromised in any way.
You must hold on to your critical sense and your free will, and make your
positions known. But advisedly and in the right way.
“Loyalty allows the wildest dreams”
In a management team — whether in business or in politics, lack of loyalty
has a high cost. It can lead to terrible disasters. It can create an ill-feeling in
the team, can cause problems, and is never well-received. Employees expect
their managers to behave differently. It's the same for citizens confronted with
ambiguous politicians. Conversely, when loyalty is present, it generates
confidence and adhesion, it enables the greatest difficulties to be faced, and
can bring the wildest dreams to life.