CEO: to be or not to be!

This article is the second in a series. Its intention is to inspire and lead as many organisations as possible down the path of the ''living'' company. Each article will explore a specific dimension of how a living system works. To do so, we will humbly start from what we know, namely AXA Climate. Thankfully, several other companies have already started the same journey.

What we have noticed in companies

The Chief “X” Officer is trending, and this trend is especially expressed in the Shakespearean language. Operation, Growth, People, Revenues, Finance... the value of these missions is evident because they are all synonymous with expertise. For example, a company's CFO is naturally the expert in terms of corporate finance. No one would think of appointing a marketing specialist as CFO. Only one Chief “X” Officer is unconcerned by this rule, and that's the one at the top of the pyramid. The Chief Executive Officer, whose expertise, according to the title, is to manage the 'executive', i.e., coordinating the experts we mentioned previously. And that's where the problem lies!

Because the term "Executive" does not cover anything in particular, the CEO does what he can with his given qualities. He's often appointed among the other Chief X Officers. If he is a former CMO, he will probably drive a customer-oriented strategy. A former CFO will focus more on cost control... In most companies, at the very top of the pyramid, the CEO is expected to command, orchestrate, and execute a corporate strategy, validated by his investors, and cascaded throughout the organisation using numerous Executive Committees and Management Committees. Assigned a mission of continuous control, exercised from the top down, and faced with the need to have answers for everyone, the CEO is on the front line. The larger and more complex the organisation, the more difficult it is for the CEO to execute his strategy, leading to a paradoxical feeling of frustration and powerlessness, even though he is in the best position (to supposedly) change things.

In a previous article, we saw the profound limits of a mechanically organised company to meet climate and environmental challenges and the ability to adapt continuously. The Chief Executive Officer is one of the main cogs in the wheel. Therefore, let's give the CEO a new mission. A mission that is more precise and adapted to today's challenges.

What we can learn from the living

Let's have a look at the forest ecosystem: everything is connected. It's a continuum of interconnected systems. There's no centre, no conductor to organise the entire system.

Plants and trees use mineral nutrients, air, water, and sunlight to make their organic matter. Herbivores feed on this, and predators feed on them and so on… When they die, their organic matter is recycled into the mineral matter, and the loop is closed.

Living systems, both on a microscopic and macroscopic scale, distribute resources and decision-making power in a balanced way at the finest, most local level. Each entity has a precise mission, like our CFO, CMO, or other COO. There's no place for entities with vague missions that centralise or monitor other entities' missions are carried out correctly.

A living system cannot be controlled in a top-down mode. It does not follow the will of one, even if he is the king of the jungle at the top of the food pyramid. It's made up of multiple feedback loops that are dynamically and continuously interconnected.

Regenerating companies

For companies to succeed in their continuous adaptation, they must become living systems, and follow the laws that apply to them. This movement is what we call?#regeneration.

It affects all aspects of the enterprise, from its business model and its offerings to its culture and organisation. All of which require regeneration.

Companies become the ecosystems that allows each of the living systems that constitute it (employees, shareholders, customers, suppliers, local communities, the earth with its natural resources, etc.) to develop their full potential and to grow with it.?A regenerated company is not viewed through an organisational chart and the lens of control, but through an ecosystem and the lens of vitality.

This, in turn, affects the CEO's mission. They are no longer there to execute a strategy or command a team, to directly impact the results. They act on all the conditions necessary for all teams to develop, following their purpose and mission. Therefore, they act indirectly.

Their expertise is the knowledge of living systems and their principles. It's put into practice through the ability to sense a company's well-being with finesse and support its evolution by acting on its pain points. How are the relationships between teams? What are the feedback loops between them? What is emerging, and what needs to be protected?...

Culture thus becomes its credo. Because vision, purpose, values, rituals, and a collective impact become a company's best allies to avoid chaos and to guide the organisation forward.

Therefore, a single CEO's purpose can be profoundly questioned: it's no longer the ego that leads. It's the humility of being at the service of a collective movement, much bigger than oneself. They no longer take pride in being the one who 'climbed the entire pyramid' but in encouraging the emergence of a collective.

If we were to find a name for his new mission, it would be Chief Ecosystem Officer. Admittedly, such an assignment does not exist in other living systems, but the company's organisation justifies it, at the beginning of the journey.

Drawing inspiration from a concrete achievement

At AXA Climate, our Chief Ecosystem Officer explained from the start the 4 pillars (culture, business plan, shareholder, geographical expansion) over which he has decision-making authority. These decisions take up roughly 20% of his time. The rest of his time is dedicated to support teams and the organisation.

He does not have an Executive Committee, Management Committee, or even regular 1to1s. These moments irresistibly recreate reporting reflexes; therefore, considerable energy is lost in the process.

Instead, key information about AXA Climate is communicated transparently with no intermediaries to avoid "on the line" friction through weekly one-hour meetings that are accessible to all.?

Like any other employee, he addresses deviations from the company culture, values, and rituals as soon as he perceives it.

Because it is highly linked to the notion of power, he gradually withdraws himself from employee compensation based on individual skills acquisition and shares this assessment with a group of employees for greater justice and consistency.

Our organisation is made up of 3 ecosystems (insurance, consulting, training) and about 50 domains. Every 4 months, each ecosystem and each department's vitality and efficiency are assessed: some domains emerge, and others disappear. AXA Climate, just like a living entity, is constantly adapting and evolving. The CEO assists the ecosystem and domain leaders in this evolutionary system.

To stay connected with the organisation, detect signs of weakness, and develop his awareness, our Chief Ecosystem Officer tries to multiply incidental interactions with a maximum number of employees throughout the week. Over time, these interactions have become his main occupation. 'Sense & Response' has replaced 'Command & Control'.

In a living company, just like the other Chief X Officers, the CEO has a specific and complementary expertise: the knowledge of living systems and their principles.

To be continued!