GETTING THE BOARD ON BOARD

Since all is uncertainty, it is high time we created desirable unknowns.?

?For several months now, we have been trying to understand the main obstacles to environmental performance within companies, as consultants concerned with climate issues. Our three teams, joined together in a complementary combination of expertise, set out to meet the first major witnesses of the difficulties in achieving sustainable transformation: managers. When asked about these difficulties, they almost unanimously mentioned the board of directors as a key body that needs to evolve in order to accelerate the necessary reinvention of business models. Over the past few months, we have therefore delved into the legal, political and organizational intricacies of this little-known but key body.??

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And over the course of our interviews, a major paradox emerged: the relationship with time.??

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This relationship to time is full of contradictions!?

The time horizon which makes it possible to think about, carry out and reap the economic benefits of sustainable transformation is a long one. However, the time horizon of the imperatives of annual profitability and shareholder dividends is a short one.??

The bold management of change that allows for both added value for the company and a reduced footprint for the planet is anticipatory and far ahead. The management of energy, financial and other constraints which constantly bring us back to the present moment, is reactionary and operational.??

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Thus, playing on both levels is a balancing act that boards of directors must perform, between vision and monitoring.??

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And in the face of these contradictory injunctions, the Board of Directors is also torn between the two.???

According to the definition in the New Economic Regulations Act, "the Board determines the direction of the company's activity and ensures that it is implemented". And as members of this board, the directors therefore make up a collegial body responsible for projecting the company's course and its long-term transformations far into the future, while at the same time monitoring and supporting good short-term management.???

And yet, there is no shortage of observations about the failure of boards of directors to think in the long term: "Most sustainable transformation initiatives die at board level", or "This is a very, very big topic. The role of the board of directors in sustainable transformation is absolutely crucial because today it’s pretty much the primary blockage", or "In my opinion, the board of directors plays almost no role in ensuring sustainable performance" are among the unambiguous statements made by the directors and executive managers we met.??

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Full steam ahead?

In the survey we have published, you will find numerous levers for changing the composition, behaviour and decisions of these governance bodies. But this article is a call for directors not to give in to the strategic chilliness that this uncertain context encourages us to adopt. Yes, the latest banking events are a call for caution. Yes, the energy system is far from stable. Admittedly, we have experienced milder political climates.??

But Rome wasn't built in a day, and especially not with the fear of the unknown.??

And perhaps it is time to revive the administrative figure that is more entrepreneurial than bureaucratic: "Reinventing the economic model to fit it within planetary limits requires bold transformations. We need an entrepreneurial spirit within the boards of directors to drive them forward," said one of the economic leaders we interviewed.??

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Ladies and gentlemen, full steam ahead!?

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Isabelle Grosmaitre, founder & CEO of Goodness & Co, Emmanuelle Duez, founder of The Boson Project and Dimitri Caudrelier, CEO of Quantis International?