Leaders Are Made Not Born: Why Work Environments Matter

We tend to frame business success through the tales of those rare “born leaders,” and their revolutionary breakthroughs: Henry Ford develops the first assembly line, Coco Chanel bottles her No. 5, Steve Jobs unveils the iPhone.

Such notable men and women and their remarkable innovations are, of course, essential to both progress and profit. But business is ultimately built with many hands, working together. And success can arrive in unexpected ways.

To start with, I believe, no one is born a leader. Like carpentry or math or good manners, leadership is acquired through a mix of experiences, knowledge, nurturing and most of all deep willingness to develop learn and grow.

I came from a hard-working, modest background in a small village nearby Dijon in France. I was a committed student with humble ambitions, feeling fortunate to find an entry-level finance job at the French headquarters of Mars. Much of what I had heard in business school was that corporate environments in France could often be rigid and hierarchical, and that connections (which I didn’t have) still very much counted. What I found at Mars was something altogether different. Social status didn’t matter and discrimination based on age, race or gender was duly frowned upon. The atmosphere was open and informal: If you could get the job done, more responsibility would soon arrive. It was, and still is, a bona fide meritocracy.

Yet this kind of work environment doesn’t just happen by itself. The company has spent decades building the norms and structures to encourage its associates to thrive. And yes, it requires its leaders to lead accordingly. I have a distinct memory from my 20s of a passing exchange with my boss at the time, the CFO for Mars France. We had been working on budget plans and he looked up at me and said: “You could do my job.” In just a few words, he made me believe in myself in a way I never had before.

Eventually, I too would have the chance to take part in the company’s unique management philosophy. Our commitment to encouraging leadership as personal fulfillment has put Mars Inc. third in the global ranking of the 2018 World’s Best Work Places list. Eighty-three percent of associates called the company a “great place to work,” 91% said “people here are given a lot of responsibility.” Among the most frequently cited words to describe the company were “opportunity,” “principles” and “people”.

Indeed, as part of the Mars family, Royal Canin works to be sure that every associate knows that they’re the master of their destiny, with the space to shift career trajectory and the encouragement to aspire to leadership roles.

Line managers are essential in seeking and fostering the leadership potential of the people on their team — as often as possible, working directly side-by-side with their colleagues. We believe in constant dialogue among our associates, based on a spirit of authenticity, ethics and fairness. Senior management regularly makes on-site visits to the local offices and facilities, as well as hosting informal and intimate lunch-and-learn events open to all associates, across sectors and up and down levels of seniority.

A focus for Royal Canin has been deepening our commitment to inclusion and diversity. And by this, I mean diversity beyond gender, race and nationality which are all important, but we also celebrate the diversity of thought. So many of our associates are from different backgrounds, and we value what their unique experiences bring to our company. We create the environment where everyone can bring their full self with all their strengths and do their best every day. We believe in fostering an environment where we can connect and seek out different perspectives to create value, to be authentic and enable us to experiment, learn and grow. When I began, admittedly, we were almost exclusively French men in the leadership team. Now we have seven nationalities and 4 women on our senior management team.

Still, the real work of management happens outside the boardroom. I was speaking last year at a casual event with two Russian women on our management who have been identified as “high-pos” (high-potential team members), and they were asking me questions about my career. Both are mothers of young children, and shared with me their concerns that family time pressures are bound to limit the growth of their respective career paths. I took this opportunity to reiterate that at Mars and Royal Canin, you have the possibility to blaze your own path while being successful at work and at home. We are an organization that encourages associates to build successful careers while at the same promoting work-life balance. We intentionally provide associates the benefits and adapted solutions to enable them to not sacrifice their families for success in the office. You can be a senior leader and also have young children.

I am proud of the company that I lead, and just like the advice I received many years ago, I want each member of our team to know that if they want, “they too can do my job one day”.