An open door policy leads to an open mind: how to lead by listening

An Executive Chairman of a company is usually a very visible leader, but not always very accessible. There is of course the issue of proximity in a global company, with colleagues all around the world whilst the head of the company is based in one location; the assumed lack of time a senior leader has for BAU topics; and the hierarchy, as seniority can be perceived as a barrier by junior colleagues.

My own opinion is that to lead, you must know as much as possible about the people who make up the company. A company’s culture is built through its people, and the effectiveness of how people work together leads to the success of the company. How our colleagues behave is what makes people choose to join and stay at a company.?And how people think, and the opportunity we have as leaders to tap into that diversity of thought, is what leads to success.

As much as I like it when people agree with what I say, I do genuinely welcome being challenged. But not only by my Management Board colleagues and senior leadership team, excellent though they all are. I want to hear from everyone across the company about what they think of our company, because I firmly believe that it is the role of a leader to seek different perspectives, learn from the opinion of others, and bring all of the elements together to reach a successful outcome.

I like the analogy of flying a plane: there is a pilot leading operations, who is fully supported by their team, each of whom has individual responsibilities which contribute to the overall success of the flight. By everyone working together collectively and sharing their expertise, the plane takes off, flies safely, and lands on the runway as intended. Of course, diversity of thought leads to differences of opinion (especially in the business world!) and whilst discussion is good, eventually the plane does have to land before running out of fuel, and so the pilot ultimately has to be the one to make the final decisions around when, where and how to land the plane.

So leaders should embrace diversity of thought, although getting access to it is not always simple, especially from those more junior members of the company, for the reasons I mention above. The pandemic made things even more challenging as we all worked from home for a long time. Even though we have now mostly returned to the office, across the AXA Group we empower people to choose the days they come into the physical office so they are able to optimise their working day and their home life. So it’s not so frequent that I am able to have the opportunity to check in with my colleagues informally.

Of course we organise town hall meetings, where we encourage everyone to share their questions (either in advance – even anonymously – or during the event). Some people clearly enjoy this approach, but not everyone is keen to speak in front of a large crowd, understandably.

What I have found works very well, and personally what I really appreciate, are small meetings with only ten or so colleagues. Alongside a member of my Management Board team, we take the time to discuss the company’s strategy and latest news, and spend time answering questions from the team. I find it to be a very inspiring way to hear from colleagues I would not usually have the chance to speak to, and I am always deeply thankful to each of them who takes the time to join us.

So I firmly encourage each of my colleagues to believe me when I say I do have an open door policy, and even if they are not based in the same office as me they can email or call me to discuss our?business. And I encourage my fellow executives to do the same – remember, it’s a team who flies the plane!