This picture was designed with the help of ChatGPT

 

At first sight, there isn’t much in common between a) Tunisia born Science-Po and Polytechnique Professor, Dr. Asma Mhalla, b) ex-model, European Union official and coach, Congo born Claude Tambwe, c) Franco-Vietnamese, 1st woman graduating from the French Naval Academy, Nuclear engineer, responsible for the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle front reactor and Leadership adviser, Marie-Emmanuelle Py, d) Franco-Swiss Julien Levy, Brand strategist, former Marketing Digital & Branding Communication Director for the World’s leading Perfume & Fragrance enterprise, DSM-Firmenich, who is also a true Zen Monk and draws incredible parallels, during his public speeches, between the elegant Japanese art of Shibumi and the way of leading in harmony in the Disruption Economy, e) Singapore based, Kenneth Tan, a highly successful President for Varian, the world’s leader in radiotherapy (against cancer), who was in charge of the APAC zone, and decided one day to leave the “Rat Race” (as Bob Marley called it…) to carefully pick who he would collaborate with and dedicate his passion and energy to a cause he is heavily funding (allowing isolated elderly people to peacefully pass away at home), f) Dr. Michael Steinmetz, an Austrian, Client Partner with a Leadership Advisory Firm, author of a book whose title says it all : “Decoding Leadership Bullshit” and g) Belgian Nick van Heck, Behavioural strategist and founder of a best friend firm, ELP Network with whom I have regularly been working for the past 20 years. Over 10 years ago, Nick was the first one to draw my attention of the lethal emergence of polarity, for Mankind…

Very little in common between them, indeed; Most of them do not know each other but, in a space of three weeks, meeting them, speaking with them or reading them acted as one of the best Futurist work, I ever was confronted with! And, because I find it quite fundamental, I chose to share it with you, who kindly still invest time in reading me 😉

It all started with a recommendation to read Asma Mhalla’s new book “Cyberpunk” (in French only, at the time of writing this article). It triggered my attention and was received with relief: “Finally a deep analysis of what we see confusedly happening, without fully grasping it”. Alma Mhalla acted as a “Revelation” to me. With the help of A.I. to summarise her rich thoughts, Asma Mhalla explains that:

1. We are witnessing the emergence of a hybrid techno-political regime, a new form of totalitarian-type power: a regime that is hybrid, combining the traditional state (“Big State”) with the digital/tech corporations (“Big Tech”).
2. The way to impose this new “regime” is through what Mhalla labels “cognitive totalitarianism”: No use of brute force, but rather attention manipulation, perception shaping and programmed behaviours, and this through:

Post-truth (where truth is not established by evidence but by being repeated or integrated into the flow of communication).

Post-legalism (where the democratic/institutional frameworks remain but are hollowed out or bypassed).

Saturation of information / algorithmic filtering (which isolates individuals in attention bubbles, making resistance harder). Thus, the power functions via code, data, network, attention and no longer purely via laws, ideology, or brute coercion.

But professor Mhalla goes further than her geopolitical analysis (which is rare for a Science PO/Polytechnique Professor…): she also suggests ways forward in the form of reclaiming our human autonomy: the need to reclaim attention, to exercise individual freedom, to “think, laugh, breathe, shut the screens” in order to retain our humanity. The call is for cognitive self-defence: recognising the architecture of the new regime, refusing to become passive nodes in it, and cultivating basic human practices (presence, sensoriality, reflection) as counter-measures.

A little time after exploring Asma Mhalla‘s thoughts, I had the chance to be contacted by an executive for whom I have a deep respect and admiration, Kenneth Tan. When we first e-met, he was President APAC & Japan for Varian. When he chose to leave, a world of job opportunities instantaneously were offered to him (including with the Enablers, of course). Kindly and firmly, Kenneth chose to be loyal to how his LinkedIn page describes him: a Global Healthcare Executive dedicated to Purpose-Centred Living and to empower executives who strive to measure their Life and Work differently. He joined an Executive Search firm, he has carefully selected and spends most of his time and energy raising funds for the NGO he created, “The Miracle Mile Fund: Inspiring individuals to embrace purposeful and fearless ageing while celebrating freedom and personal fulfilment.” Kenneth chose to regain control of his life…

A few days later I was intrigued to be invited to an informal, non-business related and… “curiosity-based” conversation, with a partner of a serious Zurich based H.R. Consultancy. Michael Steinmetz made it very clear that he just wanted to explore, be curious, learn (I entered in panic, what could I bring to a man of his level of experience?😉) So we spoke, and Michael argued that loneliness isn’t confined to those “at the top” but is widespread due to a broader crisis of connection—with oneself and with others. This disconnection fuels collective dependence on “saviours,” where emotional bonds override rational judgment. He then reflected on power and powerlessness, noting that while power is often viewed negatively, powerlessness is even more dangerous. He mentioned individuals have chosen to step outside power structures to seek personal meaning and help others individually, acknowledging that while this won’t change society at large, it does make a positive difference on a personal level.

A few days ago, Julien was invited by Marie-Emmanuelle (they are both partners in the Enablers Network) to enlighten his audience in the very special “Atelier” (workshop) she has built to facilitate intimate and Psychologically Safe interactions between her clients. Julien, whom I had known as a successful executive in Firmenich, had found another meaningful path to follow in his life and turned into a Zen monk and executive coach. The key lessons he drew, applying ancestral Japanese cultivation of aesthetics,  Shibumi (or Shibui) to modern times leadership were:

• Simplification requires a huge courage, do not fear what you might be missing
• To accept doesn’t mean to approve, but to acknowledge what exists
• Tranquillity is the courage to pause before deciding
• Forget Perfection, be satisfied with Excellence

Unusual themes in the mouth of a Marketing/Branding wizard, deeply impressing a Nuclear Engineer…

Yesterday, I called an admired friend, Nick van Heck. There was a great opportunity for us to work together again. After a short minute of reflexion, Nick’s answer was something like: Edutainment programs do not fit my Deep Intent any longer. If I work with clients, I don’t simply intend to teach them strategy, I want to profoundly impact and redesign the way the company “lives” strategy… From strategy to strategize, as you like to call it!” I was full of respect for his gentle and clear position: a man following his Deep Intent instead of seizing an apparent opportunity.

Finally this morning, the penny dropped. I was pulling the leg of another Enablers Network partner, Claude Tambwe, for taking more than a day to come back to me with an answer to what finally was a not so critical issue. Claude explained to me the journey she was going through: “I realised that I was a fully connected, hyper-reactive, networks dependent supermom, she said. I have decided to regain control of my life. I first chose to severely limit the time spent on social networks and stop measuring my audience. I chose not to react immediately to external, connected triggers. Being reactive had become slavery. I now opted for the Slow Life!!!”

Suddenly those six disconnected moments became linked:

• Maybe Dr. Asma Mhalla is right: there is a 1984 Orwellian destiny getting ready for us. Cultivating our awareness and capacity to recognise what may be going on is fundamental.
• Do we want to be the ball or the player anyway? Will we continue to indulge to our reactivity addiction or will we, clearly, restate what matters to us in life and leave all those unhealthy triggers on the side?
• Are we (another Prof. Mhalla observation) going to follow the rules of polarisation, reinforcing that there is a hateable “enemy” who makes it on purpose to think differently than us, on the other side of the table?
• Are we going take on the challenge of resistance and reclaim our human autonomy just like the people I mentioned have started to do?

Back in 2009, when I wrote my first article, I made it a rule never to enter the political nor religious fields in my work. I sincerely hope not to have crossed that line. My intentions are to share a formidable intuition, observation and, potentially, explanation of what is truly going on in our disrupted World and provide examples of high level professionals who, intuitively understood it and reacted accordingly. I sincerely hope it will have opened some eyes just as they opened mine.

Slowly enjoy your Leadership Journey!