It started with the famous British Anthropologist and Ethologist (specialist in animal behaviours, chimpanzees in her case), Jane Goodall. Desperate in front of our collective passivity, she voiced that terrifying prediction: “The Greatest Danger to our Future is Apathy!”

Today, when starting to look for inspiration, I came across a comment from a great Brazilian mentor, Saul Faingaus BEKIN, bringing to my knowledge a remark from Fredrico Wickert, Chairman Brazil from Vistage (the largest coaching organisation in the World) on an insightful article published by his colleague, running Vistage in Spain, Conor Neill. I love this small World of synchronicities… And Conor Neill’s video article was referring to Jane Goodall’s warning about apathy. I found it inspiring.

Back to 1988, our O.B. professor at IMD, Chris Parker, with whom I co-authored our book, Engaging Leadership, was already claiming that “Leaders take a stand to make things happen, which wouldn’t have happened otherwise”,

Since a few months, in France, a word seems to have re-gained traction: Intentionality (Intentionnalité). French philosopher, Jean-Paul Sartre saw it as “A necessity for Consciousness to exist as the Consciousness of something bigger than ourself, Husserl (an Austrian philosopher) calls it Intentionality”. I hear it from clients as well as from my partners. I like the sound of it: doing things out of intentionality means with determination and a clear Purpose.

An aspect of Corporate culture that we are very attentive to, is the sort of fake harmony between people, which we renamed “Benevolent Neutrality”. I am frequently asked, in our seminars, What is wrong with Benevolent Neutrality?

• Being benevolent is not an issue. Often, it is one of the  first steps towards creating Psychological Safety. But just being benevolent may create a culture of avoidance, fear of speaking-up and addressing issues openly as well as  tolerance for underperformance.
• Being neutral is a silent and rampant disease. It suggests a culture where it is OK to notice another colleague or department suffering, but turning our face on the opposite side, under the pretence that “we should mind our own business”. Neutral cultures focus on “not making waves” and keeping a false harmony.
• Whereas, Engagement is precisely about “minding other people’s business”, daring to call for help and being sensitive to such signals, coming from others
• Partnership means a clear understanding that no one will win alone and that there is a tight interdependency and that competition is outside, not inside. A Partnership culture typically distinguishes itself by being “High Support” (or Benevolence) and “High Challenge” (Demanding)
• I frequently beg my partners and clients to understand that when I challenge them, this should be seen as a sign of engagement…

Joseph Campbell, the famous mythology Professor, who, after studying hundreds of Myths around the Worlds, realised that all of them had so much in common that he labelled them “The Hero’s Journey”. And what makes Hero/ins different to the rest of the population is that they are moved, engaged and motivated by a Deep Intent. The Deep Intent is your Life’s Purpose, why you are living… This past Friday, I was woken up by the horrendous news about the sudden and incomprehensible death of the two Italian nephews of one of my best Friends, killed in an avalanche in Sweden as they were duly off-piste skiing (with a guide, weather reports, the right safety material etc.) After the terrible shock, and thoughts for those they were leaving behind, my Deep Intent emerged: Didier, as a ski instructor, how many times did you not go, carefully, skiing off-piste. This could have happened to you so many times… If you are alive today, it probably mean you had other great things to achieve, in the name of your Deep Intent…

Where does this all take us, when referring to you, Business Leaders? Dr. Goodall is right: Apathy is the greatest danger to our Future (as a race), in the same manner that Neutrality is lethal to business and non-Intentionality or a lack of consciousness about our Deep Intent annihilate our Raison d’Être…

When mentioning the three levers of engagement…

• Logos (intellectual lever): Co-creating Clarity, Meaning and Ownership
• Ethos (behavioural lever): Engaging through exemplarity and walking the talk of our Values
• Pathos (emotional lever): Bringing our people “from Intention to Action” by aligning emotions and rationale

… Pathos is exactly about declining at the Social (refusing Apathy, addressing a social issue), Organisational (Neutrality… kills) and Personal (be Intentional) to generate passionate engagement

Let us reject Apathy in our Leadership practice. Enjoy the ride!