Driven by our constant desire to improve, we took enlightening training on modern leadership.

Leadership is an abstract concept with tangible effects for a company. It’s not something learned in school, but a mindset that develops. After having clarified our internal structure and engaged senior members in management positions, we wanted to learn from the best to better equip ourselves on the topic. This desire and these changes are rooted in our guiding values: passion, curiosity, collaboration, leadership, and balance.

This is why we called on a team that is passionate about the issue, Héritage Champagne. Sisters and cofounders Rosalie and Valérie Champagne were able to identify our needs and support us in our growth.

Cultivating modern leadership

Leadership transcends the boundaries of titles and responsibilities. An inclusive approach encourages a concrete transformation of practices. In this spirit, a series of five workshops were designed and ultimately offered to the entire team rather than a select small group.

These meetings were the bright spot in most of our Fridays in October and November. The bleakness of this season was replaced by the pleasure of self-discovery and learning to better pool our respective strengths, sensitivities, and skills.

“Our intention was to truly ground the training in modern leadership, to bring very current concepts of collective intelligence, empathy at work, resilience, adaptability, cyclicity, and the contribution of nature to organizational dynamics. The idea was to go beyond management to offer a more holistic vision aligned with today’s realities.” — Valérie Champagne, Héritage Champagne partner and co-founder

The value of collective intelligence and other important concepts

Focusing on diverse perspectives and complementary strengths leads to the richest ideas and lasting transformations. As Euripides so powerfully said, ​“None of us knows what we all know together.”
 

Our vocabulary and our journey were enriched through discussions, individual exercises, team activities, and presentations. 

A first practical workshop illuminated the collective intelligence dynamic. In an exercise known as ​“decision-making hot seat,” a senior colleague was presented with a planning problem and given five seconds to respond before seeking the other group members’ advice and formulating a final answer. The activity showed that we can use intuition to make quick decisions informed by experience. For its part, team input serves to ensure that solutions are relevant and effective.

Each session covered a different facet of leadership — ecology of knowledge; modern expectations; a culture of discussion, change, and innovation. We learned more about each other through discussions. This openness naturally strengthened our bond. 
 

Valérie Champagne, co-founder of Héritage Champagne

​“It’s a hyper engaged team. […] One of the first things we noticed was that there was already a very well-established level of psychological safety, which meant that sharing was a fluid process.” 

We took a few steps outside our comfort zone and the office. We shaped clay to try to illustrate abstract concepts. We also took a break from the everyday routine to enjoy a forest bath on Mont-Royal. In this setting, we learned about regenerative leadership, which identifies nature as a source of inspiration for our organizations.

This training left its mark on our journeys, as individuals and as a group. We are more aware of the value of our interpersonal relationships and the importance of measuring the difference in our mechanisms for managing stress and challenges. Understanding this is the key to a genuinely caring environment. 

André Gatien, Project Director

“Since the workshops, I’ve noticed an acceleration in the integration of new tools and process improvement. Tasks are assigned based on individual strengths and interests, team organization is optimized, and efficiency is enhanced.” 

We are far from considering ourselves experts on this topic, but we have added valuable resources to our toolkit. Our journey continues with a deeper understanding of what unites us. By combining our differences, innovation, longevity, and caring are our guiding stars.