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A study highlights the importance of humility as a fundamental characteristic of successful leaders. In an ever-changing world, this quality is becoming increasingly valuable. To progress effectively, it is essential to learn to listen, to remain humble, to question oneself and to make impactful decisions. Nathalie Balla, former CEO of La Redoute, perfectly embodies these principles. Thanks to her skills, resilience and team spirit, she was able to breathe new life into La Redoute when few still believed in its future.
Anecdote: La Redoute could have bowed out in 2014, but Nathalie Balla and Eric Courteille refused to give up. Convincing the founder of the Kering group with their transformation plan, the group bought the company for a symbolic €1. In just 6 years, they transformed the company, increasing La Redoute's online sales from 55% to 90%! Proof that so-called traditional companies also have the potential to digitize, and that it's not just start-ups that have this ability!
Digital transformation required close collaboration between all employees. This was no easy task for a 183-year-old company with well-established divisions within the various business units. But Nathalie Balla was able to set up interdisciplinary working groups to tackle the major challenges.
Discussion committees" were set up to maintain a proper understanding of the issues. Faced with a fast-changing company with thousands of employees, managers were finding it difficult to stay connected to employees in the field.
The solution? Hold quarterly meetings with middle managers to discuss future challenges and new solutions.
"Together we are stronger." Periods of change have prompted La Redoute's managers to stimulate their teams' creativity to maintain their commitment. To achieve this, they offered every employee the opportunity to become a shareholder in the company and participate in the transformation - an unusual move for a company with over 3,000 employees.
Say what you're going to do, do what you've said and share what you've achieved. Imagine yourself in a company on the brink of bankruptcy, where employees fear they'll be laid off one by one, and managers take over the reins for a symbolic €1 with the promise of turning things around within 4 years. Establishing trust in such a context was no mean feat, and Nathalie Balla succeeded in creating genuine transparency. This meant providing employees with full information on past, present and future projects.
As change is a stressful time, Nathalie Balla decided to involve employees in the development of the brand's values to make this transition smoother.
After such a transformation, Nathalie Balla firmly believes in the power of collective intelligence. An article on her LinkedIn page testifies to this: "If, at the start of the crisis, leadership necessarily had to be more hierarchical and decisions more centralized, once the crisis was over, it was essential to rely on the power of collective intelligence: our employees increased their creativity to design new solutions and find new sources of revenue."
A study highlights the importance of humility as a fundamental characteristic of successful leaders. In an ever-changing world, this quality is becoming increasingly valuable. To progress effectively, it is essential to learn to listen, to remain humble, to question oneself and to make impactful decisions. Nathalie Balla, former CEO of La Redoute, perfectly embodies these principles. Thanks to her skills, resilience and team spirit, she was able to breathe new life into La Redoute when few still believed in its future.
Anecdote: La Redoute could have bowed out in 2014, but Nathalie Balla and Eric Courteille refused to give up. Convincing the founder of the Kering group with their transformation plan, the group bought the company for a symbolic €1. In just 6 years, they transformed the company, increasing La Redoute's online sales from 55% to 90%! Proof that so-called traditional companies also have the potential to digitize, and that it's not just start-ups that have this ability!
Digital transformation required close collaboration between all employees. This was no easy task for a 183-year-old company with well-established divisions within the various business units. But Nathalie Balla was able to set up interdisciplinary working groups to tackle the major challenges.
Discussion committees" were set up to maintain a proper understanding of the issues. Faced with a fast-changing company with thousands of employees, managers were finding it difficult to stay connected to employees in the field.
The solution? Hold quarterly meetings with middle managers to discuss future challenges and new solutions.
"Together we are stronger." Periods of change have prompted La Redoute's managers to stimulate their teams' creativity to maintain their commitment. To achieve this, they offered every employee the opportunity to become a shareholder in the company and participate in the transformation - an unusual move for a company with over 3,000 employees.
Say what you're going to do, do what you've said and share what you've achieved. Imagine yourself in a company on the brink of bankruptcy, where employees fear they'll be laid off one by one, and managers take over the reins for a symbolic €1 with the promise of turning things around within 4 years. Establishing trust in such a context was no mean feat, and Nathalie Balla succeeded in creating genuine transparency. This meant providing employees with full information on past, present and future projects.
As change is a stressful time, Nathalie Balla decided to involve employees in the development of the brand's values to make this transition smoother.
After such a transformation, Nathalie Balla firmly believes in the power of collective intelligence. An article on her LinkedIn page testifies to this: "If, at the start of the crisis, leadership necessarily had to be more hierarchical and decisions more centralized, once the crisis was over, it was essential to rely on the power of collective intelligence: our employees increased their creativity to design new solutions and find new sources of revenue."
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