Savoirs et Impact

Knowledge and Impact

The mission of the Leadership Institute is to collect and formalize knowledge and practices representative of conscientious leadership, and to share them with as many people as possible.

It brings together several emlyon researchers in the disciplines of Leadership and Strategy, united around a common desire to support managers and executives in the exercise of leadership in a period of model transition and major contextual ruptures.

These professors are also regularly involved in Executive Education, both in France and abroad. This “applied” dimension of their profile, combined with the research they carry out, enables them to be as close as possible to the challenges and needs of managers and executives. The research team regularly speaks out in the mainstream media (as with their series of columns in Les Echos, for example) or more specialized media (such as HBR online). They also publish books and host two conferences a year on these topics.

Conference cycle

The conferences organized by the Leadership Institute offer instances to discuss and embrace new leadership visions and practices. Their aim is to support managers and executives in the exercise of leadership in the context of limited planetary, collective and individual resources.

The 1st cycle was structured around a conference held in spring 2024 in Lyon and another in autumn 2024 in Paris. It brings together, around a guest, an audience of students, alumni, partners, companies and professors on emlyon business school campuses. Guests are leaders with inspiring backgrounds, implementing original visions aligned around the key challenge of global ecology.

View of an amphitheater at the emlyon Paris campus with many students seated in red chairs, attending a class or lecture.
Conference - « Leadership 2050 »: preparing today's managers for tomorrow's leadership », in Paris on April 9, 2026
 
In a constantly changing world where uncertainty is omnipresent, leaders are facing a deep crisis in the way they exercise leadership. In light of this, four experts in leadership and strategy have come together to redefine the contours of a leadership practice that is better suited to current and future challenges.
Today's and tomorrow's leaders are forced to adapt their practices, sometimes in bold ways, in order to open up new paths for overcoming the challenges that lie ahead. Adopting unique perspectives, the authors combine theories and concrete examples from visionary leaders, powerfully demonstrating that, facing an uncertain future, it is imperative for managers to reinvent their practices and their approach to leadership.
Conference: "Heading leadership 2050! Get ready today for tomorrow’s leadership", in Lyon on March 26, 2026
 
What if the real risk wasn't the chaos of the world, but our stubbornness in governing it with outdated leadership models? In an era of planetary limits, massive disengagement, and leaders running out of steam, the model of the controlling, solitary leader mainly produces strategic vacuums, failures... and exhaustion. It is essential to prepare today for the leadership of tomorrow, based on the Earth System, the strength of the collective, the power to act of teams, and the personal ecology of leaders.   
On the occasion of the release of the book “Leadership 2050,” co-authored by Thomas Gauthier, Tessa Melkonian, Thierry Nadisic, and Thierry Picq, the emlyon business school Leadership Institute invites you to an interactive conference to discuss these major issues. Let's set our sights on the leadership of tomorrow, which will be more sustainable, shared, energizing, and fulfilling!  
Le cœur battant d'emlyon business school
ecologie-personnelle-et-equilibre-energetique

Round Table: "Personal Ecology and Energy Balance," in Lyon on October 9, 2025
An evening during which two worlds met: Alice Modolo, vice-world champion in freediving and first French woman to surpass the symbolic 100-metre mark, and Yvan Launay, fighter pilot on Rafale in the Naval Aviation and base commander, met during a round table organised in partnership by Act4Talents, Lamy Lexel, the Apicil Group and the Leadership Institute of emlyon business school. The two speakers shared with us how they have developed their energy and emotional resources when facing pressure and risk, thus preserving their personal ecology.

Conference: Christopher Guérin, guest of the Leadership Institute on the topic "Leadership and New Futures: Moving in the Right Direction", in Lyon on March 17, 2025.

CEO of Nexans since 2018, Christopher Guérin has refocused the company on sustainable electrification. By reintroducing sobriety, he has designed a management model that integrates Economy, Environment, and Engagement (E3 model). Author of "Pour aller dans le bon sens, un nouveau modèle de management dans un monde en permacrise" ("Moving in the Right Direction: A New Management Model in a World in Permanent Crisis"), he is the guest of the Leadership Institute. He will share his vision of radically different leadership that opens up new, more sustainable pathways in response to today's and tomorrow's challenges. For the record, this conference will take place on our new campus, the former site of Nexans' Lyon factory.

Preview image for the gge video ""Leadership et nouveaux futurs : pour aller dans le bon sens​" | Conférence avec Christopher Guérin".
Preview image for the gge video "Leadership en contexte de haute performance​ | Table ronde avec Sarah Ourahmoune et Fabien Gilot".

Round Table « Leadership en contexte de haute performance : deux témoignages dans le monde du sport de haut niveau »  , in Paris on November 7, 2024

As part of the legacy of the 2024 Olympic Games, emlyon business school's Leadership Institute invites you to meet two immense multi-medal-winning French sports champions: Sarah Ourahmoune, Olympic boxing vice-champion in 2016 in Rio, and Fabien Gilot, Olympic swimming champion in 2012 in London. Both will talk about their incredible paths and explain how they overcame obstacles, transformed their sport and created new performance models. Not forgetting to tell us about the behind-the-scenes organization of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in which they were deeply involved. After opening words by Tessa Melkonian, Director of the Leadership Institute, the round table will be hosted by Thierry Picq and Tessa Melkonian, professors and members of the Leadership Institute's research collective.

Emmanuel Faber, first guest of the Leadership Institute on the topic "Une compétitivité écologique et sociale est-elle possible ?" (Is an ecological and social competitiveness possible?)

Former CEO of Danone, Emmanuel Faber is currently Chairman of the ISSB (International Sustainability Standards Board). A leader committed to the challenges of climate change and an avid mountaineer, he is also the author of several books, including “Ouvrir une voie”, published in 2022 by Paulsen. Emmanuel Faber spoke about his commitments and his vision of possible ways to build new futures. The debate was hosted by Thomas Gauthier, Associate Dean for Anthropocene Pedagogy at emlyon business school. The round table included Bertrand Valiorgue, Professor of Strategy and Corporate Governance, and Alice Castan, a student from emlyon business school's Programme Grande École (PGE).

Preview image for the gge video ""Une compétitivité écologique et sociale est-elle possible ?" Conférence avec Emmanuel Faber".

Articles

Les Echos 

  • Column 1
    by Thomas Gauthier, Tessa Melkonian, Thierry Nadisic and Thierry Picq. Les Echos. Février 2024.

« Leadership : explorer des futurs pluriels s'impose »

  • Column 3
    by Thierry Picq. Les Echos. Avril 2024.

« Du stade héroïque à une dimension partagée du leadership »

  • Column 4
    by Thierry Nadisic. Les Echos. Mai 2024

« Leadership à venir et pouvoir d'agir »

  • Column 5
    by Thomas Gauthier. Les Echos. Juillet 2024.

« Les dirigeants face aux limites planétaires »

  • Column 6
    by Thomas Gauthier, Tessa Melkonian, Thierry Nadisic and Thierry Picq. Les Echos, Octobre 2024.

« Préparer les dirigeants à exercer leur leadership autrement »

Books
  • GAUTHIER, T., MELKONIAN, T., NADISIC, T. et PICQ, T. (2026). Leadership 2050. Préparer les managers d'aujourd'hui au leadership de demain. Dunod.
  • GAUTHIER, T. et HANIFA, V. (2020). Prospective : anticiper, décider et agir dans l'incertitude. EPFL Press.
  • MELKONIAN, T. (2024). Pourquoi un leader doit être exemplaire. 2e Edition. UGA Éditions.
  • NADISIC, T. (2024). Le management juste. 2e Edition. UGA Éditions.
  • NADISIC, T. et MISSLIN, T. (2024). Leadership expérience : 17 pratiques pour donner envie d'agir à vos équipes. Dunod.
  • NADISIC, T., MISSLIN, T., MOREAU, C. et BASSET, G. (à paraître en janvier 2025). Transformer le management : la démarche Grand 8. 2e Edition. UGA édition.
  • NADISIC, T. et PICQ, T. (à paraître en avril 2025). Les managers aussi vivent des injustices. Dunod.
  • PICQ, T. et ROMEZY, M. (2024). Dans la tête des champions : 18 récits pour s'inspirer des sportifs de haut niveau. Dunod.
  • PICQ, T. (2021). L'art de la performance. Dunod.

Business cases

  • NADISIC, T. et PATIENT, D. (2024) "Russell Cropanzano et le développement de la justice organisationnelle ". In F. Chevalier et al. (Eds.) Les grands auteurs en gestion des ressources humaines. Edition EMS.