You Might Also Like: Redefiners

Marla Oates (0:00)

Call them change makers.

Sean Dineen (0:01)

Call them rule breakers.

Marla Oates (0:03)

We call them redefiners.

Hi, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of Redefiners. I'm Marla Oates, a leadership advisor at Russell Reynolds. We're in for a real treat today, not only with our admired guest, but also with my special co-host, our very own Constantine Alexandrakis, CEO of Russell Reynolds.

Constantine Alexandrakis (0:32)

Hello, Marla, and hi, everyone. Great to be with you all today.

Marla Oates (0:35)

We're so happy to have you, Constantine. Before we get started, just a quick reminder that you can find all episodes of Redefiners and Leadership Lounge on YouTube. If you're watching Redefiners, please hit that subscribe button so you don't miss a single episode. For our audio listeners, please don't forget to rate Redefiners wherever you get our podcasts. We love to see your feedback.

Constantine, welcome. You joined Redefiners last year and talked about transformational leaders. I know you've been laser focused on that topic over the last 12 months.

I also know you have a new book coming out in September titled The Catalyst CEO, Why CEOs Can't Lead Transformation Alone and What the Best Do Instead.

Constantine Alexandrakis (1:18)

That's right, Marla. In our search work and our consulting work with leaders around the world, transformation is a very consistent theme. In no time in recent memory has there been more of an urgency around the topic of transformation, whether it's in boardrooms or the C-suite, or really at any level within an organization, as leaders are challenged like never before to adapt. That includes AI transformation, which is at the top of almost every leadership agenda.

Marla Oates (1:48)

That's so right. We certainly do see this across our client base.

But the research also backs this up. In fact, our research on transformational leaders with CEOs across the world, nearly 75 percent believe that their organization risks going out of business without significant and fundamental transformation in the next decade. But perhaps more tellingly, only 30 percent of leaders believe that their organization has been successful or extremely successful in its transformation efforts. That's quite a large gap.

Constantine Alexandrakis (2:22)

That gap is a big problem, Marla. Most leaders understand that transformation is necessary, but the harder question is, how do you actually make it happen, especially at a time when disruption is no longer episodic, but really a constant theme? That's what inspired me to write the book, to set out how CEOs can activate transformation at scale.

The good news is that even if the challenges are new, the way to successfully transform an organization remains constant, and the premise is simple. You can't do it alone. Instead, you need to spark a chain reaction, engaging your board, engaging your leadership team and the organization at large, to co-own that transformation and all work together to make it happen.

Marla Oates (3:12)

I imagine that you experienced that challenge when you took on the CEO role in 2022, and I recall you launching a major transformation initiative here at Russell Reynolds. And really, we're continuing to push the envelope on how we can serve clients more effectively.

I watched this as an observer, but please, tell us what that was like for you personally.

Constantine Alexandrakis (3:33)

Well, you've also been a participant, Marla, because as you know, we're still transforming. There's no foreseeable end to the change cycle.

But similar to our guest today, our firm was doing really well, but we needed to think about how we stay ahead rather than stand still in order to best serve our clients now and into the future. One of my earliest learnings from that was adjusting from thinking about my transformation agenda to thinking about our shared path forward as a firm and catalyzing that team effort rather than commanding a top-down approach.

Marla Oates (4:09)

Yes. You and our guests certainly have a lot of shared experience in that regard. So I'm really looking forward to talking with him about how he transformed the company.

Constantine Alexandrakis (4:19)

Me too, Marla. Our guest today is Jean-Pascal Tricoire, Chairman of Schneider Electric. Prior to his current role, Jean-Pascal served as Chairman and CEO and held several executive positions over his four-decade tenure at the company. Under his leadership, Schneider Electric transformed from a 19th century industrial manufacturer into a global technology leader in software and sustainability, in digitization and electrification. He quadrupled revenues from around 9 billion euro to 40 billion euro and rebalanced the company's geographic footprint. He also today serves on the boards of several organizations, including Qualcomm, EQT, the Asia Business Council, the World Economic Forum, and several others.

Jean-Pascal, welcome to Redefiners.