How to Redefine Purpose and Long-Term Strategic Vision? How to Evolve Company Culture for Greater Agility and Innovation? How to Become an Even More Effective Leader? With the participation of Caroline Le Branchu, CEO of La Belle-Iloise.
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Caroline Le Branchu has been leading the family-owned company La Belle-Iloise since 2011. When she met David Guiraud in 2018, increased competition and changing consumption patterns forced her to rethink her strategy to give it a new lease on life.
At that time, Caroline and her team were deeply reflecting on the company's mission, strategy, and its ability to reinvent itself, but they struggled to come to a clear conclusion.
Together, Caroline and David identified three key areas to focus on:
The goal was to create strong alignment between the company’s mission, strategic vision, and the quality of its execution, transitioning from purpose to performance. La Belle-Iloise wanted to reinvent its future by staying true to its values, while tapping into the potential of a new Purpose: "Allowing everyone to live better by balancing healthy eating with pleasure."
Beyond the Purpose, the work done with the Executive Committee helped to define a true long-term strategic ambition, supported by a roadmap rigorously grounded in the company’s short- and medium-term reality.
These efforts led to an unprecedented mobilization of the teams. However, there was a need to go further and restore agility and creativity to a model that had been predominantly focused on production. Every company has mental models that both strengthen and limit it. Identifying and removing these barriers is always a real challenge.
Thus, a new phase of support was launched, focused on transforming the existing culture, which had historically been driven by process. Introducing a culture of continuous innovation requires conviction and method, and it’s one of the key roles of today’s leader to engage their teams in this direction. This is what Caroline and her Executive Committee tackled.
With David's guidance, they implemented a new method focused on customer listening and finding solutions that involve all the company’s key players.
A new internal dynamic was created, gradually and successfully transforming the culture and engagement of everyone, even as La Belle-Iloise faced the challenges of the Covid crisis.
When Caroline and David met, The family SME the family SME was at a pivotal moment in its history. Today, a new milestone has been reached, and a fresh dynamic is in place. However, many more steps remain, feeding their ongoing rich exchanges. These discussions allow Caroline to continue growing in her role as a leader, and for La Belle-Iloise to continue its strong trajectory of growth and innovation.
In two years, Caroline has defined a Purpose, while also working on improving her personal performance, as well as that of her team and Executive Committee. This process takes time, particularly in areas like culture, execution, and performance, which are still works in progress.
All of this was done with a focus on maintaining quality, and staying true to the brand’s values of sharing, friendliness, and emotion.
