“Around 3.3 billion people across the world work every day. We, corporate leaders, have a huge responsibility to make the workplace a better, safer and more sustainable environment for each and every one of them,” reads the preface of the new book Leadership with Soul, written by industry stalwart André Lacroix, who is currently the CEO of Intertek Group.
André was recently present in an event organised by Intertek at The Oberoi, Gurgaon that gathered the company’s key customers, CHROs and HR thought leaders, and a few top media houses from India including Apparel Resources, who interacted with André about his book Leadership with Soul and his leadership approach of putting people at the heart of companies’ growth strategy.
In Leadership with Soul, André Lacroix reveals his model for business success, built over more than three decades with world-leading organisations such as Ernst & Young, Colgate Palmolive, Burger King, PepsiCo, Euro Disney, Reckitt Benckiser, Inchcape, and now, Intertek.
“When I was a kid, I wanted to be a surgeon. There is a strong humanist character in me which is what led me to put human approach at the heart of business too.” – André Lacroix
Lacroix attributes his success to taking an empathetic, human approach to drive sustainable value for all: customers, employees, shareholders, communities and society as a whole. He has consistently applied this thinking to address the different challenges he has faced wherever he has worked.
When asked about the message he wants to give to the apparel and textile industry, André said, “This is the time when collaboration between brands and vendors should be strengthened. Working together in real-time using the right independent data on how to satisfy the demands of anxious consumers is what the need of the hour is. This collaboration helps in achieving the right quality and right sustainability approach to design, production and supply chain, which is super-important.”
André is known as an authority on sustainability in the corporate world, and he talked about what sustainability is in the true sense and how today’s leaders can ensure success in businesses by ensuring sustainable processes throughout their organisations.
“Many people think ensuring only ESG is sustainability but the implementation of ESG alone is not sufficient. For any company in the supply chain, true sustainability starts with the right processes and control in the value chain. On the other hand, a company needs to have end-to-end processes throughout the organisation to drive sustainability excellence and make sure they have all the required processes in place. These right measures can include chemical management, health and safety well-being, net zero, fabric content and recyclability among other aspects. This is where sustainability begins,” commented André, further adding, “There is one chapter on sustainability in my book that states how leaders can focus on this concept to succeed in business.”
Stay connected to read the entire conversation between André Lacroix and Apparel Resources!
“Self-awareness is an important ingredient for success but most leaders in today’s time lack this requisite. IQ and EQ both contribute substantially in making a person a successful leader.” – André Lacroix
