Blonde and Abroad: The Tales of a SoCal Girl Living la Vie Parisienne: Ethics and Performance Class at a Monastery

From Wednesday, February 8th to Saturday, February 11th, I traveled to rural, central France to attend a 3-day seminar on ethics and business performance at the monastery, Notre Dame de Sureyes. (Click here for the exact location) "Sens et Croissance" (translated to "Sense and Belief") is the think tank associated with the monastery, and it is through this institution that Père (or "Father" in English) Hugues Minguet, a Paris-lawyer turned "managemonk", welcomes and hosts business leaders and HEC students at the monastery to discuss ethics and business.

Our days were planned as followed: I would wake up at 7:15 to the sound of church bells ringing, would either run or hike for 40-60 minutes, have a small breakfast of coffee, baguette, and jam, and our first-class session would begin at 10:00 and last until 12:30. From 12:30-2:00, we would eat a delicious, clean lunch prepared by the sisters and staff and return to the classroom for another classroom session from 2:30-5:00. We would have a break before dinner, and then, would sit down again for another great meal altogether for dinner. Following dinner, we would hang out around the fireplace and chat and connect.

There were 13 students in total, who attended this class, and they came from a variety of backgrounds, countries, and MBA programs (as over half were exchange students like myself). Père Hugues invited 2 guest speakers to join us: Hervé Fleury, the former director of the world-renowned culinary school, Paul Bocuse, of Lyon, and Olivier Burger, a prominent human resources (HR) executive based in Paris. Their perspectives deepened our discussions as they provided many real-world examples of navigating complicated ethical issues. From the small number of students and staff and the ample time we had to get to know one another, connect, and laugh to the location of the monastery and the surrounding calming scenery, this was a truly memorable class, and I truly enjoyed getting to know everyone.

The class sessions themselves were loosely structured: sometimes, it would be Q&A with the speaker, sometimes we would be asked to bring up ethical issues or questions from our past, and sometimes Père Hugues would tell stories from his past. Père Hugues gave us a booklet of printed out PowerPoint slides of the ethics content, which he would refer to from time to time depending on which topic we were discussing. (I'd also like to note that none of the content was derived from religion.) Here are 3 key takeaways, which I shall leave with the reader to ponder and reflect; they are:

Père Hugues' definition of ethics: ethics is the combination of the Greek work "ethos" (right behavior) and "itos" (fortitude/strength of spirit); put together, it translates to the art of the right behavior.

Ethics is about being rooted to your values. After carefully identifying and analyzing your commitment to your values, Père Hugues shared with us that the deeper and larger your roots are, the stronger will be your capacity to face and navigate difficult situations.

Per Père Hugues, there are 4 levels for building an ethical culture: when making an ethical decision, you must balance and consider 1) your individual goals; 2) your team's behavior and actions; 3) organizational policies that help govern your team and organization's culture, such as rules, trainings, and HR policies; and 4) key performance indicators (KPIs),quotas, goals, or other measurable metrics to keep your teams accountable and that track success and performance. If you only focus on points 1 and 2, you are too idealistic because you are not acting within the construct and policies of your organization. If you only focus on points 3 and 4, you are too barbarian because you are not considering your team's and your own interests, goals, motivations, and humanity. Thus, our decision defers to the balance of our individual goals, team and company objectives, and the impact on business, society, and peers.