Who is Karine?

Karine is a loving mother of two daughters and is the founder and conscious leader of Hire & Higher, an executive search firm focussing on recruiting sustainable, conscious leaders. Karine decided to make this transition because at some point, she realized that things weren’t going so well for our planet. She still loved recruitment, but she was missing some purpose, that’s when she decided to focus more on companies who want to do a transition and find conscious leaders that will empower them and will accelerate that transition towards more sustainability.

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What is a conscious leader?

The word ‘conscious’ has different meanings indifferent contexts and Karine and myself also have a different point of view on its definition, so I was curious to ask her: “How do you define a conscious leader?”

“A conscious leader is someone who works for the common good and is guided by a vision that takes into account all stakeholders of the company as well as the profit of the company. It is someone who wants to work for the good of all people, but also for the greater good of the planet, taking into account the impact their company have on the planet.”

For me a conscious leader is also somebody that is conscious of their values, but also their behaviors, thoughts, emotions, and especially under pressure. But on most views, Karine and I agree and even complement each other.

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Are you serving your stakeholders?

There is an exercise I often give on workshops. I want you to think of the stakeholders you have. And now I want you to think of your day-to-day work. Where does your focus go to? To the headquarters? To financial expectations? Or is it more to the people, the customers or the planet. It’s good to be aware that there is often a gap between your day-to-day actions and the actions that would greatly benefit your stakeholders and afterwards, the company itself.

How do you find these leaders?

Well firstly, Karine has designed an executive value tool. It works like a sustainable filter for the recruitment process and gives an indication whether the values of the candidate match the values of the company. It also gives a set of fundamental values matching to the candidate and gives a percentage that defines the consciousness level of that person.

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Are companies ready to recruit these conscious leaders?

At first, most organizations were still racing around like headless chickens, checking as much checkboxes as possible to satisfy demands from higher up the chain. But since the pandemic, people could finally take a step back and think about our personal health and our planet’s health.That’s when the demand started rising quickly. Times have gotten so fast, that we NEED conscious leaders to facilitate these fast transitions. If companies want to attract young talent and people who are very talented but lost their motivation, this conscious and sustainable transition is a necessity.

I hope you have learned just how important it is for the growth of organizations to transition towards a more conscious and sustainable way of working and being. Karine explained that recruiting in this way of thought is a crucial step to reach this state. I found it fascinating to discuss this topic with her! If you want to learn more about conscious recruiting and sustainable growth for your company, be sure to check our KarineBecker with the links in the show notes! I will see you in the next episode of the QiLeader Podcast!

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Quotes

“A conscious leader is someone who works for the common good and is guided by a vision that takes into account all stakeholders of the company as well as the profit of the company. It is someone who wants to work for the good of all people, but also for the greater good of the planet, taking into account the impact their company have on the planet.”

“A company that is more connected to its environment and its stakeholders is going to perform much better than it is doing now.”

“When you stick to your values, when you dare to question the status quo, when you don’t do what your shareholders are asking you, that makes you stronger.”

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