Discours de Mathieu Sidokpohou, Directeur Général adidas Europe | ESSEC Commencement Day 2023

First of all, thank you dear Vincenzo and your team for inviting me to share a few words with you this evening for this beautiful commencement ceremony. If I am here tonight, it is thanks to school—first and foremost, the school of the Republic. School changed my father's life 60 years ago, when his good grades earned him a scholarship to study in France, leaving his native Benin. School has always been central in my life. Then came the baccalaureate, preparatory classes, and ESSEC, which changed my life. It is where I met my closest friends and my wife 27 years ago on a train discotheque during our integration weekend. ESSEC gave me the keys to build my professional life.

If I had to summarize the impact of ESSEC, it taught me to manage contradictions and paradoxes. The first contradiction that is closest to my heart concerns diversity. Most of us here are products of strong social reproduction. The French grande école system accelerates this reproduction. ESSEC was a pioneer in trying to change this, but change is slow. The contradiction is that while you are intellectually convinced of the need for diversity, you will be tempted to recruit people like you. Early in my career at Procter & Gamble, I was proud to be part of that system. But after traveling and spending time in Asia, I realized that the lack of diversity made us miss major trends like e-commerce and sustainability. Joining Adidas completed my transformation. Adidas is a sport and lifestyle brand; to connect with athletes and Gen Z, our teams must reflect society's diversity. Today we are still not diverse enough. We are tackling the problem of the CV, which is a tool of mass exclusion. We now recruit without CV, removing name, address, and diploma. Yes, we still hire ESSEC graduates, but not only. Diversity is not just a moral imperative but also an economic one. Familiarity or diversity—it will be your choice.

The second contradiction, probably the most complicated today, is between producing more, gaining customers, and protecting our planet. I have worked at Procter & Gamble, LVMH, Danone, and Adidas—all these companies are part of the problem. Let me give two concrete examples. Long ago I was marketing director for Pampers. Diapers are an environmental scourge, but they are also a great progress for parents and babies' development. Should we ban disposable diapers? Another example: I am now managing director of Adidas in Europe. Adidas is iconic but also a producer of clothing and shoes, one of the most polluting industries. A few years ago we were criticized for launching a Stan Smith shoe that was 50% recycled. 50% is not perfect, but it's not bad at scale. I prefer progress steps rather than waiting for perfection.

There are many other contradictions: short-term vs long-term, intelligence vs personality. What I want to convey to you is this: as an ESSEC graduate, one of your greatest handicaps is your need to succeed quickly, to have impact, to leave your mark. Some of you will see contradictions as barriers that prevent you from leaving your mark. To borrow from Margaret Atwood: you may not be able to alter reality, but you can alter your attitude toward it, and that paradoxically alters reality. This is perhaps the best summary of the pioneering spirit of ESSEC, whose great family of alumni you join tonight. Thank you and good evening to all.