Our recent event in Montréal offered exactly what we hope The Caring Company can provoke: a demanding, thoughtful conversation with leaders who already have experience, doubts, and practice — and who are ready to question some of the deepest assumptions of contemporary business.
Hosted at HEC Montréal, the afternoon was not designed as a classic book talk. From the outset, the intention was different: to create a space where ideas could be tested against lived experience, and where dialogue mattered more than exposition.
This was made possible thanks to Catherine Plasse-Ferland, who both masterfully designed and facilitated the entire event.
During the session, we discussed The Caring Company not as a collection of good intentions, nor as another variation on CSR, ESG, or even B-Corp. At the heart of the book lies a much more demanding idea: unconditional care. Not care as kindness, and certainly not care as an add-on to business as usual — but care first as an operating principle embedded in the core business activities, shaping how it serves its entire business ecosystem: its customers, suppliers, and the local communities.
One particularly meaningful moment was the intervention of Dominique Tremblay, a leader featured in the book, who has built a caring company in Québec. His testimony showed that unconditional care is neither naïve nor abstract: it is a strategic choice — and that can lead to long-term prosperity precisely because it refuses transactional logic. In Dominique’s words, “There is no contradiction between love and performance.” On the opposite: love and unconditional care lead to performance.
What struck us most throughout the afternoon was the level of engagement in the room. The discussion quickly moved beyond agreement or disagreement and into something far more interesting: How would this actually change the way we lead? What would we have to stop doing? What would we have to do differently?
We left Montréal encouraged. Not because everyone was convinced — but because the conversation was deep, informed, and enthusiastic. This is exactly the kind of dialogue The Caring Company seeks to open.