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Here are some of the organizations I worked with.

As most of the issues remain confidential, you will read anonymized practical cases by scrolling down.

Strategic coaching

It assumes that:
– its positioning and communication strategy is very close to the Swedish vision of children’s fashion and their conception of childhood
– Scandinavia is an easy country because it is modern in terms of mobile and English communication means

It has therefore pre-defined a market approach:
– Interview with some French expatriates in Sweden
– No prior visit to leading local stores but a choice of price positioning based on the French model
– Advertisements in English
– Mostly online sales

The exchanges consisted in making the difference between the understanding of Swedish culture and the Swedes and the reality of the market in Sweden
– Who is the target?
– Who are the leaders, where are they and what is their price positioning?
– How do the Swedes usually buy these products?
– How will the designed ads really be perceived by the Swedes who know that the brand comes from France?
– To which extent is the brand ready to adapt the French positioning to the Swedish market?

The manager wants to expand his business internationally and wants to focus on the American market.

Our first exchanges show that the country was chosen according to a personal perception of the American market, its size and the opportunities offered. However, it appears that the convivial moments targeted by the company do not fit with those people are used to according to the American culture.

Discussions focused initially on the additional investment needs to adapt the product to this market, if the choice was definite: R&D investments to redirect the product towards moments of local conviviality, Marketing and Communication Investments to adapt its use to these moments, Presence and Time Investments to evangelize the market in the case of a non-repositioning.
A second level of discussion was focused on the choice of the targetted country: why the United States? Which other country(ies) would offer opportunities? How to approach them?

She wants to develop her business with Swedish customers but is unable to get into the starting blocks. 3 issues were revealed and defined the guideline for our discussions:
– Maintain a balanced lifestyle and know how to prioritize her actions
– Be aware of her values in order to define what she agrees or refuses to adapt to the Swedish market
– Define the communication actions to be implemented
– Identify the stages of the business development and the associated financial impacts

Professionals in transition

I contacted Delphine for professional coaching as I wished to break a glass ceiling in my career. I knew that I needed to improve on few personal areas and define a more satisfying path forward. A path forward that would better suit my values and my personality.

Delphine guided me throughout the definition of short-term and long-term goals. From then on, she suggested a methodology that made it easy for us to identify areas of personal growth. We agreed on a set of “tasks” and I could really feel the momentum of completing small weekly achievements. As a result of this coaching, I will now being moving on to a new position, in line with my personal growth plan.

All in all, Delphine has been a great guidance for me. She is very adaptable and can very well understand when it is the right moment to suggest a framework (based on a validated methodologies). She can also sense when it feels appropriate to be an active listener, and leave some time to mature thoughts.

I would undoubtedly recommend Delphine to someone who finds herself facing difficulties in achieving or re-defining professional growth.

Delphine Macquet is the best coach I have ever had the opportunity to work with.
And I hope to have the possibility also in the future to enjoy her professional advice.
She is … a natural. This career was meant for her and she was meant for this career…

She manages to perfectly combine her technical knowledge of the field with a lot of empathy.
Due to her track record and her international background she can work with a lot of different
profiles.
On the top of this she knows how to adapt to the level and background of her discussion partner

To speak with her is always easy, the communication is fluid, efficient.
The theory or methodology she uses remains hidden and never pops up in her words.
Whatever the moment in your life, whatever the advice you need, you never feel stigmatized.
You feel helped, supported, respected, stimulated.

And what you feel above all is that she is driven by an unstoppable willingness to help, guide, enlighten.

Executive coaching

J. needs an express coaching meeting, a session in a Sparring Partner mode because he needs to meet a potential partner to whom he could ultimately sell his company. This upcoming meeting makes him wonder about the development of his company, his role as a manager, his vision of the future both for him as an individual and as a leader.

The purpose of the discussion was to help him understand the role and function he would like to have in this possible new structure resulting from the sale, but also to provide him with the necessary tools to identify the potential partners with whom he would like to associate, prepare the negotiations and identify the synergies to be developed.

M. has tough time at work dealing with her manager : her directives are vague, the company’s vision seems not take into account the company’s environment and markets, the objectives she is given are diverse and the purpose of the required tasks can be very far from the latter.

The purpose of the discussions was to support M. on the following topics:
– Manage the relationship with her supervisor and set her limits
– Understand the other person’s way of thinking and adapt according to what she wants to accomplish or do
– Maintain confidence in her skills and abilities while facing a tough hierarchy
– Manage time and priorities, both professional and personal
– Manage a potential exit without going into overhang

Collective intelligence

H. is the manager of an international team. They work in local subsidiaries and meet face-to-face altogether only once or twice a year. H. wants them to work on cohesion and mutual assistance across borders and to establish the legitimacy of the team within the organization.

The support focused on:

1. The work on team cohesion to develop:
– The confidence of each team member in their abilities and skills and in their peers
– The awareness of individual and team motivation keys
– A common vision of the objectives and brand image of the team internally
– The notion of Co-Responsibility between team members
– A development of the autonomy of each member individually but also between peers.

2. The legitimacy of the team, through:
– The understanding the company’s strategic issues and their impact on the objectives of the department as well as the departments with which the team works
– The development of cross-cultural skills related both to business and national cultures in order to communicate messages that make sense to their stakeholders.

As part of a dedicated mentoring program, CrossRoads Intelligence was asked to prepare and facilitate a short workshop aimed at enabling future mentors to understand diversity through identifying and dealing with generational, national and professional cultural differences.

The workshop focused on the following topics:
– Explain the impact of culture on people’s behaviours and expectations
– Understand and become aware of personal cultural perceptions and the resulting biases in their world view
– Give participants a tool to “measure” cultural differences
– Develop their capacity to observe and analyse intercultural situations in companies

The goals for participants were to:
– Better anticipation of intercultural situations at risk
– Develop their relational skills
– Gain more insight into uncertain situations
– Foster the engagement of all stakeholders
– Allow the group to appreciate diversity rather than fear it

The French teams of a small entity acquired by an American organisation feel kind of frustrated dealing with their American fellows: a feeling of not being heard, a lack of understanding of the expectations of the headquarters, a feeling of not finding the keys to feel integrated into the overall organisation… However, they really want to develop cohesion and good understanding and therefore wish to find “the decoder” that will enable them and the entire organisation to move forward.

A one-day seminar was settled to develop this understanding of American culture in relation to French culture.

The objectives were :
– Be perceived as part of the organization and not as a service provider across the Atlantic
– Develop project collaboration
– Leverage diversity
– Develop an appropriate posture and communication style