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High Impact Europe Limited
Founder and the Managing Director of High Impact Europe Limited, executive coach, consultant and moderator with extensive experience as a leadership and impact development coach to Senior Leaders.
High Impact Europe is dedicated to developing the qualities of leaders and impactful leadership communication. This vocation is fulfilled in a variety of ways:
As a coach I have worked all over the globe (for 17 years), accompanying Senior men and women to explore and realise their full potential as leaders; to develop their impact as they prepare to face critical moments of communication; to explore and reinforce those qualities that others seek to follow.
Feet on the ground, head in the clouds
Prior to creating High Impact in 2005, I enjoyed life in the Corporate world (Mars, Unilever, Kraft), in France and the UK. After 13 years I left that world and went on a journey into the performing arts – a journey which was to change my life. After studying at GSA (the Conservatoire) I became a professional actor for 6 years. It was an amazing time and a quest for personal creativity and purpose.
Transformations and the quest for openness with High Impact
The journey to become an actor was huge, edifying and, at times, brutal. It was as an invitation to open up to explore what else I could be. This has become the essence of the work we do at High Impact. High Impact experiences are transformational. Coachees and participants explore themselves more deeply, discover and connect with themselves as communicators and leaders. Big decisions to change things or to explore new paths often emerge from our work.
Among the main qualities we seek to explore through our work, openness is one that I personally attach great importance to. It is where connections are made and it is where we embrace change, difference, opinions, feedback, criticism, challenge, exploration, appreciation, love and much more. It requires constant effort and has become my purpose in life.
The extra mile – our greatest responsibility
As coaches, we must be prepared to do the same that we ask of our coachees, to ask the tough questions of ourselves, to dare to go beyond and to give freely and generously of ourselves in service of the work and of others. This is our greatest responsibility.
I married to a wonderful French lady and living in Lyon. My passport says “British”, my heart says “français”. My children inspire me. My colleagues tell me I have a childlike playfulness and a joie de vivre. Our clients tell me I am full on and engaged. My body tells me I have still yet many things to explore… so let’s get on with it.
I am an original founder of High Impact Europe, having worked closely with Grant to develop our offering and brand back in 2007. Unexpectedly, I started my career in Market Research doing data analytics and quickly decided that wasn’t really for me. I attended a training course and was inspired enough by the trainer to say to her afterwards, “I want to do what you do.” I’ve never looked back. So began my journey through IT and technical training, to HR & soft skills training and into the world of leadership communication and impact development.
I have worked on all five continents and with people from over 50 different countries which I know helps me in my quest to improve my openness to people from different backgrounds and perspectives.
At my core, I like helping people in all aspects of leadership and communication impact, through coaching and training. For example, I felt proud when I helped Jean-Christophe transform his conference presentation so that he truly demonstrated his desire to connect to his people and acknowledge their cares and concerns. I felt a huge sense of accomplishment when a participant emailed me, unprompted, two years after a programme to express his deep gratitude at the huge impact our philosophy had on his life. I feel privileged each year when I visit an orphanage and apply High Impact experiences to support groups of children and adults from the UK and Romania. My proudest moment happened when, 6 years after purchasing an oboe for a 12 year-old girl from a favela in Sao Paulo, she was accepted on full scholarship into London’s top music academy. For me, it really doesn’t get better than that.
I have a business degree and my post-graduate studies have led to me becoming a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. I am on the Board (previously Chair) of the Association for Business Psychology which keeps me connected to the evidence-based side of people development. I also hold testing qualifications and a Diploma in Performance Coaching. This means I am able to use tools such as OPQ, Wave, Hogan, JTI, Lumina Spark and 16PF in my work. I’m also quite inspiration driven, which recently lead me to complete a Blockchain Strategy Programme with Oxford University.
I am dedicated to curiosity and openness. I am a huge fan of non-fiction books such as ‘Sapiens’, ‘Why we Sleep’ and ‘The Future of Humanity’ because these books shape my life deeply in my quest to achieve balance. When I’m not deeply engrossed in a book, you can find me on a mountain bike in the wilderness or on a yoga mat doing the 5 Tibetans, a simple series of exercises to start the day.
My mischievous nature sometimes gets me into trouble. I guess you’ll have to work with me if you’d like to know more about that…
Here is a glimpse of who I am.
For 7 years now, I have been personal assistant to the CEO and a Project Manager at High Impact. I feel that I have found my ‘home’, that I am really in the right place, at the right company, working in a multi-cultural environment, with great people I admire and enjoy working with every day. I am proud to support my colleagues to help Leaders embark on their journey with High Impact and inspire others by daring, being true to themselves and open to others.
I am 45 years old and I worked for 15 years in marketing, commercial and project management roles within the events sector before joining High Impact. During this time, I spent 8 years organising and promoting large International trade congresses within the e-commerce sector.
I am deeply intuitive and enjoy new situations, new cultures (I spend part of my childhood abroad and my school friends came from Egypt, Senegal, Canada, Iran… ) and being close to action.
Calm and composed, I know how to downplay delicate and unforeseen situations in a straightforward way. I remember this strategic seminar near Paris gathering top leaders coming from all over the world: the venue was not adapted after all-I had to use all my diplomatic and influencing skills to move the entire group to another place in a way it did not affect the workshop and our relation with the client. That was a real “in the moment” challenge.
I believe deeply that everybody’s voice should be heard. I am confident in any one-to-one relationship no matter the hierarchy and I am strongly committed to harmony and honesty.
On top of my work, I am a mother of 3 delightful daughters. I can be trusted to embrace various tasks and commitments at the same time – I sometimes see myself as an octopus.
I am French (originally from Britany) and I studied languages (English and Spanish) before attending business school. I am Bilingual in English after having spent 6 years living in the UK.
I am convinced that anything is possible!
Our biggest barrier to greatness is often ourself and our limiting beliefs. My gift lies in seeing and helping people find their true power, in unleashing their full potential and truly shine as individuals and as leaders. I love to help them gain greater awareness of themselves and what is holding them back, by consciously connecting to themselves to others and to the world around them.
At High Impact, we take people on a journey of self-discovery on an intellectual level, a physical level, an emotional level and a spiritual level. This holistic approach is what made working with High Impact such an obvious choice!
My life is full of contrasts that have helped to shape me – I’m French but was raised in South-Africa and lived and worked in London for over a decade. I’ve been a certified leadership coach for 10 years after a corporate career in marketing and communications where I was at the helm of international and multi-cultural teams. I’m a certified emotional intelligence coach and also trained in neuroscience. I feed off the energy of the city and thrive on a deeply rooted connection nature. I am extremely empathetic and passionate about the power of relationships but also have a sharp and strategic business mind…
I am told that my positive energy is contagious and when asked what I do, my children used to say that I am like a fairy, I help people to achieve their dreams!
As I write this, I’m marvelling at how uninhibited and free my young children are – twin girls aged 1. Watching them roll around, make physical shapes and explore their surroundings with the utmost curiosity. it strikes me that we adults clearly lose something valuable through the process of growing up, becoming educated and conforming to society’s dictates.
So, it can feel exciting, dangerous even, to step back into an adventurous place and do something we would not ordinarily do. To surprise ourselves and maybe re-discover an innate wildness that lies dormant beneath layers of trying to fit in, could be the most liberating of awakenings.
I guess it was an element of this wildness that led me to ditch a career in fund management with Baring Asset Management to become a professional actor and voice artist. An unpredictable journey ensued with theatre credits at the highest level, many TV & Film roles and narrating over 50 audiobooks.
I also practiced a traditional form of Kung Fu for many years alongside yoga & meditation and worked one to one with stroke recovery patients in London hospitals to improve communication abilities.
Utilising this rich mix of varied disciplines and with a belief that the arts and business have much to learn from each other, I worked on global leadership, coaching and training programmes, introducing experiential interventions where learning truly sticks. To date, I have worked with over 100 prominent organisations over 15 years, from graduate level to C-suite, to challenge and enhance the communication and leadership abilities of senior leaders and emerging talent alike.
I hold a BA(Hons) Accounting & Finance from Bristol Business School, UWE, am a qualified coach and commercial mediator CIArb, am a Fellow of Royal Society of Arts FRSA and regularly contribute thought leadership articles for publications such as Training Journal. As an invited speaker I recently delivered “Optimising Ourselves for Expansive Leadership” at the CFA’s major conference Disruption ‘19 at London Excel.
A theatre director I once worked with would not describe any actor as more talented than another actor. He would simply describe them as being “less blocked.” Becoming less blocked or unlearning is as vital a process as acquiring new skills. Not to be childish but childlike with a spirit of discovery.
In that spirit I dare you to do something you would not ordinarily do. The wilder the better. And I mean now. Right now…! Go on, off you go…!
Mark is a leadership expert and celebrated keynote speaker, with vast experience navigating turbulent waters. In his professional sailing career he’s competed in countless races and sailed over 80,000 miles across the worlds’ most hostile oceans. The pinnacle of this was leading an amateur team to success in the BT Global Challenge round the world yacht race, dubbed ‘the worlds’ toughest’.
But Mark also draws on 20+ years of consulting with some of the worlds’ greatest organisations, helping to reshape their cultures and improve their resilience to deliver better, faster and more sustainably, especially in times of disruption and change. He’s also a sought after and accredited Executive and Team coach, and a non-executive director to two fast-growing start ups.
AWARD-WINNING SPEAKER & CREATOR OF “NAVIGATE THE STORM”
It’s the unique combination of this experience that’s encapsulated in ‘Navigate the Storm’ and led to Mark winning a coveted IVCA Gold Award for this groundbreaking real-life multi-media case study. Consequently, he has spoken at thousands of events in over 31 countries, achieving consistent 5 star reviews from all who have been educated and enthralled.
Take your pick
What’s my line? Lawyer, business coach, university lecturer, rum business co-founder, non-executive director. I like to think that there are different but complimentary skills to all these roles. At times, I have been surprised to find myself asked to take an unexpected turn into something new. The mantra is to always say “Yes” (or nearly always) on the premise that one tends to regret the things one didn’t do in life more than the things one did.
First contact
My first High Impact experience came as a member of the Executive Committee at Pernod Ricard preparing for the annual group senior management convention. I was a pretty confident public speaker but facing two major challenges. First, the format of the convention was a boxing ring style stage with the audience on all four sides: no lectern, no notes, no nothing. How would I cope without my usual comfort apparatus? Second, I had received little to no feedback on my real impact as a speaker and leader. What did others see, hear, like, dislike? What did they remember? What did I want them to remember.? Working with Grant and Steve was a revelation and a personal fulfilment. I was hooked. My own senior team was next for the High Impact treatment. The best two days of team creation in my career.
Accidental Tourist
An unexpected company takeover 20 years ago brought me to Paris on what was originally a three-year project. In reality, it was a secret wish-come-true and made all the easier by finding myself working for a truly inspiring CEO. I had always wanted to work outside of the UK and my upbringing was pure Eurotrash with schools in Brussels and Bruges. I jumped at the chance and my three-year gig ended up as a lifetime love-affair with Paris and France and later, with a French wife and son.
Who says so? The Law says so.
A career in the law was a good move I was told. The only problem was that it required working for a law firm, surrounded by other lawyers engaging in idiosyncratic debates about…the law. Four years of that and I was off to industry and like a duck to water. A UK company (Reckitt Benckiser), a US company (Seagram) and finally a French company (Pernod Ricard) during a period of major transformation through acquisitions and, as the General Counsel, with a front seat view.
Energy
It comes from meeting people, hearing their stories, sharing, being truly present and empathetic. That is when I can lose all concept of time and enjoy the flow of the moment. That fix that I miss from my executive days, I now get from teaching MBA students at HEC about team dynamics and self-awareness. But most of all, from the exchange and from what I get back from them, their ideas and challenges just as they are starting out in life. Fresh, optimistic and ready to face the world.
I discovered my passion for Change Management early in my career.
At the time, I was delivering trainings in banks for people moving from a MAC to a PC. The changes in their habits were so dramatic that I was seeing people totally lost: What to do with a mouse with 2 buttons while I always used only 1 button?
Since then, I took on the mission to bring individuals what they really need to cope with changes. As nothing is permanent except Change; Opportunities to learn are everywhere!
From building adoption plans for IT projects to supporting people managers leading their teams through organizational & cultural changes, I developed a strong expertise on Change Management, Learning & Development and Coaching.
Over the past 20 years, I have held roles as Project Manager, HR Manager, Facilitator and Coach in consulting firms and international groups. With these different roles; I feel I had different and complimentary lives (and my wrinkles are only because I smile and laugh a lot!).
Now I help people managers develop their personal impact and better engage their teams.
What fulfils me is to help Teams and Individuals bring the changes they want by boosting them with a meaningful, enthusiastic and pragmatic approach. Along the way I bring you my positive energy to help you stay on track. My drug and what recharges me is to see people transform and shine as they progress towards their goal.
As a positive side effect of Covid-19, I settled in Provins (nice medieval city 90 mn from Paris) with my partner and our black cocker Rocky. The name of our street is “Rampe de Bellevue”; This was definitely meant to be as I “accompany people to reach the nice view they want to have on their personal & professional life”!
I live my life inspired by Gandhi’s words: “Live your life as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” I want to live my life fully, in line with my values, with joy and give my best to my passions and to those around me. I take great pleasure in feeding my curiosity. That said, it is not easy to honour this maxim every day.
I lived 38 years trying in vain to ignore my unpleasant emotions. I was fortunate to have a fast-track career. After graduating from the French business school ESSEC, I led and grew a startup to 100 people in 8 offices around the world. I then became Vice-President in a multinational market research company, in charge of a product line employing more than 700 people. After a few years though, I realised that I no longer enjoyed what I was doing.
I have always been passionate about humans. First to understand myself, my strengths, my values, my sources of joy and my limiting beliefs. As a manager, I loved most bringing the team members together, having them feel like they contributed to something greater than themselves, seeing them grow and succeeding as a team. It was quite natural for me to become a coach and facilitator.
It was during a silent Vipassana meditation retreat that I rediscovered my emotions, their power and their connection with my body. My coaching school, Co-Active Training Institute, taught me how to convert the power of these emotions. By using body and space, I help my clients to use their intuition, find answers and grow.
Seeing my clients discover their power and use it gives me joy. I love to see them take risks, adopt an attitude of curiosity. I also like to help them achieve goals aligned with their deep motivations.
I come from Paris and London is my home. I appreciate the diversity of backgrounds and thoughts, the positive attitude and freedom. I have lived in Singapore and Germany and worked with clients on 5 continents.
Outside of coaching you will most likely find me with my wife and 3 children or running in nature. I also love a good meal filled with laughter and passion, surrounded by loving, caring or inspiring people.
25 years career in FMCG from marketing & sales to broad leadership roles
From managing a country to leading a region (800 people +) including factories.
I had the chance to enjoy fantastic jobs in my early career in France (Kraft, Bonduelle, Mc Cain and Mars) and then internationally (based in Italy, Czech Republic, and the UK). During my career I get 18 different positions and more than 20 bosses. I worked in true multi-cultural environment and experienced the richness of leveraging true diversity in leadership. I enjoyed growing business and setting them up for durable success.
In the last 2 years, leveraging my robust business and leadership experience, I launched my coaching & mentoring own business and focused my work in supporting senior leaders and teams to harness their full potential. I get an executive certificate from the Dauphine PSL University in Paris and MBTI certification.
I am known for my capacity to challenge the status quo with care to support leaders on their path to harness their full potential. I will encourage the deepening of relationship in between people and the leverage of diversity in teams, fostering trust to build strong foundations and enable successful and sustainable business acceleration.
« If you can dream it, you can do it »
Walt Disney (Visionary, entrepreneur, inventor & storyteller)
My deepest values come from my personal history and the one of my family. I. I have been taught the need to be responsible of yourself and fight to climb the social ladder. I also learnt the importance of knowledge and the responsibility which comes with any powerful position.
My big 4 “Mantras” can be described as follow:
Courage: take responsibility on things, face and tell the truth with care
Diversity: embrace the power of it , leverage collective intelligence
Raising the bar: be a little better every day , never complacent
Learnings: learn from failures, be positively curious
Coming soon…