If you asked my friends, colleagues or clients to describe me (not physically), they would probably say that I’m calm and down-to-earth, creative and curious, that I love learning and improving things, and that I’m witty and fun to be with. I’m a creative, goal-focused Leadership Coach, Consultant and Group Facilitator who loves complex problems and business challenges – situations where I can use my creativity, common sense and analytical skills.
PEng, MSc, CEd, MBA, CEC/PCC
I’m bilingual (French, English) and have a diverse background including a Bachelor of Engineering and a Master of Sciences from McGill University, as well as a Teaching Diploma, an Executive MBA and a Graduate Certificate in Executive Coaching. I also hold the professional credential (PCC) from the International Coach Federation (ICF), and have experience with various individual and organizational diagnostic tools.
The first 18 years of my career were spent working for R&D centers, high-tech start-ups, Canadian public companies and international organizations, in various professional and managerial capacities. These two decades provided me with a broad spectrum of practical know-how and expertise in project management, product development, marketing, sales, finance and customer service. As a generalist at heart, I’ve got a good grasp of both the personal and social aspects of organizations as well as their more technical and operational foundations. Over the years, I’ve been involved with, or exposed to, the following sectors: computing (software and hardware), telecom and IT services, specialized high-tech, elearning and education, healthcare, financial services, retail, engineering and manufacturing.
12 years ago, I started my own solopreneurial journey with a simple idea: how can we develop soft skills more efficiently? At first, I designed and developed a simulation-based application allowing organizations to rapidly produce and deploy interactive elearning role-plays. This solution, implemented in both the pharma and aerospace sectors, was extremely well received by clients. However, I had a feeling that the outcomes were somewhat marginal in terms of lasting behavioral changes. There had to be a better way. Then someone pointed me in the direction of coaching, and, curious as I am, I dove in. At first, it felt a little clumsy and unnatural – as with any new skillset that one acquires. After a little while, I started experiencing the potential of coaching in terms of lasting changes, which gave me a boost in confidence and motivation towards this approach. But my performance started to plateau a little later on. To compensate, I blended a few more tricks that complemented my service offering: individual and team diagnostic tools, training and advisory services, and custom program development. Suddenly, my boutique practice looked like a full-fledge service provider specialized in organizational development.
Over the years, either due to client feedback or based on my own insight, I refined my services and approaches. Being a geek at heart, I developed an eCoaching platform that facilitates – and enhances – the telecoaching relationship that coaches have with their clients. I also developed my own models for leadership competence and for team effectiveness. And I summarized everything I’ve learned in the last ten years into a book: Leadership Velocity. My latest project revolves around the design and production of a suite of mobile coaching apps (stay tuned – I’m really excited about the potential effectiveness of this novel solution).
Above all, I pride himself on being able to approach challenges in a holistic fashion first, before zooming in to solve smaller issues, and then reintegrating all layers into a “big-picture”, actionable solution and plan. This pragmatic creativity, along with my down-to-earth nature and dry sense of humor, are qualities that transpire in the coaching and consulting work that I do with clients. Some of these include Ford Canada, Rogers Media, CDPQ – Caisse de Dépôts et Placements du Québec, Otsuka Pharma, Laura Canada, OIQ, TC Transcontinental, Cisco Networks, Warner Brothers, etc. For the last three years, I’ve partnered with Concordia University’s John Molson Executive Centre (https://concordia.ca/jmec), setting up and managing their executive and leadership coaching practice. I also own CRINQ Leadership (https://crinq.com), a boutique leadership coaching and organizational consulting practice focused on developing the individual capabilities and improving the team effectiveness of my clients.
| Downloadable bio (PDF), detailed version (2p): English — French |
| Downloadable bio (PDF), brief version (0.5p): English — French |