In The Know by INSEAD

Successful executives seldom get to the top alone. Even the most talented need the help of other people to reach their true potential. As the workplace becomes more competitive and interactive, the practice of leadership coaching and mentoring is becoming more common as ambitious individuals seek guidance, and senior executives realise the importance of helping people reach their full potential by sharing knowledge and insights. Today we're going to delve into a successful career coaching partnership and discuss the differences between the many roles people can play in guiding us in our careers, and the benefits that can bring the individual. Our Guests Nicolaas Woudenberg Nicolaas is a Consultant at BCG and the CEO & Founder of Strōm which is a Human Performance coaching platform that energizes people to thrive through an offline coaching marketplace integrated with a digital journey of gamified micro-learning and habit building. Gene Cleckley Gene is a Career Coach in INSEAD’s CDC. He worked with hundreds of clients from all over the world, leveraging a 25-year career in global management, leadership development, corporate and organisational culture. Gene holds an academic and training background in organisational behaviour, psychotherapy and counselling, while also being an INSEAD EMC graduate.

“Don't wait for the future to tell you what to do. It is better to make mistakes in a strategy than having no strategy at all.” - José Luis Álvarez, INSEAD Senior Affiliate Professor of Organisational Behaviour. In episode 19 we discuss the importance of having a strategy or at least an idea ready for implementation and what career strategies look like in 2021. Our Guests Sonal Bahl Sonal is the Founder and Career Strategist at SuperCharge, a career advisory firm specialising in helping senior CSuite executives with their career challenges. Sonal is also the creator and host of the podcast How I Got Hired, which is a show aimed at inspiring 400 million jobseekers, looking to revive their work careers affected by the pandemic. Sonal is an MBA’09J and was an active member of INSEAD Women in Business Club and was responsible for Sponsorship, Marketing and Campus Liaison activities. Christos Manolis Christos is the Head of HR Benelux, Germany, France for PepsiCo and Human Resources leader with experience in the consumer goods industry in a variety of HRBP and specialist roles with UK, Europe and Globally. Christos leads a talented HR team at PepsiCo and partners business leaders across 7 western European markets supporting the growth of a $2bn portfolio and the organisation's transformation. Christos is an MBA’09J and was the President & Career Representative for the Consumer & Luxury Goods Club.     

Partners and children enrich and enliven our community and we try to make sure that everyone benefits from the INSEAD experience. Through the availability of on-campus support, activities and the INSEAD Partners' community INSEAD children even get their own network of international friends, just like mum and dad. Plus, both Singapore and Fontainebleau are child-friendly places to live. Our Guests Ana Val Romera Ana is a supply chain specialist with bachelor and master degrees in industrial engineering. Before pursuing her MBA, Ana joined Daimler in 2014 and managed Daimler's largest spare part procurement team and oversaw 40% of Daimler’s global spare part procurement worth a total of €820 million. Tim van Vliet Tim is the Co-founder of an alternative protein start-up INSEACT www.inseact.com. His start-up has received many awards, including the INSEAD Venture Competition, INSEAD Social Impact Award, Most Disruptive MBA Start-Up of 2019 (Poets and Quants) and the MBA Start-Up to look Out For In 2020 (Business Because).   Visit https://www.insead.edu/master-programmes/mba/student-life/partners-families to find more information about partners and families within the INSEAD MBA programme.   

The last 12 months have shown us that the unpredictable can happen and our best-laid career plans don’t always work out the way we intend them to. To help us explain how we can understand and succeed in an ever-changing career landscape I am joined by two individuals responsible for ensuring students in the pioneering INSEAD Master in Management class build solid foundations for their future career success. Our Guests Jessica Whitehead Jessica is the Assistant Director of Career Development and Employer Engagement for INSEAD’s Master in Management.  Jessica has a background in managing programmes and strategic partnerships in Canada, the UK, and China. Most recently she worked in the Global Engagement Office at UCL, and prior to that, she worked at London Business School helping to operationalise the re-launch of the MiM programme. She also holds an undergraduate degree in business and a Master in education. Thibault Seguret Thibault is the Programme Director for INSEAD’s Master in Management programme and holds a Master of Computer Science as well as an MBA from INSEAD (12J). An experienced manager with over 12 years of experience, he started his career in the video games industry. Passionate about career development, he launched a start-up right after his MBA to challenge the way teenagers and young adults thought about their careers.  

INSEAD has four equally important application criteria that guide our selection of an exciting, dynamic and diverse student body. The MBA Admissions team is looking for people with intellectual curiosity, personal qualities to contribute to the many INSEAD activities and a desire to stretch themselves in a rigorous academic programme. We welcome applications from around the world regardless of race, religion, gender, colour or financial status. Gain insights into these criteria and how you can strengthen your MBA eligibility from the INSEAD Women in Business (IWiB) club who aim to create more opportunities for women to become stronger leaders and future role models. Since its launch, IWiB has built considerable interest among MBA participants and outside organisations across all of INSEAD’s campuses. IWiB aims to be a forum for discussion and networking for anyone promoting gender diversity within the business community. Guests Tips/strategies on how to tackle the GMAT by Whitney Garner from Manhattan Prep Student panel discussion (moderated by Maria Reis, Assistant Director, MBA & MIM Marketing and Recruitment Q&A from the audience (moderated by Kate Richardson, Marketing & Events Officer)