Open the field of possibilities

Open the field of possibilities

Dear Leaders,

Happy November! As we gently step into the winter season, I hope this month’s note brings you warmth and inspiration.

This time, I want to share something very special: a nugget straight from France: La Forêt des Possibles. It’s an invitation to pause, reconnect and rediscover how your team can move forward together with purpose. If you’re planning your next offsite or simply looking for a fresh way to re-energise your leadership team, this might just be the breath of air you need.

Meet Marin, its inspiring founder, and discover how La Forêt des Possibles can help your team forge new paths, build trust, and make change happen.

And since transformation always starts with people, I'm also sharing one of this month's leadership resources: “Change Management: where to start?”: a practical guide to leading change without losing the human touch.

With curiosity, courage and care,

This month's nugget

Exclusively reserved for French-speaking leaders this month: it’s available in French for now – English version coming soon!

What if your management board gave its start to the year new momentum?

I've tested a new way to connect and bring forth vision and purpose.

La fin d’année approche… Vous avez prévu un offsite avec votre équipe ? (bravo, c’est déjà très bien 👏)

Now, I can already hear you saying:

Clear ambitions, but little time to turn them into concrete plans, as schedules are already full. Tired teams, going from one committee to the next without always managing to look ahead.

What if, this year, curious leaders, you dared to do things differently? I propose a simple and pragmatic tool to inspire and structure your roadmap. A setting that allows you to slow down, to breathe, and paradoxically... to become more efficient afterwards.

Why adopt it?

To build trust based on vulnerability (the well-kept secret of any high-performing team) To awaken curiosity and the desire to explore differently. To truly open up the field of possibilities.

Concrètement, comment ça marche?

One offsite day outside the usual framework.
An immersive workshop blending creativity and pragmatism, with the tree model as its common thread: from me to us, then from us to everything.

In this B.A.N.I.* world, we need innovative approaches to transform strategy into concrete actions and to engage teams with meaning and energy.And the BPI recognised it too!)

💬 Envie d’offrir à votre CODIR un vrai moment pour souffler, réfléchir et construire autrement?

Reply to this email with “Forest of Possibilities”

B.A.N.I. defines the world we have been operating in since 2020 – a Brittle, Anxious, Non-Linear and Incomprehensible world.

Leadership nudge

Change management: where to start?

If there’s one topic that never gets old in leadership, it’s change. We talk about it all the time, yet when it happens – in our teams, our organisations, or even our own lives – it still shakes things up.

I’ve seen many leaders approach change as a plan to roll out. But real change doesn’t happen on PowerPoint slides. It happens in people: in their habits, emotions, and daily realities.

This month's resource offers a simple, structured approach to leading change without losing the human side. It breaks down where to start: from identifying real impacts, to listening to weak signals, to celebrating small evolutions – even imperfect ones!

If you’re navigating a transformation (big or small), this one’s worth a read.

→ Read it here en français ou en anglais

And don’t forget to pass the test!

Note from an inspiring leader

Meet Marin Maufrais

I had heard about Marin Maufrais long before I met him. He’s the older brother of my son’s best friend. One day, my son came home and told me about what he saw as quite a feat: Marin had resigned from his internship in public affairs. What Marin would later describe to me simply as “shedding light on an inconsistency.”

That decision led to a conversation with the CEO at the time; Emmanuel Faber. Audacity? Courage? Conviction? All three, Captain!

Audacity? Yes, because he didn’t want to leave without saying something. Courage? Yes, because Marin chose not to follow the obvious path (and with his brilliant academic record, he easily could have). Convictions? Absolutely, grounded in strong human values.

And that’s how we met: around La Forêt des Possibles. I’ll let you discover more about him.

What happens when we truly dare to open up as a team? Too often, in organisations, we keep a poker face – afraid that showing vulnerability might backfire. But that silence can come at a high cost. Imagine a boat taking on water. If the crew is too afraid to speak up for fear of being blamed, chances are they won’t make it. That sinking ship is our collective future. In a world undergoing deep transformation (climate change, resource scarcity, social tensions) our vulnerabilities are systemic. In companies, they show up in fragile value chains, a loss of meaning, burnout and growing difficulty in mobilising and retaining talent. How can we address the root causes of these vulnerabilities if we don’t dare to name them? How can we identify blind spots, solve tensions, or set a clear direction if no one speaks up about what truly matters? Freeing speech takes courage, a safe framework and a culture of trust. But it’s also about opening the door to others; discovering that one person’s fear can be balanced by another’s strength. Our vulnerabilities then become the collective’s power. In a society moving through the fog, it’s essential to build teams that are aligned, able to face uncertainty and to find new solutions together. Opening up isn’t a weakness: it’s a bet on resilience, interdependence and the long view. What inspires me in my leadership is the collective drive of my team to achieve shared goals, their dedication to continuous improvement, and the positive impact we can make when we work together effectively. I believe in the power of leading by example. If we want to guide an organisation towards an ecological, fair, and sustainable transformation, how can we hope to bring others along if we don’t start with ourselves? A few years ago, I left an elite Parisian world to get involved in Marseille’s northern neighbourhoods. Choosing a life of popular ecology surprised many around me. But it also helped gather deeply motivated teams around La Forêt des Possibles: people driven by strong values and genuine generosity. I'm naturally persistent when it comes to vision, but I always try to stay pragmatic in how to get there. I'm well aware of all the hard skills I don’t personally master and I see my role as revealing them in others. I love involving my teams, helping them grow, take ownership of projects and turn our constraints into creativity. But to inspire others, you also have to nourish yourself. I’ve experienced the fatigue that comes from overcommitment. What some call activist burnout. My ability to listen and stay calm suffered. I’ve always been inspired by those who cultivate gratitude, silence, and meditation. But slowing down is hard when you’re caught in the rush of action! Then, by chance, I had a serious bike accident and broke my phone. That moment became a turning point. I took a step back, reassessed my digital habits and decided not to reinstall social media. I'd wanted to quit for months, but it's not easy when those tools are designed to keep you hooked. I swapped scrolling for evenings of sport, reading and quiet. And guess what? Bit by bit, the energy came back. Sustainable things take time! That period of inner retreat also created more space for spontaneous initiatives within my teams, the sort that bring everyone along naturally. To me, leadership means inspiring by example, engaging through structure, and staying clear by reconnecting with yourself.