What does the CWIA experience bring to you?
Exposure, experience, knowledge, new people around me, opportunities to learn, to travel.
How did the coach-coachee selection process go? What were the criteria? Can you reveal the identity of the business for which you are a coach?
Insead and Cartier select the pairs. After that, the coach and the entrepreneur start working on the business plan and the presentation in front of the jury. This coaching process takes about three months. Last year I worked with someone from North America (who has a water-saving business); this year, I am working with an entrepreneur representing North Africa & the Middle East.
What is your coaching experience? Have you ever accompanied entrepreneurs in the start-up phase?
I have rather done executive coaching with people in leading positions from big companies in Romania or in other countries. I have worked with many nationalities, people working in Romania or in other countries.
Last year I started collaborating with Cartier and working with entrepreneurs.
This year I started working with a Romanian entrepreneur through RBL. This is a mentoring program.
I can not therefore say that I have great experience in working with entrepreneurs. I do have great experience in working with business people (and entrepreneurs are business people, right?). After all, there are some principles that can apply everywhere. The way we apply them makes the difference. It is like music – there are just a few musical notes; the way they were interpreted, combined, gave birth to Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, or Tchaikovsky’s No. 1 Concerto for Piano and Orchestra.
Tips for entrepreneurs at the beginning of the road
They should put all their energy to the use of their company; work as much as they can; make things happen, not be hindered in ‘plans, procedures, processes’ – these come along with time.
Get surrounded by passionate, energetic people, but also by people whom they can learn from;
Do not let one day go by without learning something new;
Expect that they will not always have financial stability and this will not come easily. Be tolerant towards every day uncertainty.
Know that it is their job to come up with new ideas, to innovate, to represent the company – for a fairly long time (if not forever)
Not forget to have people who would bring them back to earth, telling them the truth, always putting a mirror in front of them. Just like the kings from the good old times who had a “fou du roi” who had the right to say anything, a good entrepreneur also needs a coach, a mentor, a person whom they can trust to always tell them the truth, help them, support them.
Many consider that there are no gender differences in Romanian business. What do you think?
I can not generalize on this. I can only talk from my own experience, from I have seen around me. There have been many situations when clients have told me they prefer to work with a man. I was angry at the moment but I accepted the fact and went on. I have also had situations where it was easier to do something because I was a woman – and not just in Romania. We all have preferences, we all make choices, both emotional, and rational. It would be a hypocrisy not to admit this.
To what extent is the collaboration with Cartier a recognition of your coaching skills?
Cartier has two partners in this project: Insead and McKinsey. I have done executive coaching and consulting at Insead; I think it was mattered in my choosing that I was educated in a certain spirit. For this project, choices go towards coaches who have the right studies and a lot of business experience. I was very happy in January 2017, when I found out that I had been selected. I hope this has also meant recognition – but recognition comes bit by bit, after all – whenever a project has good results when the man I am working with is happy. I have had situations when I received feedback about my impact in the coaching project after a few years. A comment like ‘a big part of who I am now is thanks to you’, even if it comes after a few years, may be a recognition. Although I think I tell the same things to everyone, I put the same amount of energy, involvement, passion in each project. It is similar to when you put the same flower seeds in a garden – some will bloom and shine, others will grow less and more slowly.
Talking about Cartier, last year I coached a US entrepreneur who won the big prize. I had very big emotions, I cried with joy together with her – but I know it is her merit in a very large proportion.
I think when you do coaching it is important to be ready to stand behind, to understand that you are not the one who will shine, the one you work with will.
What can you recommend to a beginner coach?
They should expose themselves as much as possible, gain experience as much as they can, as diverse as they can, before actually being a coach. I do not think that speaking only from coursebooks can help in the long run.
They should learn every day, read, listen to something new every day.
Have role-models around, people to inspire or to help them be in touch with reality. It’s easy to think you know them all, think that you are always right…
I like to sometimes position myself as a Pinocchio who has several Jimini Crickets around. I have had the chance to have a lot of Crickets that bring my feet back to the ground, giving me different perspectives, people who know a lot of things in different areas.
Get surrounded by very young people – they give us whole new perspectives, I think it helps to have a young mind.
