INTERVIEW BY BENEDICTE GERMON
BG: Cyrille Delapierre, who are you and what brought you to KEDGE Exec MBA ?
CD: I am an engineer in Agriculture, Agri-Food and Environment. I have carried out my various experiences in Europe, Latin America or Africa in connection with business functions (marketing / business development / sales) with management or executive roles.
Very quickly in the course of my career I wanted to complete my engineering training with a business approach (marketing / finance etc) which I only touched on during my initial studies. I was interested in the MBAs offered in the countries I lived in. I chose KEDGE for different reasons:
- my network and many companies told me a lot about the school, its professors and speakers and its business/entrepreneurial mindset
- for the possibility of completing an executive and "à la carte" training
- for the coaching approach during the training, which for me was essential
BG: What have you been up to since you ended the programme ?
CD: While I changed jobs a lot before the MBA, I've been with the same company since the beginning of my MBA. I work for Panzani and am in charge of the BtoB activity with industrial customers all over Europe. I am now in charge of an R&D, marketing and sales team.
My main actions are linked to the proposal and implementation of the strategy, to the monitoring of results, to the innovations proposed by the company, but also to the monitoring and development of the teams. I participate in various governance bodies (Executive Committee / Development Committee / Project Committee).
BG: How did the EMBA help you with your career ?
CD: I had other ideas of career progression for myself but I am satisfied to have put the MBA lessons directly into practice in companies. The change I was expecting is on its way, in any case the MBA opens doors for those who know how to open them!
BG: Can you tell us more about your recent career move ?
CD: The MBA has allowed me to progress enormously in this company and I have already climbed two levels in 3 years which was not necessarily my first objective.
BG: What is your main takeaway from KEDGE EMBA ?
CD: By taking a step back, learning about theories and concrete cases in very diverse subjects, often with students who have a different background and culture from ours. I can't hide the fact that the MBA allowed me to learn how to organise myself better because, like most students, I had to combine my professional life / MBA / personal life for two years without forgetting anything.
BG: Tell us how you transformed a failure into a success?
CD: Probably by knowing myself better. To be more precise, knowing strengths and weaknesses on which one can capitalize and how to capitalize on others' strengths when it is a weakness for us. For me the success of the MBA goes hand in hand with personal development.
