EP05 - Who Am I ?
It is a simple question. But not an easy one. If you ask for a title, I can give you several. CEO. Global executive. Strategy lead. Team builder. But those are outcomes. Not answers. Who I am is more layered.
In this Episode:
Francois Jacquemin reflects on his personal and professional journey. From shoemakers to boardrooms, curiosity and culture have shaped his leadership.
I was raised in a family that held two kinds of power: knowledge and craft. On one side, a father who gave me history and logic. On the other hand, a mother who showed me business from a small shop floor. I carry both.
I grew up curious. I asked too many questions. I still do.
What shaped me was not only education, but experience. Being the first employee at a new venture. Learning by doing. Failing. Recovering. Trying again. Leading before I was given authority, and discovering that this is where real leadership begins.
Leading without authority
It is easy to stand in front when the title allows it. But the true test is stepping in when no one asked you to. Being useful without being loud. Adding value before being seen. That is where trust is built.
Over time, I have led organisations, launched global products, and managed transformation inside legacy systems. I have worked across cultures, from Belgium to Germany to Luxembourg, from boardrooms in the US to teams in India. And the crucial skill I carry is not strategic planning. It is cultural awareness.
Curiosity and contrast
I am just as comfortable discussing history as I am leading an insurance transformation, because both involve stories of systems, people, and decision-making.
My training in engineering gave me structure. My experience in large organisations taught me how to navigate ambiguity. And my fascination with psychology, culture, and now artificial intelligence keeps me learning.
The tension between chaos and clarity is where I operate best.
Execution is personal
The best strategic ideas mean nothing without people who can bring them to life. That means listening before moving. Context before conclusion. And understanding how different teams, cultures, and markets shape behaviour. Leadership is never one-size-fits-all. It is a commitment to adjust without losing integrity.
So, who am I?
I am a leader who thinks globally and acts locally. Who respects differences and looks for common ground. Who knows how to execute because I know how to listen.
The résumé matters. But the mindset matters more.
Timecode:
00:00 Introduction: Who Am I?
00:54 Family Background and Early Influences
03:59 Educational Journey and Early Leadership Lessons
07:12 Career Beginnings and Entrepreneurial Spirit
09:14 Leadership Philosophy and Global Experience
10:38 Cultural Insights and Adaptability
12:25 Conclusion: Embracing Diversity and Leadership
Francois Links:
Apple Podcast
Transcript:
So who am I? That's, uh, that, that, that's a complex question, but it can be summarized very, very quickly. I'm just a simple man. Um, who likes, um, his freedom, uh, who likes, um, doing business, who likes leading people who likes, uh, has strong passion into, uh, into working out. Uh, complex situation, uh, taking, taking on challenges and, uh, and, and, and putting all, all the effort, energy, uh, everything that, that, that makes me into, into achieving it.
That, uh, that led me where, where I'm today. So I've been leading, uh, twice, uh, twice a company and I was also a global exec for, for, for, for, uh, 10 years. Um, but let's, let's start from the, from the very beginning and, uh, or even before the beginning and coming from a family, uh, from the, from Belgium, uh, India then, and, uh, two different side of the family.
My, from my father, intellectual, um, and, uh, and university trained, um, biology, uh, willing to, you know, open to the world and, and interesting into, uh, into, uh. A lot of things, uh, not, not not on this field, but, uh, somebody who's, um, gave me the passion for, for history and, and, and knowledge and, uh. Uh, I was annoying him with a lot of questions while I was kid and, and received a lot of information.
So that's the problem of parents when they know a lot, they get, they get asked a lot. Uh, and, uh, that, that's also, uh, curiosity, uh, something that, uh, that shapes me still today. I'm curious in people, I'm curious about the environment I'm in. I'm curious about understanding, uh, a company value chain, for instance, uh, to, to come back from, from to, to business.
So that that's an important. And the other part of the, of the family, more entrepreneur, a very entrepreneur. So my, my grandmother and my left, left, uh, a parents' house or escaped from a parents' house who marry my grandfather, and they set up a, a little firm together. So it was, uh, they were shoemaker, uh, they're the, a little company of 10, 20, 20 employees before World War ii.
And, uh, so they started from, from nothing. Of course, in the family. There was a bit of culture of that. You know, they, they, they build that together and, uh, they had a, a shop. They were, they were selling, but producing and selling, and they were getting up very early every day because the, the, the people were going from, from the station to, to the, wherever they were going to work.
And, uh. You need to catch the people when, when, when they're available. So you need to be, uh, there on the way and, and, and show your shoes when, uh, when they were passing by, you know? So, uh, it's about hard work. It's about entrepreneurial. It's about being, being, being open. And my, my mom, she was, uh, oh, no school, you know, the opposite of the other side, you know, it's just like, no school.
No, no, no, no, no. And then her father said, well, you know, you need to, to you see, you have to do it. And, and she said no. And then she won. So he said, then, uh, you come and, and show what you can do in a shop. And, and she, she was selling very well. And then, uh, at 20 or 21, she got, uh, she got her own shop, so, uh, in a different town and she, she was able to, to be an outlet for, for the, for the company.
And that was, uh, that was very entrepreneurial. Of course, at some point she got married, she had three, three boys. And, uh, that was a bit more. Uh, let's say, uh, difficult to run, to run a company and or to run the shop. So she gave up and, and, and finally, uh, you know, the, those, those type of, uh, of business, you know, you have Gucci and Prada, but they, they were another, neither of them.
So they, they were written by, by all the other brands. But still, it, it, it was inspiring that, uh, those people, they, they, they, they gave me the, the, the culture and, and the willingness and the curiosity to, uh. To be entrepreneurial and to, to, to be business oriented. Where I was from, uh, is a, is a small village in, in the middle of nowhere.
So beautiful when you're a kid. Um, and then, uh, I went through education. My, as I mentioned, uh, uh, earlier to, to your question that that's where I learned about leadership. The, the first. Real Mark, uh, was this story of Julie Caesar, who went in, in the first line fighting with his man to change the tide, uh, which gave me the, the, the basic culture of, uh, who, who I, who I am.
And, uh, then I went to, to learn about, uh, engineering and engineering, applied mathematics. So very, very Cartesian, very organized in my thought in the way, um. Things need to happen, uh, in, in, uh, in life and, um, or not because basically it's, you know, everything is chaos. And, and we try simply to organize it in thought.
But even mathematics, uh, there is space for, for chaos. Um, and, and, and psychology and, and people, you know, you have to, the game theories is a bit more. The economic orientation, but there's a lot of space for, uh, failure or, or, or wins. If, uh, the prisoner's dilemma, if they, if they work together, they win, but if they work against each other, uh, then they, they both lose.
Yeah. You know, so there's always a space for, for emotion and, and, and, and humans. And that will always remain through my career. I've just done a, a diploma now in, uh, AI strategy. And, uh, AI will not work without humans, and humans will not work without ai. Emotions need to be to, to, to, to be in the middle.
Of course, AI will, will get a bit of emotion, but, uh, and human will be a bit more organized. But you know, the combination of both is, is the winning one, not the one against each other. And, uh, what, what shaped me as well, uh, is, is, is, is to step up in leadership. When it matters. It's not to be always to be willing to be, to be a leader and, and to be the leader.
Showing oneself is not always good. Maybe sometimes, like everyone overdo it or underdo it. But being a leader is being able to also listen, being able to step back, being able, able to set up when there is a, when, when there's a, there's a, there's a time needed, or the people around you need it. There's a, something that I've learned, Italians was lead without authority.
It's very important to do, to be able to do that. If you need the authority to lead, then you're not. I believe, uh, a leader or you will learn to be one, but there's a lot of things that you need to learn before being the real leader that you want to be. If you manage to learn without the authority, then it's much not more natural to become the, uh, a leader and the emotions, the heart comes quicker.
That's what I've learned. So learning of being a leader is not being in the leading position is about the journey, uh, going there. Um, then, uh, well, I'm somebody who is international and, uh, very open to different culture from, from the very beginning. I was, uh, I was the first employee of the company. It was, um.
I chose that job because I was the first employee, you know, to, uh, entrepreneurial the ability to learn, the ability to influence, the ability to, to have one hand in lots of, um, of, um, topics, subject, understanding, influencing. And from that moment on, it was also very important that the IT technology.
Digitalization was there. We launched very early on a, um, a, a product in Germany, which was, uh, reducing the lead time for a contract to, to client from three months to, to 24 hours, simply because we've applied. Technology to be able to achieve it. Of course, we, we came from a grieving situation, so it's perfect.
You know, when you start from nowhere to have a dream and to, to achieve it. That was not my dream. I was part of that dream and we, we shared it was a team achieving it, uh, with much more. Important, uh, people in in the industry at the time because, uh, I was very, very green and they were very experienced, but they were mentoring, they were, um, willingly or unwillingly.
It, it was great to be part of the, of that team. Then, uh, the evolution was like, um, at some point I needed to, to step up and, and, and take the lead of that, that company, which I did. Uh, it was also a super challenge. Um, I could have simply. Decided to rest on my laurel and, and say, okay, I just leave, leave the company and, and, and leave the, the, the nice little life that the shareholders wanted.
But no, I wanted more. And, uh, we developed a totally new project, very international, uh, expat, global, global product bringing. The best of, of the, the group I was working for at the time. So I was relying on plenty of stakeholders around the group to be able to, to, to achieve and, and to execute that product.
Then I move on into the group center, so very, very big company, group center, which is totally different life than being in a, in a, in a country or CEO of a, of a country. Uh, learning a lot about, uh, the, the, the inside of, of a large group. The benefit of the, nor the pool of intelligent people there, the, the, the amount of of of, of feedback positive and negative received during the day is amazing.
And, uh, you are able to build to shape yourself. You're not, you're not shaped if you have not been living in that very abrasive and still exhilarating and, and inspiring environment. And, uh, I was doing international pro, uh, international project. I was always international, uh, always, always viewing the world.
As a, as, as a potential, um, garden, I would say, or, you know, so everything seems closed in my mind, uh, globally. So, uh, although sometimes it takes a while to, to get there, but in, in my mind, everything is closed. Um, I've learned as well as to, to listen, not, not, not to. Drive myself towards people, but to be able to understand the culture of people, you know?
And, um, the first cultural challenge I had was from a small firm to a big firm. This is a big shock then, then you, you learn that in, in different countries it's working different ways, which goes without saying, but then you learn that the, the French culture and the German culture is so different. My god.
That, that, that's something which is which, and, and you learn that the Spanish culture and the German culture are extremely, very close in business because they're extremely organized. Cost oriented, uh, the willingness to achieve. So the, the, there's some element that are unexpected. You, you will only understand if you leave them and listen to them, and you need to, to remain open.
And one of my, my, my, my, I think what I've learned and, and something that can bring is um, is my ability to understand culture and to be able to. To see we're in Luxembourg today. Um, and, and, and I'm very at ease in a French speaking environment, as you can see from my accent. But, uh, I'm also very, very much at ease in the, in the German environment, and I understand how German works.
The, the way the hierarchy is working totally different in, in Germany than, than, than, uh, than, than in France or Latin countries. Um, and it's the same for beyond Europe. So the us, uh, have different, uh, when, when you say there's no rule in the us, everything's open. I mean, you know, no, this extremely buttoned up is extremely strict.
There are processes, procedures, protocols that you need to follow. If it's not a hundred percent, the US will not, uh, you know, follow is not like, you know, hands in the pocket. You know, I open a company and I can start selling. No, no, it's not the way it works. And, and, and, and do. Dubai is working differently.
India's working differently, far is different, you know, and the ability to understand that is something that I, um, I enjoy. And maybe the way I speak now is, is, is, is part of, of, of my passion as well. So, uh, who am I? I'm a, I'm a leader who is, uh, open to culture, uh, willing to, uh, um. To, to, to listen to, to, to cul the various culture, to diversity, and to learn from it and to achieve a, um, solution or solutions that are, uh, optimal for, for client and show, uh, shareholders and stakeholders alike.