Name: Anne Laure BARTENAY

Title: Founding Consultant

Organisation: ALB Marketing & Events

My name is Anne Laure Bartenay, I'm a 37 years old French lady who is living in Cambodia for 8 years. I'm sharing my life in Cambodia with my partner Laurent.

Few years ago, (we don't count anymore at my age) I studied foreign languages at the university them I went to a business school where I obtained a Master in Management degree. After working for 4 years in Paris for a consulting company in mangement, I decided to change to give more meaning to my life and I went for a 2 year volunteer contract in Cambodia.

Them one mission after another, I'm now here for 8 years and I just launched a second company here, specialised in strategic marketing and events

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Anne's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

What I find the most challenging thing as a leader is to succeed to share your passion, your vision with the others, to succeed to embark them on your journey and to guide them throughout the path.

I also found that a leader is ofter alone... people are counting on you, but you, you can count only on yourself.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

It's a tricky question... I'm not sure that we decide to become a leader, is just happening.

Working with people, trying your best to influence them and to inspire them, sharing your vision and your passion with them.

You try to transmit what you've learnt (and you learn a lot from them back), people count on you to rise challenges, to guide them and one day you find out that they follow you and that you're a leader!

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

I always start my day with an early workout training, I'm a kind of sport addicted and this allow me to wake up my body and mind and to start my day full of energies!

First step of my professional day, I read and answer to my emails, then I follow my "to do list" to make sure that I don't miss anything (it helps me to put order in my priorities and so in my mind!)

I always take the time for a lunch break, with my partner or my friends to change my mind and to stock up on energy!

During the day, I take time to do monitoring and read articles in my field to stay up to date! I must always be one step ahead for my clients.

When I can, (and I really try to keep my routine) I go to yoga to break up with professional journey. It allows me to cool my mind and body down.

Then, most of the time, (when I'm not on "duty"), I go for dinner with my partner and or my friends.

My last step of the day is reading a book or watching a movie / TV show, but I go to bed early as I usually wake up early and need my 7 hours sleep!

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

The last leadership lesson I've learnt recently is that you can't have two leaders managing the same project. Because, even if you have the same mission, you don't necesserily share the same vision and path to do things. Then, it becomes very confusing for the team as they can't follow two different persons at the same time!

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

I don't have a specific book that had a profound impact on my leadership, I was more inspired by leader I met in my professional life. From my mentor at the business school (that was actually my first professional experience) to the ones I met during all along my carreer.

During all my professional career, I was quite lucky as I met inspiring leaders who were real mentors for me, sharing their experiences and advices with me!

Maybe it's a bit cliché but the first leaders I met in my life were my parents, my dad had was a manager for a big international company and my mum was an entrepreneur, so in their area, they were both leaders who inspired me.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

Hum... I would say, be always yourself, honest and humble to be able to inspire the others, if they trust you, they will follow you!

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

A meaning moment for me was, when a staff from my team shared with me during a staff party, that I'm a good manager because even if I'm hard with her sometimes, pushing her out of her comfort zone, it helps her to outperfom, to improve herself.

She told me that she trust me and that even if I'm always "busy", she knows I'm available for her and that she can talk to me about her doubts, personnal or professional problems.

She said that I helped her to be more confident and was a role model for her as a manager, becoming a manger herself, she was realizing that's it's not a easy job as we were often alone in our decison making process...

It made me very emotional and this day I knew I suceeded to be a leader inspiring the others.