ABOUT FRANÇOIS-XAVIER LIENHART

COACHING

My long-matured decision to become an Executive Coach fell into place in 2022.

I applied and graduated for executive coaching at INSEAD Business School (Fontainebleau, France) in 2023. My choice to study there stemmed from its reputation of excellence, truly global reach and incredible diversity of experience and background amongst students, academics and trainers. Furthermore, the unique mix of psychology and international business approaches offered by the INSEAD Coaching Certificate (ICC) program confirmed my decision.  

My coaching practice is mainly based on the “Systems-Psychodynamic Perspective” and on the “Person-Role-Organization” model, which applies to teams as well as individuals, and to which I add the “Context” and “Culture” dimensions. I am also familiar with various other tools of coaching such as: GROW, therapeutically informed models (NLP, Rogerian...) as well as behavioral approaches.

In addition, my 35-year experience of the corporate world allows me to not only listen to, but also understand and put into perspective what my coachees tell me, as well as the complexity, needs and challenges of the organizations to which they belong. 

I work with an INSEAD Coach Supervisor, and am a member of the EMCC (European Mentoring and Coaching Council), Asia Pacific Chapter, of which I follow the Code of Ethics.

CAREER

I first arrived in Japan more than 36 years ago at Osaka University (faculty of Economics), as a Paris-based ESCP Business School exchange student. Since then, I have worked in Tokyo for more than 20 years. Before becoming an Executive Coach, I occupied CEO positions in various multi-national B to B industrial companies such as Saint-Gobain (building and technical materials, a company where I worked for 20 years) and ARaymond (automotive parts), as well as in B to C slow moving consumer goods at Lixil (system kitchens, a Japanese company) and Buffet Crampon (imported high-end wind music instruments).

Prior to becoming a CEO in Japan, I started my career in capital markets (Banque Indosuez), investment banking (Morgan Stanley) and held positions in corporate finance (Sanofi and Saint-Gobain), as Analyst, Controller, and CFO in France, South America and for the Asia Pacific region. 

Within the organizations, I have worked at junior and senior levels in corporate headquarters (Paris, London, Tokyo), as well as in overseas subsidiaries (including Joint-Ventures) of various sizes and degrees of complexities, in contexts of growth and development, or heavy restructuring and change management.  

EXPERIENCE

As CEO, I gained a deep knowledge of all departments, including Sales, Marketing, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Finance, IT, Legal, Compliance and HR.

I am also familiar with crisis management and lived in Japan during the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima crisis. At the time, as CEO of a building materials manufacturing company, I had to manage, with my team, the emergency shutdown of two damaged plants, organize the repairs and the emergency supply of parts and products, and handle crisis communication to all stakeholders. Health and safety of the 1000 Saint-Gobain staff were my main preoccupation, but we also initiated relief programs to the population of various Tohoku devasted areas.

I have experience in French, Japanese and American listed multinational companies, as well as family-owned businesses, and companies under private equity ownership (LBO).  

In addition to my professional responsibilities, I have been an active Board Member of the French Chamber of Commerce in Japan (CCIFJ) since 2008, and the President of the Conseillers du Commerce Extérieur de la France (CCEF – French Government Trade Advisors) for Japan since 2021, an organization where I still gain significant exposure to a broad variety of business strategies and situations.  

Furthermore, I founded the VIE Club (International Volunteering in Enterprise) of Japan, offering support to French young professionals at the early stages of their careers. I also regularly offer on-line mentoring to ESCP Business School students.   

 

In addition to French being my first language, I speak fluent English, Japanese (Bachelor of Japanese language from Paris University, JLPT N2) and Portuguese, and speak German and Spanish at an intermediate level. Before coming back to Japan in 2004 with an Asia-Pacific global role, I also lived in Brazil and the UK, as well as in France where I was raised, educated, and worked for 10 years.  

MY COACHING PHILOSOPHY

The main reason I have chosen to become a coach is to help people in their work environment through my own experience.

There are many ways to do so, but now, after 35 years of working in the corporate world I want to have a more direct positive impact on my coachee’s lives at work, as well as on their career and professional development. Without intermediaries. I feel the most content and fulfilled through the human aspect of coaching: my client’s reactions, smiles, nods and when I am told I have made a difference in their professional lives. 

CONTACT ME

Are you facing challenges in your company as an executive? Contact me and I will create a personalized plan to fit your needs and goals.