Jérôme was born and raised in Toulouse, the capital of Europe’s aerospace industry, and one could argue that he may have been destined to work in the sector.
“I could see Airbus flight test planes taking off from my parents’ flat living room,” he says, adding: “I have always been attracted to aerospace and aircraft manufacturing.”
Soon after joining Oliver Wyman in 2007, the firm proposed he to move from Paris back to Toulouse to specialize on aerospace and Airbus, which proved a personal turning point for him. “That was a unique opportunity to get closer to my clients and to develop my network by being where many decisions are taking place in the industry,” says Jérôme. “But it also helped bring about an exceptional work-life balance by coming back to the region where I was born and where most of my family is still living.”
Jérôme works with the CEOs and senior executives at aerospace and defense companies, focusing on strategic transformation issues aimed at performance improvement and/or organizational evolutions. His clients value the authenticity and empathy he brings to each engagement – and the clock speed at which he operates in proposing solutions to challenging strategic issues. “People seek me out for complex problem solving, when it requires multiple factor analysis and good dose of co-creation to find the global optimum solution.”
After a very intense, complex and yet successful project, I was invited into the CEO office and received a model of one of their flagship aircraft as a reward for my personal commitment to the company transformation success. This beautiful model now sits in my living room, reminding me about this very successful and complex transformation journey every time I see it!
Beyond seeking strong business results for clients, he believes he’s had an impact on some leaders by opening their mind and changing the way they make decisions, and by sharing disruptive ideas, pushing them to put more personal skin into their leadership, leading them to take some calculated risks. “I try to encourage leaders to take a holistic perspective, mixing very data-driven and benchmark-related aspects of the decision with very much human/people-centric elements.”
He sees a number of challenges facing the aerospace sector, particularly in the wake of the pandemic. “The industry has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. The coming months and years will open major opportunities for those who are agile and bold enough to seize them. I want to help my clients to come out of the crisis as winners.”
In addition to being an aerospace consultant, he also happens to be a private pilot. “There is no ‘extra-mile’ concept for me: I work and live my passion thanks to Oliver Wyman!”