CEOx1Day stories
Read the enthusiastic reactions of the CEOx1Day programme's past participants.
Lara Soggiu at Solvay
Ilham taught me that time is the scarcest resource for a CEO. Thank you so much, Ilham Kadri, for giving me some of your time for one day! It was an extremely insightful and inspiring experience at Solvay.
Alexandre Lefin at P&V
Words alone can’t describe this experience, but I can try to describe it as very exciting and rewarding. We are immersed in the heart of the company’s operational and strategic decision-making process. Moreover, as a student who will just start his professional career, shadowing a CEO gives a lot of motivation and inspiration to achieve a great career being hopefully a great leader.
Alysée Spencer at Bozar
I am delighted to have had the chance to spend a whole busy and interesting day with Paul Dujardin, CEO of BOZAR. It was the perfect mix of leadership and culture. During the rigorous selection process, I have learned about my leadership style through the Hogan Personality assessment and I have met wonderful persons. It was an amazing experience that succeeded to challenge me and give me the importance of having long-term objectives in my professional career.
Oliviero Gianfagna at Fnac Vandenborre
The whole program has been an incredible learning opportunity. I enjoyed the selection process and the day spent with the Partners at the Odgers Berndtson offices. I find that they really gave us a lot of their attention and time, by sharing with us all the passion they have towards the Executive Search business. The program gave me the opportunity to learn about myself and to give me valuable insights that I will certainly take into consideration during my career.
Emma Declercq at Google
“Shoot for the moon” - In the CEOx1Day competition by Odgers Berndtson, I was happy to be selected among the five final students to spend one day with a CEO. And not just a CEO, but one of my all-time favourites: Thierry Geerts, Country Director of Google Belgium!
Jan-Willem Van Lancker at PwC
I would like to express my gratitude towards the firm Odgers Berndtson for this incredibly altruistic initiative. They decided this program could be of value for students, and went on and did it. That alone is a great inspiration for me. If you have the ability to give something no one else can give, because of the position you are in, you should do it. Thank you.
Martin Nolf at Sonaca
CEOx1Day is probably the best type of mentoring experience you can have. I think students should take more opportunities to be mentored, especially with mentors of such high quality.
Iyas Aït Benhiba at Degroof Petercam
A really interesting and inspiring day. Our relationship was amazing. We were straight, honest, polite but also informal. We shared the same points of view on several important topics relating to youth, the notions of change and leadership. The 30 minutes debriefing we had at the end of the day, I enjoyed most.
Lenka Slezakova at Telenet
It was very enriching. I not only got the opportunity to job shadow John for one day, but I could actively participate in the discussions and bring some insights into the way that my generation thinks and works. It was very personal and informal. John not only was willing to share his experiences with me, but we got to discuss many other global issues.
Loïk-Maël Nys at Solvay
Having debriefings after each meeting and ask open questions about what he would answer with a lot of honesty and transparency. One of the outputs I got from this experience was to understand the underlying dynamics of the job, how to deal with high-stakes conversations or lead in an effective way.
Romane Goldmuntz at EVS
The privileged moments I had were with Muriel in the car and the lunch we had with other millennials to talk about what our generation expected from a job (very interesting conversation). I did not expect that a CEO could be so available and reachable for his/her employees.
Sebastiano Federighi at AGC
I loved it. The word amazing is not strong enough to describe the day I spent. The selection process, as well as the day spent with the CEO, made me realize that I might have what it takes to become a leader of tomorrow. Nevertheless, the path to undertake is still long and full of pitfalls.
Timothy de Meester at Brussels Airlines
I will have great memories of this day with Arnaud Feist. I admire his abilities to analyse, to decide and to negotiate. His leadership style could be summarised as a calm and humble one, with attention to detail and the will to coordinate all the actions within the company to nurture its long-term strategy. I clearly recommend this experience to any student.
William De Vliegher at Proximus
It was a real privilege to be able to shadow Dominique Leroy for a whole day. I was positively surprised how welcoming and approachable she was and she impressed me in many ways. In particular, her constant sharpness and the way she manages the relations with all the different stakeholders (employees, clients, shareholders, media, etc.) is truly impressive and inspiring.
Hadrien Duhem at Recticel
It was an extraordinary experience. I felt very lucky to have the opportunity to witness one day of a CEO, and not only witness, but taking part in it. I particularly appreciated the fact that Olivier Chapelle gave me the opportunity to interact and share my opinion during the meetings; this was exceptional and I felt so empowered!
Nicolas Chavotier at RTL
My warm and grateful thanks go to Odgers Berndtson for allowing me to participate in this program. It was conducted with remarkable professionalism and a truly appreciable commitment to make the most out it for both the CEO and us, participants. Philippe Delusinne’s leadership style is one of experience, embodying a humanist approach to his functions and considering everybody equally.
