We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Veronique BOGLIOLO FRIEDMAN a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Veronique , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s jump into the story of starting your own firm – what should we know?

My story is the story of a personal reinvention and going from being a highly paid and high-power marketing executive having a global role in an international corporation based in Europe to establishing my Leadership and Executive Coaching firm Bogliolo Coaching and Consulting out of New York, NY (www.bogliolo.net). And seven years later, here I am, launching my second firm OpenField Solutions (www.openfieldsolutions.net), with a wonderful business partner, Molly Flanagan, and our aim is to support leaders and their teams in shaping and designing the organizational culture they need to achieve their business goals or challenges.

I changed continent, lifestyle, life purpose and job in one year, just before the COVID pandemic. I always liked to be stretched, and I never thought that besides my personal choices, a global pandemic would further add to that stretch! To build my clientele, I could no longer rely on networking and meeting people in person through events, which I had started to do in Manhattan, but I had to do it virtually and reach my network very differently. People were also worried, literally Zoomed out, facing a multitude of challenges at work and at home, and my potential clients needed me more than ever, but wouldn’t necessarily decide on leadership coaching in such blurry times. My communication became an essential tool to build awareness of my new work and firm.

So, my main approach has consisted in establishing a clear simple message of what my offer was, and what working with me would look like. I used a few close friends to test my message and once I could express my offer in a clear easy way, I reached out to my closest network one by one, in a personalized way. Overtime, I expended this reach to less and less familiar people. I systematically asked for feedback to my clients, which was helpful to improve what I could, and it also supported me in building a strong testimonial database, making my early clients my strongest allies. They, in turn, started to refer me to their own networks. Until today, happy former clients in my network are my main source of business, coupled with a simple articulation of what I stand for.

I always had an affinity for communication, after all, I was a former business and marketing executive. Retrospectively, I probably over did in time and resources in terms of communication spent on LinkedIn. I needed to establish my brand, which I did successfully, surrounding myself with talented professionals. But I spent too much time and money on this and could have used some of these resources differently, either for my own profitability (my bottom line) or to find a sales associate to generate more direct sales. I was excited to try different tools and experiment, so I’m glad I tried and learned, and I couldn’t know until I tried. Now, I am very clear about what works and doesn’t work for me, so I am wiser in how I organize my commercial approach.

The truth is what works for a big corporation doesn’t necessarily work for a small firm, and vice versa! I had to learn that and readjust.

Veronique , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I offer executive and leadership coaching to leaders, and their teams, who are ready to boost their leadership and performance, who want an expert external eye to navigate complex transformations, or want to address trust issues or conflicts at work…

After more than 25 years of a high intensity executive global role in a multinational based out of Europe, I needed to stop and recenter myself to be more aligned with whom I am and what impact I want to make on my world. I also realized my pace was simply not sustainable and my body started to send me alarming health signals, that I could no longer ignore. But I was not done working! I had still so much energy, enthusiasm, curiosity and desire to learn. I also wanted to support leaders, future or established ones, in performing better in a more sustainable way.

I know that I have a lot to offer, and my work in this world is to keep equipping leaders with tools and mindsets to make this world a better place, especially the world of work. At the end, any solution to sort out the many challenges our world faces will come from thriving and visionary organizations. I am there to help build the right set up around such leaders and their teams. I enable talent.

What sets me apart is a combination of who I am as a person, a trail blazer, a risk taker and strategist and my wealth of professional and personal experiences. The magic in my approach is my inspiring presence, compassion, and sense of humor. With a combination of structure and creativity, I bring a variety of perspectives, as well as my deep understanding of interpersonal relations, so my clients can confront their life’s challenges, grow, and transform from their own experiences.

And finally, I am over the moon proud that in 7 years, out of a blank page, I became an established and reputed leadership and executive coach trusted by many clients from around the world. I have founded two businesses to serve a wide range of clients. I have been coaching for over 1.200 hours, more than 80 global clients (corporate or individuals) and have acquired the most recognized credentials (PCC and ACTC by the ICF) the profession can offer, with a relentless focus on my own learning and growth for the benefit of my clients.

Do you have any insights you can share related to maintaining high team morale?

I don’t know any other way than to build deep trust among team members and team members vs their leaders. Trust is the foundation to every success that the team sets for itself.

Without trust, teams don’t have the ability to have difficult conversation or manage conflicts that inevitably will happen. Without trust, teams won’t experience the necessary safety to address issues, they will shrug their shoulders and sweep issues under the carpet, until those issues come back roaring because they were unsolved.

Without the ability to address frankly issues, teams won’t show the necessary commitment to achieve the extra mile needed for resounding success. Commitment from all is what will ensure extraordinary results, the confluence of all talents aiming at one clear objective.

And finally, when there is commitment, there is accountability and attention to results. Clear accountability will be possible when a team is committed, and then the team will focus on reaching extraordinary results. A team that achieves what it had set for itself in terms of success will be, is a team with the highest morale, an invincible team.

There is nothing that unites more than accomplishing together outstanding results.

All other activities that you can do to increase team building are nice and not to be neglected, but they won’t be effective unless you work out, as a leader, the heart of why teams are together: to achieve great things together. And to do that, the leader must relentlessly build the trust among each member, address issues that arise and exemplify commitment and accountability.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

Know who you are, be who you are, be responsible for the world around you and the impact you have on it. Shortly said, not always easy to do, and certainly getting to really know who you are and accept all parts of who you are is a life journey.

My clients or my colleagues know that with me, they see what they get, they get what they see. I have no agenda, I don’t second guess, I am. I am very clear in any relationship that that’s how I function, and if it feels uncomfortable, I respect it, and we probably won’t be able to do great work together. I see things. I say them for the benefit and the growth of my clients. And we will laugh or cry about it. But we will progress for sure.

Now, I am also deeply compassionate and meet my clients where they are. I listen all ears and heart open to my clients, and I will tell them what I see when they are able to hear it and process it, even if it’s uncomfortable. I both self-manage and listen to my intuitions. It’s a dance, and as a coach, I will be most effective for my clients’ sake when I can share my intuition at a moment the client can process it.

This mix is at the heart of my relationship and my reputation. It’s a build up over time, but it started by creating a deep acceptance and knowing of who I am and what I bring to the party that will be uniquely mine.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.bogliolo.net and www.openfieldsolutions.net
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veronique-bogliolo-b019374/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bogliolocoachingconsulting
• Other: The Voice Newsletter: https://www.bogliolo.net/the-voice/

Image Credits
These pictures are mine, done by a professional photographer, there are no credits or rights involved.