Driven by the passion to help, inspire, and develop individuals, Cloé Caron has transformed the lives of many leaders and organizations through her human approach to entrepreneurship.
After a transitional career change from manager to coaching leaders on the impact they wish to have on their team and organization, Cloe is now the head of a coaching company named o2Coaching, which counts five employees. From being a coach to an entrepreneur, her role has evolved, and she feels that it is now her responsibility to share and implement an inspiring vision to her team for them to achieve the goals that she had in mind when she started the company. Besides, she is also an author of Empower Your Team and the Founder of the Empower Your Team Movement.
We, at Insights Success, interviewed Cloe to unveil her inspiring entrepreneurial journey and her contribution to the coaching industry through o2Coaching.
Below are the highlights of the interview:
Take our readers through your journeys being at the helm of o2Coaching.
I have been challenged every day since day 1. I was always a high performer, but as an entrepreneur, I had to let go of my ego and my desire to be perfect. If I wanted my business to be successful, I had to shift from me performing to helping others to perform. A shift I had started as a leader in the pharmaceutical industry but that was completed by me having to be and act as the CEO of my company.
To reach the goals I have set and to have an impact on organizations, team dynamics is so important, especially in a small company. I am proud that my company now employs 5 great women who work with me in the realization of my vision. I call them the Exceptional Contributors.
When was the company established, and what was the idea behind starting it?
Younger, I studied law, hoping that my contribution would be grand. I realized that it was not my path, that it didn’t suit my empathetic nature. I wanted to make a difference, to have an impact in people’s lives, to be the change as they say.
I managed to land a position in the pharmaceutical industry at GSK, a place where communication and leadership were valued. There, I had the chance to develop my leadership abilities, and I discovered coaching. It led me to launch my coaching and leadership company o2Coaching, six years ago. It’s been a great journey ever since.
What is your idea of impactful leadership? What style of leadership do you personally prefer and have implemented at your company?
I believe that an optimal leader knows how to juggle numerous leadership styles depending on the situation, people, and context. It requires empathy and perspective. The more we use the leader-coach style, the more we develop people and create engagement, autonomy, and accountability. This leadership style is the one I use as often as I can. It allows my team to be innovative and to fully contribute to achieving the goals of the organization.
What were the challenges you came across in becoming what you are today?
Before becoming an entrepreneur, I had a great job, prestige, security, and notable growth opportunities. Somehow, I was willing to give it all up to focus on what mattered most to me: people. Am I going to be successful? Will I make the difference that I want to make? I realized that I had a great network, experience, and skills to make it happen. Therefore, I took the plunge and created my business o2Coaching.
This biggest challenge I’ve had to face since was the pandemic. Would my business survive or disappear? Have I done all of this for nothing? I had big ambitions. I choose to maintain my company and support the leaders of tomorrow.
Elaborate about o2Coaching’s Professional Training & Coaching and its importance.
Our main feature at o2Coaching is that we are flexible, and we adapt to the needs of our customers. All our coaching and programs are delivered by ICF certified coaches available 100% online through virtual meetings, micro-learning tools, blogs, podcasts, and my book, Empower your Team, in which you find my 5C Model to help any leader and team to perform.
The needs change from one client to another. In the past years, we have developed multiple programs to support those needs such as individual and group coaching, leadership development program, and one-team support approach.
As coaches, we bring a different perspective from a consultant when working with teams and organizations. We start from the premise that our clients have their answers, their solutions, and that we are there to help them access it, achieve it and ignite the best way to work with their team. One of the keys that I have developed to do this is the very powerful concept of the Unique Strategic Contribution (USC). By identifying their USC, leaders become aware of the impact they can AND must have on their team to ensure that everyone develop to their full potential and achieve desired results.
Every year, we accompany hundreds of leaders in the development of their leadership through our programs and curated coaching methods.
What are your plans for the company’s future?
My mission is to create a new generation of inspiring and inspired leaders by making a positive impact in the lives of a million leaders through my book and the Empower your Team Movement. To succeed in our mission, we want to reach leaders around the world.
The Covid-19 pandemic has put additional responsibility on educators and institutions in terms of hygiene and safety precautions. How do you intend to prepare the people for the same?
The pandemic has been unexpected and very challenging. Its effects are felt worldwide in every field. Everybody has been impacted by it.
At the beginning, I was very nervous about how we would position ourselves. I reflected seriously and realized that we would rise above. I wanted to be there to accompany leaders during the pandemic and seize that opportunity to make a difference in the worldwide culture shift I want to create. Moreover, I acknowledge that our biggest strength came from our business model; my team was working remotely since the start, six years ago.
I want to make changes, to evolve and adapt our methods as humans and coaches. I aspire to contribute to developing caring and inspiring leaders, the leaders that will rise above, the leaders of tomorrow.
As an established business leader, what would be your advice to the budding leaders aspiring to venture into the Professional Training & Coaching industry?
You can start by being very clear as to what I call your USC – Unique Strategic Contribution. It’s what you, in your current role, are the only one that can and should make as a contribution at the highest level. And if you were to focus most of your time on your USC, you would not only maximize your contribution but the one of your team. You would elevate everybody’s game.
