In brief
The collective book Outils de coachs et d'experts (Tools from coaches and experts), led by the Twins du coaching (Mélanie and Mylène Grégoire), was launched in autumn 2026. It brings together more than 50 practical tools to inspire, mobilise, transform and act, for leaders, managers, HR professionals and coaches.
ITalent and Exeqia are partners of the book, alongside the HEC Montréal management review Gestion among others. Isabelle Gagnon is featured in an interview: "Assumer sa posture de dirigeant: protéger la qualité des décisions avant l'ego" (Owning the leader's stance: protecting the quality of decisions over ego).
What recruiting leaders teaches about leadership
An international headhunter for twenty-five years, Isabelle Gagnon observes leaders before their appointment, as they take office and often years later, in Geneva as in Montreal.
"The greatest leaders are not those who try to be the most brilliant, but those who create the conditions for others to grow and for the best ideas to emerge."
Vision or execution: two continents, two questions
In North America, a board often asks: "What is your vision?". In Switzerland, the question is rather: "How will you execute it and manage the risks?". Both are right: one drives ambition, the other longevity. A leader moving from Montreal to Zurich must learn to prove before convincing; the other way round, it is often the opposite.
"The codes change from one continent to the other; the fundamentals never do."
This is one reason ITalent handles mandates in Switzerland and internationally: assessing a leader also means assessing their ability to read the context in which they will decide.
Beyond the CV: watching how someone decides
Isabelle Gagnon meets several hundred leaders a year. Two candidates can have almost identical CVs; what sets them apart is how they decide when the data is no longer enough.
"We recruit a leader on their certainties. We judge them on what they decide when those certainties fall away."
She sometimes deliberately asks a question with no perfect answer, to see what happens: some immediately try to be right, others pause, reflect and change their mind if the facts call for it.
"The best leaders do not protect their ego; they protect the quality of their decisions."
Strategic drift, the origin of Exeqia
One day, a board chair told her: "We have hired the right CEO." Her answer: "I don't doubt it. The real question is whether the organisation is ready to follow."
She has never seen an executive committee decide to abandon its strategy. She has, however, seen dozens of organisations abandon it without realising, because each decision taken on its own seemed logical. Six months after the leadership retreat, the strategy still lives in the slide decks but no longer in daily decisions. This is what Exeqia calls drift: the challenge is to make it visible while it can still be corrected, based on facts rather than impressions.
"A strategy promises value. Only decisions deliver it."
The leader of tomorrow
"A leader's role is not to always be right. It is to create the conditions for good decisions to emerge, even in their absence, and to ensure their execution stays true to the strategic intent. Artificial intelligence will speed up decision making. But it will never replace judgement, courage or accountability."
Get the book
Outils de coachs et d'experts (in French) is available from the Twins du coaching.
Discover the book on twinscoaching.com →
Further reading
- PME · Leading Means Making Decisions Stick
- Do I need an executive search firm?
- Exeqia, the art of strategy execution
Sources
- Twins du coaching · Outils de coachs et d'experts, the collective book
- Book launch announcement (PPN Source)
Discuss a mandate with ITalent →
Frequently asked
Questions on this topic.
- What is the book "Outils de coachs et d'experts"?
- It is a French language collective book led by the Twins du coaching, Mélanie and Mylène Grégoire, gathering more than 50 practical tools from around fifty coaches, experts and professionals. It is aimed at leaders, managers, HR professionals and coaches. It was launched on 30 September and 1 October 2026; ITalent and Exeqia are among its partners.
- What is Isabelle Gagnon's contribution to the book?
- Isabelle Gagnon, founder of ITalent SA and co-founder of Exeqia, is featured in an interview titled "Assumer sa posture de dirigeant: protéger la qualité des décisions avant l'ego" (Owning the leader's stance: protecting the quality of decisions over ego), on page 53. She shares what twenty-five years of recruiting executives and board members in Europe and North America have taught her about leadership.
- Do boards expect the same from leaders in Switzerland and North America?
- Not quite. According to Isabelle Gagnon, a North American board often asks "What is your vision?", whereas in Switzerland the question is rather "How will you execute it and manage the risks?". One drives ambition, the other longevity. The codes change from one continent to the other; the fundamentals never do.
