Now that his first life is behind him, is eager to discover what the second has in store for him. Very eager indeed. It began on 11 November, with the arrival on the market of the Pairtopair platform, three and a half months after he left Betic (now Betic, part of Sweco), a technical engineering consultancy, at the end of July. left him with "a taste of unfinished business". But the chapter is closed, he said in an interview. “I'm 45, I'm full of energy, this is a great opportunity.”
"It's not a new chapter, but rather an extension," said Determe, who drew heavily on his professional experience to design this "humanist" project. With Pairtopair, he is betting on professional support. The highlight of the three-pronged offering is the possibility for company directors and managers to work with a mentor who will support, advise and enlighten them.
Pierre Théobald: What facts did you base Pairtopair on?
David Determe: Two out of three company directors suffer from loneliness in the decision-making process. Regardless of the size of the company, this is true at all levels. I've experienced it myself. How can we prevent others from experiencing the same thing? It's true that decision-makers are surrounded by people, but these people are also biased. Who do they talk to? Their associates? They will be economically biased. Family and friends? They will have emotional biases. A mentor, on the other hand, has no bias. They can pass on knowledge and experience without interference. They’re an outsider. Neutral.
How would you define a 'good' mentor?
Someone who listens actively, who can suggest good practice to the manager, with honesty and humility, but without imposing anything. The manager makes their own decisions, and the mentor is there to help them make them in an informed and conscious way. The other element is to hold up a mirror to the company by setting up an advisory committee. This consists of four or five other peers, equally disconnected economically and emotionally from the company, who will also provide an external viewpoint and opinion. When you're a manager, you're full of enthusiasm, convinced of certain things and surrounded by people who are just as convinced as you are. It's not bad, we're going for it, we believe in it! Yes men. Then suddenly someone comes along and asks you: ‘Have you thought about this? Did you care about this? What will the market say? Is this in line with the company's values?’ A little lesson in humility. When this happened to me, I got a few slaps in the face. But these slaps in the face allow us to take the small step back that each of us needs.
A good match gives you the best chance of success.
What profiles did you target?
I wanted to bring together as wide a range of mentors as possible, with 80%-90% of them working in companies, so as to be as close as possible to local knowledge. All the mentors I approached said yes*. There are managers who have launched a few startups, managers involved in corporate social responsibility, others at the end of their careers or who have just sold their company... Passing on is learning. So I'm convinced that the mentors will also be able to learn from their experience and put it to good use in their own companies. My job is to make the time they devote to me as effective as possible for everyone. And I'll be a mentor myself, because I want to live the experience.
Pairtopair is based on a system of "matches". How does that work?
The mentee doesn't choose their mentor, the mentor doesn't choose their mentee. A match is decided according to the needs and expectations expressed, as well as the of [the American psychologist] Howard Gardner. I tried out this method in my company ten years ago, and it enabled us to re-train all our teams, all our managers and all our employees. A good match ensures that you have the best chances on your side.
What happens next?
After the match, the relationship is planned to last around 18 months. It's a way of building a solid foundation and getting to know the company. But we don't go beyond that either, to keep a fresh perspective and avoid the emotional and economic biases I mentioned earlier. The meetings between the mentee and the mentor take place on a monthly basis, face to face. They are accompanied by a methodology. Between meetings, Pairtopair provides a secure chat room. Messages and documents can be exchanged and the link maintained. At the same time, the advisory committee meets five or six times a year. To make up the committee, the mentor proposes a list of peers whom he or she believes mirror the company. The mentee validates this list or amends it. The role of this committee is to make life easier for managers.
Mentors... have already experienced the situations faced by managers.
What are the differences between a mentor and a coach?
The coach gives the executive the tools to find solutions on their own. Mentors, on the other hand, have already experienced the situations faced by managers. They need to have the tools to pass on this experience. These are two different worlds. That doesn't mean that in the future I wouldn't like to see coaches gravitating towards me to provide support on specific issues where the mentor might not feel the most qualified. For example, in the case of transferring a business or managing conflict with partners or employees.
How will you assess the effectiveness of the Pairtopair method?
Through feedback and documentation of the mentor-mentee relationship, which will enable managers, after six months or a year, to look back and review the best practices that have been put in place. These best practices, if the manager wishes them to be, can then be shared and benefit the whole community. The same goes for bad practices. When I talk about a humanist project, it's for two reasons. The first is linked to the fact that Pairtopair wants to contribute to both professional and family wellbeing, since the two are linked. The second has to do with the aim of becoming a company with a societal impact. It's a noble cause. I even intend to go a step further by prohibiting, in the shareholders agreement, the company from being resold at a capital gain.
What is your business plan? And what targets have you set yourself?
We have a membership format. The subscription starts when the match takes place and stops when it ends. Since Pairtopair offers solutions other than mentoring, the target figure is 20-200-2,000. 20 managers are supported in the mentoring programme; 200 managers, directors of very small businesses and the self-employed for the Insideout subscription, which allows sharing in groups of four people; and 2,000 members for the Intralink subscription, which encourages knowledge sharing within the same company. That's the scale I'd like to reach to make an impact at every level. As for students, via the Myfuture solution, which is free and enables them to exchange ideas with professionals and entrepreneurs. I'd like to bring together as many as possible.
Do you feel that you're meeting a need?
At least, that's the unanimous view of the mentors. For them, Pairtopair meets a real need. They have experienced difficult times in their careers, and with this kind of initiative they would have approached certain situations differently. Future mentees, on the other hand, will have to be found. With their heads in the sand, they don't necessarily see the need.
*The pool of mentors includes, among others, Cédric Rensonnet, chair of In Extenso Belux; the founder of Apollo Strategists, ; director of Accentaigu ; the managing director of the Tricentenaire Group ; and the director of IMS Luxembourg .
Read the original French-language version of this interview