Laurence Bret Stern

Leaders and their teams are currently facing strategic turning points — transformations, crises, hypergrowth — without an appropriate mental model. I help executive committees make clear decisions in uncertain environments, mobilize their teams under pressure, and transform ambient anxiety into collective action capacity.

Because I combine three rare legitimacies in one voice: former international tech leader (LinkedIn, AOL, Orange, Pipedrive), General Director of a consulting firm based in Chamonix inspired by high mountain practices, and serving board member. I speak to executive committees from the inside, with references that go beyond the usual leadership framework.

Leadership in uncertain environments, at the crossroads of high mountain practices and lessons from tech hypergrowth.

I do not give purely inspirational or adventure-show conferences without concrete transposition to the business, nor do I deliver tech keynotes disconnected from human and organizational issues. I also decline topics that require sharp technical expertise outside my scope (pure generative AI, corporate finance, legal).

Our tagline "Learn from altitude". I rely on the proven practices of high mountain guides and rescuers I work with — a network of 80 experts including Blaise Agresti (former PGHM), Sophie Lavaud, Jordane Lienard, Meagan Fallone — to illuminate the challenges of contemporary leadership: decision-making under pressure, fear management, team cohesion, sustainable performance.

25 years in leadership positions in global tech: launching LinkedIn in France in 2011, marketing teams at AOL, Orange, Pipedrive (European unicorn), exposure to hypergrowth and strategic pivots between Paris, Amsterdam, London, and the United States. Currently General Director of Mountain Path, which supports over 50 companies per year from CAC 40 to SMEs, and independent board member of several companies in France and the UK.

An embodied and structured style: I recount lived situations (in business as well as in the mountains) to anchor the message, then I provide frameworks and transferable tools. Neither theoretical nor purely narrative — the audience leaves with impactful stories and frameworks that can be applied as soon as Monday morning.

Executive and management committees facing transformations or turning points, female leaders on pitching and speaking issues, teams in charge of innovation and intrapreneurship, and managerial conventions gathering 100 to 500 executives around issues of cohesion and collective performance.

Large groups and SMEs in transformation (references: Deloitte, PwC, EY, BNP Paribas, BPCE, L'Oréal, Nespresso, Porsche, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield, La Poste, BETC, Warner), hypergrowth scale-ups facing scaling challenges, and investment funds working on the posture of their participations (references: Payfit, Nexton, Akur8).

A renewed framework for understanding leadership challenges, immediately applicable operational lessons (decision protocols, briefing/debriefing inspired by mountain rescue, principles of effectuation to take action), and a shared vocabulary that helps teams name what they are going through and better coordinate. When the intervention includes a workshop, teams leave with an action plan transposed to their context.

Experiential learning inspired by the mountains developed at Mountain Path. This unique method is based on three convictions: (1) high mountain is a laboratory for learning leadership in uncertainty (teamwork, terrain reading, fear management, decision-making with partial information); (2) we learn better through experience, our own or that of others; (3) sustainable performance does not oppose demand and human sustainability, it combines them.

The launch of LinkedIn in France in 2011 as the first team in the market and participation in building the French Tech ecosystem. The marketing management of Pipedrive during its scale-up phase to European unicorn status. The co-founding and general management of Mountain Path, which has supported over 50 companies per year from CAC 40 to SMEs, and built a network of 80 experts combining high mountain, research, and business... and a few ascents.

Consulting and auditing: Deloitte, PwC, EY. Banking and finance: BNP Paribas, BPCE, Société Générale Luxury, retail, and automotive: L'Oréal, Nespresso, Porsche, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield Media and communication: BETC, Warner. Services and industry: La Poste, Axa, Generali.

I also speak at international stages (Women's Forum, Web Summit, SaaStock, Hub Forum, JFD, FrenchWeb, Les Sommets du Digital) and for executive programs with HEC, EMLYON, EDHEC, and IMD Lausanne (via Mountain Path).

Participants particularly appreciate: - the sidestep and immersion in a different and fascinating universe, - the power of stories and images (very interactive presentations with video excerpts), - the fact that they can identify with my profile because I come from the "same world" unlike pure athletes or explorers, - the discovery of PGHM, an elite army unit serving a noble cause, - the concrete transposition through business cases and mental models.

Managerial conventions and co-dir/comex seminars (15 to 500 people), corporate event keynotes (up to 1,000 people), leadership programs from top schools, and international days (March 8, diversity week, trade conventions). The ideal format combines keynote and transposition workshop.

I recommend another speaker or format when the event expects a purely inspirational stand-up format without actionable content, when the topic requires very sharp expertise outside my scope (pure generative AI, technical cybersecurity, corporate finance), or when the audience seeks a pure adventure testimony — in which case I can direct them to figures like Sophie Lavaud, Jordane Lienard, or Christophe Dumarest from the Mountain Path network.

Calm and engaging. I do not arrive in performance mode — I arrive in high-intensity conversation mode, like a leader sharing her logbook with peers. The energy naturally rises with the topic and interaction with the audience, without resorting to emphasis or theatricality.

The intervention alternates between moments of immersive storytelling (high mountain, lived situations in management committees) and moments of direct engagement where I solicit the audience with questions or mini-exercises. Humor is present but understated, often self-deprecating — that of a leader who owns her missteps.

Yes, my interventions rely on visuals and videos of high mountain that serve as memory anchors — the image remains where the word fades. And yes, I extensively use personal stories: experiences at LinkedIn, Pipedrive, or in supporting startups during strategic pivots, situations in executive committees, and experiences in the mountains, personal or alongside the guides and rescuers from the Mountain Path network.

Both formats, depending on the client's needs. I offer inspiring keynotes of 1 to 1.5 hours for large audiences, and transposition workshops of 2 to 4 hours for executive committees that want to leave with an action plan. I am a precise structure — a constructed narrative thread, solid methodological frameworks, pre-scheduled points for breathing and interaction — but I leave room for improvisation in responding to the audience and bouncing back on questions.

Yes, highly customizable. In advance, I organize a framing interview with the sponsor to understand the strategic context, the tensions within the organization, and the specific objectives of the intervention, after which I propose a framework for the intervention. Typically, 20 to 30% of the content is tailored to the client: sector-specific examples, internal vocabulary, situational setups calibrated to the real challenges of the company. The methodological foundation remains stable — this ensures robustness — but the presentation and cases are adjusted.

Through productive dislocation: bringing an organization or audience to reflect on its own dynamics through the story of a rescue at altitude or the organization of a team creates images that linger well beyond the event. Participants tell me they find and use these images and metaphors in their daily lives, three months, six months, a year later, when faced with a decision under pressure or a team cohesion to rebuild.

3 concepts regularly emerge in feedback

The importance of consensus to secure decision-making and ensure commitment Reasoning in acceptable losses rather than fixed objectives Situational leadership

Clarity and capacity for action. My intervention is successful if participants leave clearer about what they are going through, and more confident in their ability to act despite uncertainty. A form of engaged serenity.

Three structuring lessons.

First, that there is another model of leadership than predictive heroism — in the face of uncertainty, the leader is no longer the one who knows, but the one who prepares, reads the terrain, and engages the team.

Next, that sustainable performance does not oppose demand, it conditions it — just as at high altitude, one cannot last long without rhythm, recovery, and discipline.

Finally, that fear, uncertainty, and even failure are materials to work with, particularly through feedback.

They can use concrete models and frameworks: for example, structuring a team briefing and debriefing inspired by rescue protocols, organizing a consensual decision-making process around a small group, adapting their leadership style based on the engagement and expertise of team members, structuring a feedback session, etc.

We have adopted and developed several methodological frameworks, inspired by our observations but also by academic collaborations. For example: - the 6 conditions for a successful ascent, a metaphor for sustainable performance - the 6 qualities of a guide, a management model - the situational leadership matrix - the 5 pillars of highly reliable organizations observed at PGHM - the consensus decision-making model - the RETEX process

The three main ideas we challenge are:

(1) The myth of the visionary leader who predicts — expert entrepreneurs and high mountain guides do not predict, they prepare and adapt. (2) The myth of permanent urgency as proof of commitment — sustainable performance is built in rhythm, not in exhaustion. (3) The myth of the savior — in the mountains as in business, one does not advance alone, one advances as a team. Collective intelligence and diversity are the best defenses against the "manufacture of error."

No preference, I regularly intervene both in person and remotely.

I engage them while adapting my content.

I always have a backup solution and I can also improvise without support.