Paul Vanderbroeck with newly published "Lead like Julius Caesar"
Another local author contacted us with their newly published book. We caught up with Paul Vanderbroeck, an executive coach, and asked a few questions.
What has been the inspiration behind "Lead like Julius Caesar"?
Throughout my career in leadership development I have used historical examples in my work, whether that is through books or articles, as case studies in workshops or in individual coaching sessions. There are many successful leaders in history. What makes Caesar stand out is the accumulation of achievements. Whether you look at military leadership, pollitical leadership, change management, organisational leadership, talent management, communication and even as a writer, Caesar alsways ends up in the top five of all leaders, while never being perfect. It was worth digging into.
International mobility has been around for a long time. Caesar spent more than half of his career abroad as an expatriate, which I also talk about in the book. Some of these assignments were short: 1-2 years; one (in Gaul) was long: 9 years. They were always split assignments, i.e. where his family stayed in Rome. Caesar’s stints abroad were both challenging and beneficial for his career and his peronal life.
Have you been working on this idea forever?
As an Ancient Historian, with a PhD in Roman Leadership, Julius Caesar has been on my mind often. It is more recently that I have discovered how complex and multidimensional he is as a person and a leader. After my book on women leaders in historty, it was time to look at another case study.
What is the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
Providing just enough historical context for people to understand the story without writing a book of history.
What are your plans for the future?
The new thing about this book, is the application of modern leadershp developoment models to Julius Caesar’s leadership, career and personality. That proved to be quite insightful. My next project is to go back to the four women leaders I wrote a book about and do the same with them.
Later this year there will be a German version coming out for those who prefer to read in that language.
We found out that Carol Waites had written a personal memoir and insights from a long career at the United Nations in Geneva. She is offering up a copy of her new book to one lucky knowitall reader! We asked her a few questions.
Carol: what has been the inspiration behind your book?
I wrote Behind the Flags as I realized that little is known about what goes on inside the United Nations externally and often internally. In my classes, students would join saying they wanted to be mobile between sections, but that they had no knowledge of what went on in other sections. That way they would meet other staff members, improve their writing skills and English for their job interviews. I also realized that it was difficult for people new to Geneva to decide where to live and where to educate their children, so I also decided to share my experience in those areas.
Have you been working on this idea forever?
I had decided before taking my retirement and already collected all my anecdotes. So I made notes in the last few years of my working life and started writing it as soon as I retired. Who has time while they are working?
What is the biggest obstacle you have had to overcome?
Deciding how to make the book informative and not libellous! My intention was always to inform and to illustrate cross cultural issues evident in such a multinational organization, and never to discuss gossip or to criticize. I made sure that I wasn’t making unsubstantiated claims. This is delicate as I am telling stories of those in my classes, so I discuss this aspect in the book. Then another obstacle was how to publish it. I realized that I couldn’t use traditional publishing houses as they would direct the content towards their readers, while my readers are global. My newsletter has people from my previous online writing courses and they are located globally.
Over the past 30 years, men's attitudes toward beauty care have changed dramatically. Once seen as almost exclusively a female concern, cosmetics, salon treatments, and even cosmetic medicine are now widely embraced by men. What are the challenges and prospects for Masculin Center, the Swiss leader in beauty and therapeutic care centers for men, which currently operates eight institutes in French-speaking Switzerland?
Whether recent or long-standing, men's well-being is no longer a taboo subject. For nearly 25 years, Masculin Center has been supporting this evolution by offering beauty treatments exclusively for men. From Lausanne to Geneva, via Nyon, Sion, and Fribourg, the brand offers a simple and welcoming space where everyone can take care of themselves in an environment designed with them in mind.
Treatments for all ages, embracing masculinity
From teenagers to seniors, today's men want to feel good, well-groomed, and listened to. Masculin Center responds to this growing demand with tailored services: facials, waxing, massages, scalp treatments, and more. Far from clichés, modern men assert a benevolent masculinity focused on well-being.
If you are like most people, you probably have a lot of Euro coins laying about in drawers, bowls, handbags, coat pockets, piggy banks, under sofa cushions, etc. With all good intentions, you are expecting to use them one day... either to pay parking meters or take to a bank to cash in. But when was the last time you did just that? If the answer is never, then you will be delighted with the EuroCycleur machines dotted about across the border in France.
These machines are wonderful! All you need to do is take your coins, dump them in the machine, and hey presto... out comes a voucher to use at the accompanying supermarket. You can look up addresses at this link but we know for sure there are two in the area we have seen with our own eyes. Carrefour Poterie Ferney-Voltaire and the new Hyper U at Val Thoiry. Some other markets such as the Super U at Etrembières Shopping, Carrefour, Leclerc, Cora, Intermarché, Brico Leclerc, and Géant Casino are also offering this service.
The supermarkets are charged a fee for this machine but you, as the client, are not. The only criteria is that you must use your voucher for the supermarket where the machine is located. The voucher is valid for 2 days from the date you print it out and you must use the entire voucher at once. No change is given for purchases where the price is less than the voucher. You must also only use this at a cashier and not at the self check-out counters.
Last year we presented Maison Casagiu, made up of 4 different independant companies. Now we would like to introduce Giselle, an independent interior architect and founder of GEM Design Studio.
Originally from South Africa, she spent the first 30 years of her life living in close proximity to the Kruger National Park. She married a Swiss-Italian, but before settling in Switzerland they spent a few years in the United States.
She studied and worked in the field of industrial psychology, but always had a passion for finding the most functional layouts for spaces. After testing the water with a decorating course with KLC School of Design in London, she completed her certificate in interior architecture with the Swiss Design Center in Lausanne.
She is a firm believer the home should be a soothing and harmonious place, where her clients and their families can work, play and unwind. She particularly focuses on functional spaces, that are able to evolve with the changing needs of the client and the individual family members. Without being a slave to trends, her objective is to bring originality and richness to each project, not only with the choice of furnishings, lighting and art, but also with the use of a natural palette of materials and textures.
