In this edition of the Managerial Excellence Masterclasses, we had the honor of welcoming Alexis Bevillard, a remarkable example of transition from the military to the civilian world. A graduate of Saint-Cyr and former Special Forces officer, he then served in the senior civil service before joining the private sector as Director of Public Affairs for the Leclerc Group. Through his journey of transition from the military to the civilian world, he shows us how to train managers capable of operating in complex environments, leading with confidence, and adapting with rigor.
Exhaustive Training: The Military School as a Management School
Alexis began by revealing a little-known truth: he didn’t join Saint-Cyr out of military vocation, but out of a desire to fight for a cause and face challenges. A refreshing admission that breaks clichés! This military training proves to be exceptionally comprehensive and human, allowing one to adapt to any professional situation.
Unlike engineering or business schools, Saint-Cyr simultaneously confronts intellectual, physical, and human challenges. This training forges men and women of both action and reflection, a rare but essential combination in the business world.
As Alexis emphasizes with a smile: “This versatility explains why, historically, kings’ sons first received military training before acceding to power.” A history lesson that illuminates the contemporary challenges of leadership.
Operational Excellence of Special Forces: Culture of Results and Collectivity
The Special Forces represent the pinnacle of military excellence, with drastic selection and long, demanding training. Alexis finds values there directly transferable to business: a sense of collective purpose, a culture of results, a sense of mission and responsibility, team building, and trust in collaborators.
Special Forces are designed to respond to novel situations for which no solution exists in the traditional catalog. This capacity for adaptation and innovation under constraint forges a valuable entrepreneurial mindset in the business world, where constant adaptation to new challenges has become the norm.
“When you’re parachuted into the unknown with a precise mission, you quickly learn to make do with what you have”, Alexis confides. A philosophy that strangely resonates with the startup world!
Mastering Shifts in Reference Frames: From Afghanistan to the Boardroom
Alexis’s most formative experience illustrates the brutality of changing reference frames: going in a few hours from Bayonne (risk of being hit by a car) to Afghanistan (risk of stepping on a mine). This ability to quickly change one’s frame of mind proves crucial in all his professional transitions.
Whether in the prefectural corps with the
CODERST
(Departmental Council for the Environment and Health and Technological Risks) or in the private sector with fee negotiation, each environment has its own codes and constraints. The key to success lies in quickly understanding these new reference frames rather than immediate technical mastery of the files.
This mental agility, developed in the urgency of military operations, becomes a major asset in a constantly evolving professional world. “The important thing is not to know everything, but to know how to quickly adapt to the rules of the game”, Alexis summarizes.
In a nutshell…
Here are the three major lessons to take away from this Masterclass with Alexis:
- Training versatile leaders: Simultaneously confronting intellectual, physical, and human challenges develops exceptional adaptability to complex situations.
- Cultivating collective excellence: A sense of mission, a culture of results, and trust in the team are levers of performance transferable to all environments.
- Mastering shifts in reference frames: The ability to quickly understand the codes of a new environment is more valuable than immediate technical expertise.
Don’t miss the next Masterclass!