Dominique Deschietere

• Thirty-eight years of experience in General Management, Change Management, and Marketing Management. Initially as an entrepreneur and, after selling my companies, as an intrapreneur in more prominent European-wide companies
• Focus on Marketing and Sales, Business Development, and Business Transformation
• Strong leadership and people management skills
• Positive can-do and hands-on attitude, with a focus on defining your vision and turning this vision into concrete sales/marketing/category/business plans

Unique Dominique

My motivation to become a mentor at Ambits stems from my desire to help, support, and share my experiences with people, first as an entrepreneur and later as an intrapreneur at the C-level.

My motto is: “Great things never happen when you stay in your comfort zone.” This is why, based on his convictions, life goals, and courage, Nelson Mandela is an important role model to me.

Offering young or fledgling managers support like this to help them in their careers, tap into new possibilities and develop an eagerness for learning would give me as much satisfaction as a mentor as a mentee.

I have no advice for the young Dominique. I have traveled the road I needed to travel and experienced the many ups and a few downs which ultimately shaped my life. I am convinced that there is nothing more important than being in good health. Not being in good health puts everything into perspective.

A good mentor must listen and learn to fully understand the needs, difficulties, and demands of the mentee and work on these issues in mutual consultation with the mentee to arrive at a satisfactory result.

Throughout my career, I have always been able to depend on my board of advisors through networking. They were, in a certain way, my mentors and my first critics. This helped me become a better manager, with access to better and more successful tools.

Never forego an opportunity to network, but keep in mind that “giving is the new getting.”