Use the virtues of sport to concretely develop the managerial skills of large companies. This is the mission that has been taking over since 1997 Christophe Inzirillo. Former football, his university studies led him to develop research axes in the human sciences and then apply them to the business world. During an interview granted to Ecofoot.fr, the President-Founder of Heroic Consulting, explains his method to us. Interview by Francois Miguel Boudet.
Christophe Inzirillo, you have an atypical background but which explains very well the development of your method at the service of companies.
I am from Marseilles, I was lucky to have both studied and played sports. For studies, I did Math sup, biology and pharmacy. I also played 1-a-side footballis Canton and Endoume. I notably evolved in 3e division for 2 years and been coached by José Anigo, Rolland Courbis and Jean-Marc Pilorget. When I was in 1re S, the Girondins de Bordeaux wanted to integrate me into their training center but I refused because, at that time, we had to stop studying to devote ourselves solely to football. Later, when some Endoume players joined OM, such as Laurent Spinosi, I chose to join EM Lyon. I was 22 years old and I continued my studies. After EM Lyon, I did a doctorate in human resources management at Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas on the personal development of managers. It had nothing to do with sport then.
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Has it become essential for companies to organize seminars related to the world of sport, both for team building but also to develop the skills of their employees?
I started to organize my first management seminars related to sport at the age of 27, in 1997, in Clairefontaine. I also did it in Marcoussis, when the national rugby center was still under construction. At the time, there were already some former athletes who led team building. Me, I proposed research approaches in human sciences and management training. So it was really focused on skills.
“I use sport as an educational bias”
How to define this training?
My sector is that of management consulting and training. I use sport as an educational bias. It is an alternation between the field and the meeting room, a transfer of knowledge, skills and technologies from the world of high-level sport to the world of business. The seminars change and evolve every season. I wrote a book to lay down some concepts and approaches. I am also an ESCP affiliate professor in human resources management.
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Are there different approaches in setting up concepts and using the land depending on the type of business?
In the world of management consulting and training, there is intra-company and inter-company. The intra-company is a cell of the same company. Inter-company concerns generic educational content where we can then discuss concrete cases. In the intra-company, we work more on the upstream, design and consulting to prepare the messages to be conveyed during the pedagogy. These are generic aspects, unrelated to sport in particular. In the intra-company, there are specific sessions for management committee coaching and sessions for middle management, sometimes for employees. Each level requires a particular design, a way of approaching while taking into account the type of consultant that we certify with our method.
When we talk about consultant, what field of activity is it?
They are management consultants. I use sport as a theme, as a pedagogy, as a know-how. Our fundamental job is to support the cultural transformation of companies in terms of management. Our goal is to transform the managerial culture of companies. We support them and help them change the way they manage.
How is sport a better vector than another?
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