Aurélie Ndjock-Lambert
Between two cultures, one standard
“I learned very early that the same word doesn’t mean the same thing in Douala and in Namur. I made it my profession.”
Executive coach and cross-cultural leadership consultant since 2016, in Brussels, Paris and online.
My story
I was born in 1981 in Édéa, Cameroon, to a Bassa father, a civil engineer, and a mother from Namur, a teacher. I grew up in Douala, in the Bonapriso district: French at school, Bassa at home, English with the neighbours. Very early on, I understood that you can say the same thing in three ways and still be understood differently each time.
At twelve, I arrived in Namur. It was the first time I had to learn the codes of a culture while being looked at from the outside. I watched, a lot. How people greet each other, how you contradict a teacher, what a silence means. That attention to the unspoken has never left me.
After studying work psychology and human resources management in Belgium, I worked as a recruitment and talent development consultant at a Brussels firm. Then, for six years, I led international human resources for an agro-industrial group, across its head offices and subsidiaries in Brussels, Abidjan and Douala. I saw projects fail for a single reason: capable people who did not understand each other.
In 2016, after a certified professional coaching programme, I set up as an independent executive coach in Ixelles. Today I work with executives and leadership teams who operate between several cultures: international institutions in Brussels, European groups established in Africa, African companies setting up in Europe. What I bring them fits in a few words: calm, clarity, and the conviction that no culture is the norm.
Milestones
Journey
Ten years of coaching practice, and fifteen years of international human resources before that.
Born in Édéa, Cameroon.
Childhood in Douala, in Bonapriso. French at school, Bassa at home, English with the neighbours.
Arrival in Namur, aged twelve.“The first time I had to learn the codes of a culture while being looked at from the outside.”
Studies in work psychology and human resources management, in Belgium.
Recruitment and talent development consultant at a Brussels consulting firm.
Manager, then director of international human resources at an agro-industrial group: Brussels, Abidjan, Douala.
Certified professional coaching programme: 18 months, 220 hours.
Set up as an independent executive coach in Ixelles. Start of monthly supervision.
Opening of appointments in Paris (9th arrondissement) and video sessions made standard.
Launch of the team programme “Team Bridge”.
Ten years of practice: 1,800 hours of one-to-one coaching, 40 leadership teams, clients from 12 countries.
Working languages
I coach you in your language
Sessions take place in French, English or Dutch. Bassa remains the language of family, and of memories.
- FRFrenchMother tongue
- ENEnglishFluent, professional
- NLDutchFluent
- BassaBassaFamily language, spoken
What guides me
Four convictions
Clarity
Say things simply, without jargon. A vague goal produces vague coaching: we write down what we are looking for, and we check where we stand.
Respect for cultures
No professional culture is the norm. My job is not to make you adopt other people’s codes, but to help you read them, and to choose.
Confidentiality
What you share with me stays between us, even when your organisation pays. That is what lets you work on what really matters.
Sustainable pace
You only lead well what you can sustain over time. I prefer one small, solid step to a big resolution that runs out of steam in three weeks.
Training and practice
A framework, and a supervised practice
- Work psychology and human resources management
- Certified professional coaching programme (18 months, 220 hours)
- Monthly supervision since 2016
- Published code of ethics: read the seven commitments
Where to meet
Brussels and Paris
Brussels, because you hear dozens of professional cultures in the same meeting. Paris, because many of the people I coach lead teams oriented towards Africa. Between the two, 1 h 22 by train, and video everywhere else.