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Interview / Wednesday 10 November 2021 / source: alljudo.net
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Passionate about judo and running, executive in mass distribution then coach and mental trainer, Grégory Boulicaut accepted for alljudo to retrace his career, and to reveal his motivations and his projects. Interview.
Hello Grégory, can you tell us about your sports career?
My sports career started with judo. My father was a teacher and I started at the Judo Club Saint Martin in Roubaix. I followed a competitive judoka course with qualifications for the French federal, school and military championships. In 1994, I spent an enriching and founding year at the sport army of Marseille, under the direction of Jean-Paul Coche, with whom I touched on the requirement and commitment that high-level requires. Then I devoted myself to running, I ran 14 marathons (New York, London, Rotterdam, Valence …). Then in 2017, by dint of following my two sons who are black belt judokas, I resumed the game of judo, and I competed in the European Championships, then the Veterans World Championships, where I reached the quarter-finals, but during which I mostly injured myself (fractured kneecap).
And currently what is your physical activity?
I run on treadmill 2-3 times a week to avoid putting too much strain on my knee. Following this injury and then confinement, I reduced my sporting activity and I am gradually resuming. I have the goal of repeating the Mont-Blanc marathon for the third time in 2022 and the Olympic Paris marathon in 2024 with my two sons because for the first time it will be open to amateurs.
And from a professional point of view?
In the 90s, I obtained a DESS in marketing and management at the University of Lille, and I had a first career in mass distribution and then in industry, before creating GB Consulting in 2015. This what drove me was my desire to share and support in sport and in the business world. I also had the example of what is done in Canada, because my father and my brothers are French-Canadian. For them, coaching and mental preparation are much more present, PM is integrated earlier in the preparation of athletes, whatever their age and / or level. In France we rarely see a departmental level team working with a mental trainer, but this is the case among Anglo-Saxons. So I trained, I obtained the Executive Coaching Certificate from HEC Paris as well as a University Diploma in mental preparation at the University of Clermont Ferrand Auvergne which is one of the most highly rated in this field. From now on, in addition to my activity within GB Consulting, I teach students in Master 1 and 2, management and coaching at the University School of Management of Lille.
Which athletes do you work with?
In general, I accompany several athletes from different sports who have the ambition to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris in 2024. In terms of judo, I will mention the best known such as Léa Fontaine (SGS), Theo Riquin (SGS ) and Clemence Eme (Champigny), but in total there are about thirty judokas, of which 7 will fight this weekend in France 1D, from big clubs (Sucy, Chilly, Sartrouville, PSG, FLAM, Bègles Judo) or from structures (Insep, Strasbourg, Bordeaux, Poitiers, Orléans). I also work with professional basketball players as part of a partnership with a players’ agency, in ice hockey, women’s football, hand, BMX, snowboard, motocross, windsurf. with the vice-champion of Europe U17 Brendan Lohro, or fencing. The mental preparation of athletes represents 20% of my activity, the rest of my turnover comes from coaching in the business world (entrepreneurs, executives), training (management) and the organization of seminars and team building.
What is the difference between working with an athlete and with an entrepreneur?
The approach is the same. First, I try to understand why he asks me and what his request is, then I take the time to discover his environment, to gauge the level of self-esteem, then we co-construct goals. Then we will build a support plan, we will identify indicators to measure in the short, medium and long term if the objectives are achieved. There are therefore many similarities between support in the world of sport and that of business. My role is to help them optimize their potential: give meaning to their actions, structure their functioning, and also provide them with the tools to tame what is linked to the management of emotions for example (stress, anxiety …). Then there is a virtuous circle that is set up, by reaching the first sub-objectives, self-confidence is strengthened, and it makes it easier to reach the following ones. If ever they are not completely reached, then we readjust. In any case, I am a support, an accompanist. My philosophy is “autonomy and pleasure”. The person I coach must be autonomous to achieve their goals and this must be part of an approach where they take pleasure. If not, she will have a hard time making the daily efforts to reach them.
Can you explain to us what the GB Consulting Partners network is?
From the start of the launch of GB Consulting, I had in mind to develop a collective or a franchise. The context of the Covid led me to opt for collective operation and we launched the network in May 2021. My idea is to be able to work as a team, to share, to be able to exchange with people who have passion performance optimization. Concretely, the members of the network meet twice a month, they have the possibility of benefiting from offices (for those who are installed in Paris) and from a mutualized communication. This allows us to be able to respond to requests for support throughout the territory. We also respond to specific calls for tenders, and for example we won a project with Yamaha Motor France this summer. At the moment there are 8 members within GB Partners. There are the young people, Antoine Lamour and Agathe Devitry who lead a double sporting and professional project, and the old ones, of which I am a part, and who generally all have the same profile: we have gone through the business world, we are passionate sports practitioners and we have obtained diplomas and / or certifications to train us for our new career.
What are GB Consulting Partners’ projects?
First of all at the level of support, it is to continue to network the territory. We work individually and in team sports with teams. We will continue to professionalize our communication work on social networks, thanks to which we obtain many contacts, in particular via Instagram (@gb_consulting), but the big project is the development of our Youtube channel GB Consulting Mental and Coaching. From 2022, we will broadcast one video per week devoted to coaching, mental preparation or related subjects such as: stress management, motivation, concentration or self-confidence. Each partner of the network will intervene in videos, and this is the whole point of a collective, because alone it would be very difficult to initiate such a project over 52 weeks. Through this communication work and our support, we want to help athletes put the mental approach at the heart of their project.
