Sébastien Tondeur’s reputation is well established. A successful entrepreneur, he has built a solid position on the international scene over the years.
He has been with the family business active in the events industry for twenty years now. Since 2010, when he took over, Sébastien Tondeur has tripled its turnover. Under his leadership, the company has grown from 800 to 2,500 employees and expanded into 20 new countries. This has made MCI one of the largest groups in the world in the events sector.
But his leadership skills are not enough to explain this success. Indeed, MCI’s explosive growth is also due to his communication efforts. By speaking out all over the world, on stage or in the media, he embodies his company’s values and vision on a daily basis.
I took advantage of one of his visits to Switzerland to ask him about the origins of his success:
Robin von Känel: You seem like a passionate entrepreneur. What motivates you on a daily basis?
Sébastien Tondeur: I got into it when I was little. My grandfather was in the tourism industry. He started as a tour guide showing groups around Zurich with a little flag and ended up as the boss of one of the largest tour operators. My father entered the same field, but on the B2B side. I always liked this concept of meeting people. It’s something that has always fascinated me.
Your personal brand is very well mastered. Is it well thought out?
I clearly used personal branding to develop my company. At the beginning, you have to make sales to develop. You have to be known, for the phone to ring. I told myself that to stand out, I had to talk about topics that people are afraid to discuss. I analyzed what the trending topics were and I arrived at purchasing. In the events industry, whenever we talked about our clients’ purchasing departments, everyone would say “Shh! That’s a bad word!” When I heard that, I understood that it was a huge opportunity. I read a few books on the subject and signed up as a seminarian to give a presentation on the subject. Following this conference, I became an expert opinion leader on the consolidation of purchasing in the events industry. I was invited all over the world to give this presentation again. I was also contacted by clients who wanted to find out more. The phone rang. I had succeeded in my bet. That’s when I understood the importance of my public image for the company.
Subsequently, did you have to adapt this strategy?
For nine years, I was very heavily involved in a professional event association. For me, it was the logical continuation. It’s a way of leading change, particularly through content creation and training. Beyond working for the company, you work for the cause, for the profession itself. What I discovered is that a strategy that was originally commercial also allowed me to advance the cause and that is a great source of pleasure. I think that is one of the things that allowed me to run my company well, attract new clients and also new people wanting to work for the company.
You have managed to become a renowned personality. You are commissioned to give conferences, you are interviewed. How do you attract the attention of the media?
The more opportunities you seize to meet people, the more people want to meet you. It is the same for the media. At the beginning you have to work hard to make yourself known, like me with my presentations on purchasing. Then a mechanism is put in place and the media come by themselves.
With regard to journalists in the sector, I have never made a sale. I have never praised MCI. There it was a different audience. I no longer spoke as a CEO, but as a boss who wants to share management advice. This is now the big topic I cover: how to start a company, motivate talent, develop internationally, communicate.
You are recognized as an outstanding speaker. What are the three mistakes to avoid when presenting?
First of all, practice makes perfect. You have to train. In business it’s the same, you have to persevere until you discover your own pleasure in these exercises. It can be anything. You have to seek your pleasure in public speaking. You become natural and people see this pleasure.
Secondly, you have to be clear about your message. You have to know what is asked of you and explain it clearly. The danger is to give a presentation without knowing who is in the room and what the objective is. I am not going to give the same speech to entrepreneurs, students or investors. You have to know your audience well to succeed in making an impact.
The last point is to go to the contact after the presentation. The work does not end at the end of the speech, but at the end of the day when you go home. You have to go to the meetings, because that is what makes you human.
To remember:
The story of Sébastien Tondeur is a perfect case study because he was able to put his personal brand at the service of his company. He appropriates offline communication tools (press, conferences, networking) and also knows how to use digital tools. For example, you can find him regularly on LinkedIn and Twitter. He thus manages to multiply the impact of his offline actions. Contrary to what one might think, it is very difficult and not very profitable to communicate only online. Physical actions are also necessary and it is the synergy between the two that will create good personal communication. This virtuous circle is found in all success stories. Indeed, even 100% digital influencers, such as YouTubers for example, are starting to organize events, meetings and other happenings to unite their community. This work may seem tedious, but as Sébastien says: “Meetings are happiness”.
