The unique nature of Bertrand’s career and his persuasive, convincing words lead those listening to consider other ways of thinking and acting.

How to achieve the impossible? The pioneering spirit – key to inventing the future

The impossible does not exist in reality but only in the way we think. How then can we get rid of the old thought-patterns that prevent us from moving forward and innovating?

« Exploration is a state of mind. If we want to innovate and achieve impossible goals, we have to understand that the only obstacle to succeed is our own way of thinking; it’s the accumulation of beliefs and habits that keep us prisoner of old certitudes. »

« From vision to implementation, innovation is a state of mind that falls outside established paradigms. »

Dealing with crises: developing through change

Our first instinct in a crisis is to fight to regain the balance we have just lost. But to develop, what we really need to do is to look for new resources to build an improved state of equilibrium. This will allow us to emerge stronger from a situation that could have destroyed us.

« An adventure is a crisis that we accept; a crisis is an adventure that we refuse. At any time, we can decide whether the disruption that is happening to us is there to destroy us, or on the contrary to make us develop, forcing us to find resources within ourselves that we did not even know existed. »

« Our visceral fear of doubt and the unknown is at the root of most of our problems. »

Become a balloon pilot for your company: change altitude in the winds of life

How can you play with what you can't control? A balloon flight can be viewed as a model for management and for personal development. Dropping the ballast of our certainties allows us to find new strategies for increasing our degree of freedom - just like a balloonist who explores different flight levels.

« In this metaphor for life, the balloon is trapped in the air currents that carry it along, in the same way that man is imprisoned by his certainties, his problems or his destiny. Just as a balloon can drop ballast to change altitude and find air currents that will cause it to change direction, a human being can rise up - professionally, psychologically, philosophically, even spiritually -and take responsibility once again for the direction of his existence. To do this, he must - as in a balloon - learn to drop the ballast of his certainties, habits, convictions and other such paradigms. »

Clean technologies, sustainable development and environmental policy

masters and will willingly speak on, drawing on his experience as United Nations Ambassador for the Environment, special advisor to the European Commission and initiator of the 1000 Solutions Challenge, launched through his Solar Impulse Foundation.

« Clean and profitable solutions offer formidable leverage for economic growth that is qualitative rather than quantitative. »

« I do not believe in degrowth, which leads only to social unrest, nor in the myth of unlimited growth, which leads to ecological disaster. I believe rather in qualitative growth where we create jobs and make profits by replacing pollutants with things that protect the environment »

Failure and success, two faces of the same reality

How is it that the same event can either destroy us or build us up? What should we learn about life and about ourselves from our failures and successes? Are we the victims or the agents of our destiny?

« All too often, we forget that to ask questions makes for an open heart and mind, whereas certainty is an end in itself. »

« The main thing is to find ways of questioning our certainties in order to open ourselves to other ways of thinking and of seeing the world. »

Hypnosis and autohypnosis

Exploration of the inner world: another way of communicating with ourselves and others, tracking down what guides our actions.

« We need feelings to exist. And it is precisely deep down in this feeling of existing - a new kind of self-awareness - that disruptions of routine can offer us not only better strength and efficiency, but also happiness. Simply being then becomes more important than doing. »