EM Forster said "spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon.” That's Daniele, no spoon feeding. Instead, a progressive mentoring that guides you to make the realizations of who you have become and where you want to go. From Australia, we worked together to help me gain the next career step in the location I wanted within the right team. I am now in Hong Kong with a renewable energy project with one of the best teams I have work with in many years. Always in good humor, direct but kind, few investments in life have been as worthwhile as my time with Daniele.

I had the pleasure to start working with Danièle in 2007 when I stepped into my first directorship. Not only did she serve me some valuable advice that I still live by, she has remained next to me along the way since then. She is a great fire starter and skilled at making managers realize their strengths and how to use them better. As a Producer and manager of people, she has helped me adapt my style for more efficiency and to also become (hopefully) an inspiring leader. Most importantly, she is not there to make you feel good about yourself but to shake your beliefs and make you a better person. She is a source of encouragement and I have been recommending her since I met her.

Learning through experience is awesome! Imagine when guided by the super facilitators from Management Savvy. I’ve known Danièle since 2005 when leading the leadership program at Cirque du Soleil. Leading differently requires courage, self-awareness, openness and learning; Danièle has guided over 300 leaders at all levels in their journey to elevate all of us at the Cirque! Purposeful Creativity - We have the privilege to partner with Management Savvy to co-create content and shape learning spaces.

I worked with Astrid to design and co-lead a three day immersion workshop. The workshop, with a group of 40, introduced a new set of methods that required everyone to take risks and change conventional leadership behaviors. No small feat. Astrid has wonderfully paradoxical attributes: astute listening and careful observing while being poised to take decisive action. She composed a detailed facilitation plan and then, rather than holding on too tightly, Astrid improvised productively in-the-moment. When our client was challenged and nearly stalled by forming new functional groups, she made creative adjustments in just a few short minutes. The crisis was averted with a smile and by “walking in the shoes” of the client. When working on entangled challenges, she generates enthusiasm and optimism in everyone around her. For Astrid, confidence borne out of “deliberate serendipity” comes naturally.

What I appreciated during our previous workshop together was your emotional intelligence and the ability to let people breathe between moments of focus, and most importantly, the ability to come out with a clear list of action items and owner of these items that every agreed on.

The buzz spread far after those two days. People immediately used it in their meetings, exposing many more to the structures, we got invited to plan meetings with others, I just got asked to co-facilitate a meeting next Thursday to use the structures – I got emails saying thank you that was amazing, someone who did not attend said, “I heard it was transformational I am so sad I missed it”, another manager said they want to reach out to you and have you facilitate another workshop with their part of the school…. We are all so very pleased. I have organized a Meet Up on campus in January. We have a space set up dedicated to resources and ongoing peer support/learning. People are ready for a change. Now they have some tools to help them do that. I am delighted. Thank you so much for your all of your work with us on this. We continue to speak to your outstanding facilitation, how you “handled all of us” says Chris, how you encouraged and inspired us.. your energy and teachings have left a mark here at the college that will not be forgotten.

Working with Danièle is not about tricks and formulas. It’s about learning to lead from the inside out, in phase with your values. Once you get there, she’ll bring you the right tools to help you actualize the true nature of your leadership.

Vienna! Thank you for your kindness. I speak for the group in saying the feelings are mutual, working with you was a sincere pleasure and your involvement from the beginning absolutely helped guide us to where we landed... if that is the goal of facilitation, you nailed it.

Thanks again Vienna for your great work, it was such a pleasure to work with you, everybody enjoyed it... such good memories!

I have become more aware of many patterns and how multitasking is less than ideal. I am feeling calmer, less stressed and more focused. I have become better able to say no and to put my limits. I found it useful the way Nicolò was able to explain why I feel a certain way or act a certain way. It puts things in perspective, and I'm able to understand better why I am like that. He is a great speaker, provides clear messages and helpful comments and tools.