01/07/2025

We Almost Played Handball with Claude Onesta

Leadership and Performance: What Companies Can Learn from Elite Sports

 

At the AREA Centre-Val de Loire Gala, Claude Onesta, former head coach of the French handball team, delivered an inspiring and practical management lesson by blending his elite sports experience with business challenges.

 

Aurélien VÉTAULT and Louis-Simon FAURE were present to hear a clear message: “You don’t win with executors. You win with empowered, engaged, and trusted individuals. A static team is a team in decline.”

 

 

Key takeaways from his speech:

 

  • The leader’s role: set direction, make decisions, mediate conflicts, and create the conditions for collective performance.
  • Engagement as a driver of commitment: everyone must feel like an active participant in the project to fuel team dynamics.
  • Autonomy over control: by allowing space, a team becomes agile and capable of reacting to the unexpected.
  • A deep understanding of individuals: going beyond skills to understand personal motivations, values, and expectations.

 

These principles strongly resonate with our mission at Leaderia: to support businesses in building solid, high-performing, and responsible teams in the agri, agro, and hospitality sectors.