Biography of Bertrand Piccard as a leader in all parts of life, written by Wharton MBA student for a course on leadership from the point of view of the whole person.

1. LEADERSHIP BIOGRAPHY:
BERTRAND PICCARD
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Mark Arpels Amez-Droz

2. Bertrand Piccard
Leadership Biography 2
“When I was a child, I read books about conquering space. […] All of a sudden, when I
met the astronauts who piloted those rockets, I understood they were normal human
beings. The only thing which differentiated them from other people was the fact that
they pursued their dreams and passions."

3. Major accomplishments and failures
Leadership Biography 3
• Practicing psychiatrist
• Is married with 3 daughters
• Comes from a family of pioneers and explorers; wanted to
become an astronaut as a child
• As a young adult, was a pioneer and champion in hang-gliding
and hot-air-ballooning, while pursuing his career as a psychiatrist
• Was the first man to go around the world in a hot air balloon (after
2 failed attempts)
• Leader of the Solar Impulse project – the first solar powered plane
to fly around the world, raising awareness on renewable energies
and sustainability
• Founder of the Winds of Hope foundation, which focuses on
neglected causes of human suffering; and the World Alliance for
Clean Technologies, for the promotion of renewables energies

4. What he did to integrate different parts of life for
mutual gain
Leadership Biography 4
• Strives to achieve as much overlap between his four domains
– Even though his work (psychiatry) and passion did not originally overlap, he experimented to
find projects which brought those together
– Community is an integral part of his adventures through philanthropy and working with friends
– He brings his family and other stakeholders along and ensures they profit from it, like his wife
who took on more and more challenging managerial roles in his projects organizations
• Maintains a spiritual lens at all times in all aspects of life in order to ensure coherence amongst
domains
– Meditates every day
– Worked to reconcile his job, traditional western psychiatry, with spirituality and meditation
• Experiments to further his goals and those of his stakeholders
– Quit hang-gliding after a near death accident and his family asking him to quit; which is how
he took on hot-air-ballooning, a safer sport which propelled him as a pioneer

5. Lesson we can learn
Leadership Biography 5
• Dreams and passions provide huge opportunities to find overlap
between domains and should therefore not be neglected (or at
least not for too long)
• What can initially start as a ‘selfish’ hobby can be transformed and
reframed to serve others
• Bringing our stakeholders along with us, while not necessary to
achieve success in one or the other domain, is mandatory to
achieve concurrent success in all domains

6. Sources
Leadership Biography 6
• Harvard Business Review: http://www.hbrfrance.fr/magazine/2014/09/3460-le-
travail-dune-vie-bertrand-piccard-pionnier-de-laviation-solaire/
• TED talks: https://www.ted.com/speakers/bertrand_piccard
• Liberation Magazine: http://www.liberation.fr/sports/2014/10/22/bertrand-piccard-la-
bonne-alttitude_1127261
• Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bertrand_Piccard