Thinking Strategically — From the Trenches to the Tower ⏱ Up to 120 min · Max 12 participants
Strategic thinking development
Imagine a medieval castle. The soldiers in the trenches are heads-down, fighting hard, reacting to what's right in front of them. Meanwhile, someone on the tower has a view of the entire battlefield — and is making entirely…
Cognitive Reframing
Cooperative Problem-Solving
Ideation
Metacognition Training
Metaphoric Thinking
Roleplay / Simulation
Workshop
Description
Imagine a medieval castle. The soldiers in the trenches are heads-down, fighting hard, reacting to what's right in front of them. Meanwhile, someone on the tower has a view of the entire battlefield — and is making entirely different decisions. Most of us spend our professional lives in the trenches. This session is about climbing the tower. We begin by redefining what strategy actually means — stripping away the jargon to reveal something surprisingly human: the ability to pause, zoom out, and ask "what game are we really playing here?" Through a series of creative exercises, participants practise shifting from reactive to reflective, from tactical to directional, and from busy to intentional. We work with real challenges brought into the room, using structured reframing tools to see them from the tower. Participants leave with a new mental model and — more importantly — the habit of asking themselves: am I in the trenches right now, or do I need to climb?
Benefits
A vivid, memorable mental model for the difference between tactical and strategic thinking — one they'll find themselves returning to long after the session. The ability to recognise when they're stuck in the trenches and the tools to deliberately climb out. A reframed relationship with their own challenges: broader, calmer, and far more powerful.
Hosted by Vanessa Defournier
About the Host
I'm Vanessa Defournier, a global leadership coach and facilitator based in Morocco, working worldwide.
I've spent over 20 years helping people and teams connect more deeply — with themselves, with each other, and with what they're actually here to do. I've lived and worked in 10 countries, coached in four languages, and held space for leaders navigating some of the most demanding environments on the planet: from McKinsey consulting rooms to international development institutions tackling climate, inequality, and systemic change.
What draws me to this work isn't the frameworks — it's the moment when something shifts. When a team that was talking past each other suddenly starts listening. When a leader drops the performance and gets honest. When a person realises they already knew what they needed to do, they just hadn't let themselves see it yet.
My style is warm, direct, and deeply human. I create experiences that feel safe enough to be real and engaging enough to matter. People often tell me they came in expecting a workshop and left feeling something more like a reckoning — in the best possible sense.
I bring cultural fluency, emotional depth, and a genuine love for the complexity of people. Whether I'm working in English, French, Spanish or Portuguese, the invitation is always the same: show up as you are, and let's do something meaningful with that.
Focus Areas
Development/Coaching
Location
Rabat, Morocco
Languages
English, Spanish, French, Portuguese
Travel Locations
Brussels ; Paris; Lisbon; Madrid: London; Tunis; additional cost based on real expenses (flights/stay)
Corporate Experience
Significant
Session Types Offered
Interactive (eg. improv, group-art, yoga etc.)
Past Experience Doing Sessions
Yes - Interactive
Client Requirements
Inspiring room/space; flip charts and markers; speakers; large post its
Past Clients
Prose; Inter American Development Bank; Swagelok; Green Climate Fund;
Photo Gallery