Exemplary Leadership & Management-Skills Workshop

for Team Leaders, New Managers and Senior Professionals Aspiring to Lead

A Harvard Fellow (Advanced Leadership) educated in the science and practice of strategy, negotiation and team leadership (Harvard Business and Law Schools, Concordia, MIT), Alain Martin is a multilingual professional speaker on exemplary leadership, negotiation and skills to boost innovation quality, capacity, velocity and usability.

A board member in the USA, Canada, Europe and Japan, Alain works mostly behind the scene coaching executives, team leaders, scientists, negotiators, marketers, lawyers, intelligence analysts and executive assistants. An inventor who held patents (USA, Canada, Japan), Alain is the Chief Architect of Harvard University Global System^™ (HUGS), the innovative framework and practical toolkit applied in strategy formulation, principled negotiation, risk and project management, personal time management, team productivity and product/service incubation, design, prototyping, development, production, value extraction and client retention.

Alain has advised two prime ministers of Canada (4 years), the UNESCO’s Director General, the CEOs of biotechnology firms (BiokPlus), APOC’s CEO, Desjardins (the world's second strongest bank according to Bloomberg) for 10 years. He held risk- and IT-management positions at Du Pont, Bombardier, Domtar and CBC-SRC. He was twice a faculty member at the University of Quebec where he taught negotiation and change management in the M.Sc. and MGP Project-Management programs.

Alain led assignments where sensitive multipartite negotiations were of paramount importance, including: (a) the incubation of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency with Dr. Brian Morrissey; (b) a brainstorming retreat with Health-Canada’s executives and medical professionals to prepare a risk-management strategy nine months before Mad Cow was diagnosed in Canada; (c) a proposal to the Prime Minister on defusing the growing tensions between Canada and its Asian trade partners, particularly Japan, following the discovery of mad-cow disease in Alberta; (d) the merger of five agencies mandated to protect investors, maintain the integrity of securities markets, and regulate financial institutions in Quebec; (e) the creation of a trilateral cooperation network to mobilize Canadian talent and know-how with petrodollar financing (Kuwait, Abu Dhabi) for the benefit of the poorest nations in Asia and Africa; (f) coaching leaders of the First Nations in British Columbia and those of the Sakha (Yakutia) Republic to apply principled negotiation in resolving critical issues with their respective federal governments.

Alain has worked with Boeing, Boliden, Bombardier, Cap-Gemini, Desjardins (banking, insurance), E.ON (wind energy), Foro de Excelencia (Spain), France Loisirs, GE (USA, Canada, Europe), Skanska, Textron’s Bell Helicopters and governments. He led seminars for IEEE, PMI, operations-research societies (INFORMS, CORS), the Ivy-League’s Leadership Summit at Harvard, and Japan’s Engineering Advancement Association, METI, APEO, the last two International Forums of Excellence in Spain and the UN University in Tokyo. Early in his career, Alain led international capital projects ranging from inter-city microwave links to roads and bridges, funded by CIDA and the World Bank.

In mining, oil and gas, Alain advised the government on large-scale risks in Canada’s North and Arctic (2014-16) and continues, for years, to counsel executives and scientists of Teck’s Applied Research & Technology on strategy and project management.

Alain was selected as a 2012 Harvard Fellow in Advanced Leadership (ALI) with peers committed to address important issues including the environment, health, education and governance. During his fellowship, Alain honed his expertise in large-scale risks, mentored and delivered leadership seminars to Harvard University’s and other Ivy-League’s students and led the incubation of a complexity-reduction lab.

A current member of Harvard Faculty Club, Alain graduated in Commerce (Quantitative Methods) from Concordia University and is a Harvard Business School’s alumnus in entrepreneurship (OPM, 1997-1999). He fine-tuned his skills in management of change and social psychology at MIT and the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland. He is also certified to teach negotiation in the corporation by Harvard Law School where he was privileged to learn from Robert Mnookin, Lawrence Suskind, Bill Ury, Bruce Patten and the late Roger Fisher.

Recognized by the Project Management Institute (PMI) for “his outstanding contribution to the state-of-the-art of project management”, Alain was also honored by the Presidents of Harvard University and Harvard Alumni Association for his “Leadership, Vision and Service” to Harvard community. He is the author of the book titled “ Harnessing the Power of Intelligence” which was recommended by leading scholars, corporate executives and the competitive-intelligence community in Fortune 100 companies, the Chief of the Defence Staff of the Canadian Forces and the Office of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Department of Defense. Building exemplary teams and leaders is the subject of Alain’s upcoming book.

Alain’s pro-bono work focuses on funding and providing advice to advance health, education and poverty reduction. He is a founding sponsor of Roger Fisher House, a conflict-resolution catalyst that is now part of Mercy Corps. He is an Advisory Board Member of both Social Hearts (Japan) and New York’s Build Academy for global education in architecture, engineering and construction. Inspired by Drs. Jim Kim and Paul Farmer, Alain led the creation of Partners in Health Canada by mobilizing resources to (a) incorporate PIH as a charitable organization; (b) link PIH to strategic allies and philanthropies; (c) host funding events and (d) manufacture and deliver a fuel truck for PIH clinics in Haiti. He led funding projects for the victims of Haiti’s earthquake, Japan’s Tohoku earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Sandy (with the support of French Embassy in Washington). He also orchestrated initiatives for CHEO Children’s Hospital, Food Banks, Canada Without Poverty and led three times Harvard’s Global Month of Service.