The APM trains the special forces of leaders

The APM, the French Association for the Progress of Management, is partnering with ARXIBALD to train the special forces of leaders. Through this partnership, leaders can now live the Special Forces method from the inside, then transpose it to their own company. The format? Two full days of immersion in the Basque Country. This experience is neither a sports seminar nor a military re-enactment, but a methodological immersion to transpose a unique mindset into one's own business environment.

A unique partnership

The APM was created in 1987 by Pierre Bellon, founder of Sodexo, around a conviction that remains its motto: "the progress of companies through the progress of their leaders". The association now brings together thousands of leaders of small and mid-sized companies within clubs across France and internationally, where each comes to progress in their craft, confront their practices and open up to other worlds.

It is in this spirit that the APM forms this brand-new partnership with ARXIBALD, the Special Forces school for businesses. An unprecedented alliance, offering its members an exceptional learning ground, in the outstanding setting of the Basque Country, just a few hours from the major European cities.

Three founding principles, since 1941

ARXIBALD transposes to the business world the three founding principles of the modern "special forces" concept, born of the pioneering thinking of Archibald David Stirling.

• The human first ("The man is the regiment"). A unit's worth comes not from its means, but from the women and men who make it up, the trust placed in them and the responsibility they are given.
• Daring next ("Who Dares, Wins"). Deciding and acting under uncertainty rather than enduring it, taking the initiative instead of waiting for certainty.
• Continuous improvement ("The never ending pursuit of excellence"). The pursuit of excellence never stops; every action is debriefed, every lesson feeds the next.

Two days of immersion

The learning expedition offered to APM members can be viewed on the APM platform. It relies almost exclusively on real-life situations, led by several mentors from the Special Forces. The aim is not to celebrate physical feats, but to transpose skills and methods proven in the most uncertain environments.

Through practice, participants discover the fundamentals of leadership to develop their team, and are initiated into the "team of teams" way of operating theorised by General Stanley McChrystal. They leave the immersion with concrete tools and methods, ready to be transposed to their teams:

• a method to analyse and manage uncertainty;
• a clear decision-making framework;
• operational templates that are directly transposable;
• principles for success;
• the method for running AAR and after-action reviews.

All of it unfolds in the naturally unifying setting of the Basque Country, where the ocean meets the mountains.

What leaders take home

The point is not to train commandos, but to reveal skills directly useful to the leader. By the end of the immersion, each of them is better able to: decide fast and well with little information, thanks to a transposable reasoning method; lead by intent rather than by instruction, through a decentralised leadership that empowers teams; install a debriefing culture (after-action review), hot then cold, without complacency and without ever judging people; and organise their company as a team of teams, to gain speed without losing cohesion.

ARXIBALD was founded by Gilles Duplay, who brought together professionals from the Special Forces to transpose their methods to the business world. They are the ones who run the immersions, alongside leaders, in real situations.

A shared conviction

The APM and ARXIBALD share a strong belief: in a faster, more uncertain and more interconnected world, leadership and operational excellence are not improvised, they are trained. This partnership puts within leaders' reach a learning proven under fire, to decide faster, work better together, and become "the special forces of their economy".

ARXIBALD is a Qualiopi-certified training organisation. Its immersions and training courses are designed to measure, for a single company or across companies.