Jean-Luc Thébert

HEC Paris

“Military strategist blending discipline, adaptability, and a global mindset, passionate about leadership, innovation and his family.”

Hometown: Castres, France

Fun fact about yourself: Before my military career, I had never left home. Now, after 130 parachute jumps, 9 relocations, and assignments across 5 continents, I finally consider myself ‘well-traveled’.

Undergraduate School and Degree: Brevet d’études militaires supérieures, Ecole de guerre, Paris, France (equivalent to an MBA for officers in Western armies, obtained after 7 years’ study, 2 competitive examinations and 10 years’ professional experience).

Where was the last place you worked before enrolling in business school? French Army. In the 13 years preceding the HEC MBA, I was responsible for the management, training and command of 30, then 200, marine infantry paratroopers, in France and abroad, in operational preparation and on missions. I then went on to acculturate the civilian and military elite in cross-functional security and defense issues, before finishing as chief of staff to the general commanding the European training mission for the armed forces of the Central African Republic.

Where did you intern during the summer of 2024? As a privileged student, sponsored by my employer, I returned to the French Army to take charge of the training and instruction of a 1,200-strong parachute infantry regiment to lead the appropriation of latest-generation combat systems.

Where will you be working after graduation? I’m going to continue my military career, initially with the French Army, and then, thanks to my MBA, I’ll be able to work for my country’s government or for international organizations such as the EU or NATO, with politico-military responsibilities in the strategic field.

Community Work and Leadership Roles in Business School:

• MBAT 2024 Chief of Operations: Responsible for the logistics and organization of three days and three nights of sports and artistic competitions for 1,700 participants from over 15 prestigious business schools, coordinating a small team of 100 students and school staff.
• HEC MBA Academic Representative: Elected by my fellow students, I was the link between them, the professors and the HEC staff for the organization of the MBA.
• Under the supervision of HEC’s Dean of Associative Life, in charge of the associative management elective for HEC rugby club leaders: Supervise, advise and evaluate rugby club presidents in sports, human, economic and relational management.
• Advisor to the HEC Defense and Space student club: Supervise and guide the club’s leaders in the educational content delivered at HEC.
• Organizer of the debate tournament between HEC MBAs and senior officers from the Paris War College.
• Nominated for the following prizes: MBA Leadership Award Class of 2025 / MBA Academic Award Class of 2025 / MBA Dean List Class of 2025. Results will be announced in June 2025.

Which academic or extracurricular achievement are you most proud of during business school? One of my proudest achievements is my contribution as Chief Operating Officer of the HEC MBAT. Transitioning from a structured military hierarchy to a collaborative student-driven environment pushed me beyond my comfort zone. This experience redefined my leadership, honing my adaptability, stakeholder management, and crisis response in an intense, high-stakes setting.

It was an enriching experience to be working with students from a wide range of backgrounds, experiences and abilities – in a new organization without any hierarchical relationships – while mastering the 750k € budget, regulations and risks. It enabled me to put into practice all the knowledge taught during the MBA, from marketing and strategy to human relations, negotiation and operations management. I’m particularly proud to have been able to demonstrate the excellence of the training provided by HEC and the French Army, and to have offered three days of sharing, meetings, and exchanges to over 1,700 international students. This event is truly the high point of the MBA year, opening us up to the world and its diversity in a fraternal and benevolent atmosphere.

What achievement are you most proud of in your professional career? From a professional point of view, I am relieved that none of the paratroopers placed under my command died, in France or abroad, in training or on mission. The military profession is dangerous and risky and that of a parachutist is even more so because of the parachute jumps in particular. Despite the fatigue, the sometime extreme climatic conditions, the lethality of the weapons and explosives in enemy and our possession, I take pride not only in their safety but in their unwavering cohesion and operational excellence. Facing high-risk missions, I developed crisis response frameworks, enhanced team resilience, and ensured mission success under immense pressure. These lessons—discipline, strategic foresight, and human leadership—are ones I carry forward in all domains of my career.

Why did you choose this business school? The French army and HEC Paris have enjoyed a win-win partnership for their respective elites for several decades. In the conception and elaboration of strategy and policy, the French Armed Forces require their high-potential commanders not only to have a common educational grounding, but also to provide input from a plurality of viewpoints. This is the criterion by which the most promising officers are chosen to follow the HEC MBA course. The HEC MBA program offers a unique environment with students whose international background guarantees a diversity of experience. Coupled with its world-class teaching, HEC Paris offered me a real opportunity to broaden my critical thinking and to acquire the tools with which to solve complex problems.

HEC was not just a natural choice because of its strong partnership with the French Army; it was a personal turning point. The MBA immersed me in a dynamic, global environment, allowing me to challenge my structured military perspective, broaden my approach to strategic thinking, and refine my leadership beyond hierarchical frameworks. This transformative experience is what truly sets HEC apart for me.

Who was your favorite MBA professor? Professor Jérémy Ghez, who is in charge of the macroeconomics and international affairs courses. He was one of the few to link the world of business with international politics and its struggles for influence and interest, something that particularly spoke to me with my experience as an officer. And above all, he was the driving force behind the HEC MBA Capstone project, which really took students out of the mode of being consumers of knowledge and turned them into actors in their training. He and his team pushed us to get involved in a subject of the future, to identify trends, look ahead, conduct field research and make our modest contribution in the hope of changing part of the world. This program was particularly interesting for MBA students, as they could demonstrate their originality at recruitment interviews by showing their work and saying: ‘Look what I can research and propose on a subject, alone and in a few months, that’s what makes me unique!’ In this way, Professor Ghez connected us to the real world, in all its complexity and interdependencies, before we took the plunge.

What was your favorite course as an MBA? In the armed forces, we’ve long known that accurate knowledge of the “human heart” of “human beings” is the starting point for all military organization. To get to know ourselves, others and how best to interact with them, we were fortunate enough to attend Professor Mathis Schulte’s Organizational Behavior course. While I had some knowledge of how the French Army works, this course opened my eyes to the human richness of my comrades from all over the world with such unique experiences. I came away particularly well trained to integrate any international team in any business sector, which is an essential skill for post-MBAs.

What was your favorite MBA event or tradition at your business school? For over 30 years, HEC MBA students have been organizing mini-Olympic games between MBAs from different business schools around the world, known as the MBAT (MBA Tournament). This global, complex and high-profile project highlights what HEC MBA students can organize in the middle of their training. So, I was particularly keen to take part, and was one of two teams competing to be chosen by our fellow students to organize it and perpetuate the school’s reputation for excellence.

It was a total human experience, mixing competitions, exchanges, encounters, sports and arts over 3 days and 3 nights. As head of operations, I’m particularly proud to have been able to make this possible with the twenty or so of my fellow students, the fifty or so members of the school staff, and the hundreds or so service providers we hired. Receiving the more than positive feedback from the more than 1,700 participants, for whom everything went off without a hitch, was a particularly intense human reward for the months of work that had gone into the event.

Looking back over your MBA experience, what is the one thing you’d do differently and why? Looking back on this adventure, if I had the chance to do it all over again, I’d spend more time in the first few months discussing, exchanging and getting to know all the members of my cohort – those of the other classes on campus and also our parallel EMBA class. The richness of the MBA also comes from the diversity of students’ backgrounds and experience. And despite all the events organized by the school and the students, I regret that I didn’t really get to talk to any of them.

What did you love most about your business school’s town? The location of HEC Paris is really great. On the one hand, we’re close enough to Paris, to its cultural life (weekends are fantastic), to its centers of power, to the headquarters of major companies and to internationally renowned campuses, which is a real advantage when looking for a place to live and/or work. On the other hand, the town of Jouy-en-Josas, where the school is actually based, is a haven of peace, offering wonderful natural surroundings and all the services a student might need during the working week.

It’s this explosive cocktail of possibilities that makes the HEC Paris location one of the richest and tastiest, and one that I love.

What movie or television show (e.g. The Big Short, The Founder, Mad Men, House of Lies) best reflects the realities of business and what did you learn from it? As an officer with a scientific academic background, I’ve never done any real business in my career. My experience is therefore based on business simulations and frequent exchanges with my fellow students and teachers about the many similarities between the private and military spheres. The film that often springs to mind is The Wolf of Wall Street. Not that I consider finance to be all nonsense, but for me this film is a safeguard that illustrates the excesses of a system that seeks only to make profits for the sake of making profits. Without a vision of society, a set of morals and ethics, and a sense of purpose to one’s career, we can quickly sink and forget about the common good.

What is one way that your business school has integrated AI into your programming? What insights did you gain from using AI? Artificial intelligence has permeated the HEC MBA curriculum. We are taught to understand how it works and how to use it. Not to replace our thinking, but to enhance it, and also to better understand the concepts we cover in class. We are also taught to be wary of it, and not to place blind trust in it, because critical thinking is always essential. So, I use this new object with lucidity to improve my day-to-day work and, above all, to learn more and more concepts to understand the world in which I evolve. What I’ve learned from using it is that you always need to look at how a tool works – and at a colleague’s background – to understand how he or she operates and how best to interact with him or her.

Which MBA classmate do you most admire? Victoria Lynn (Torrie) Griffiths from S23. She’s one of the most radiant personalities I’ve ever met in my life. She possesses an uncommon strength, will power, and empathy that are obvious at first glance, without her ever putting herself forward. Thanks to her charisma and leadership, she super-motivated the HEC classes to train and perform for all the MBAT 2024 events. At the same time, she was the driving force behind several clubs, the TEC program (MBA Mentorship program), listening to everyone and organizing numerous student life events. It’s almost as if she never slept to work for the good of her class. It was a joy and an honor to work alongside her, and she remains an inspiration.

What are the top two items on your professional bucket list?

Going to bed every night saying I love my job.

Being useful for future generations.

What made Jean-Luc such an invaluable addition to the Class of 2025?

“Jean-Luc was an incredibly impressive student leader in many ways, but what was most striking was his ability to lift others up around him. He came to the HEC Paris MBA with a strong CV and a track record of leadership in a high-profile organization, so it is not altogether surprising that others granted him respect and looked to him for guidance. Yet, what did feel more uncommon was how he approached his role with a mix of modesty, humility, and a steadfast focus on values that ensured his contributions never outshined the group as a whole. We always say that our MBA students will learn as much or more from their peers as their classes (and we have great professors, so this is a testament to the diverse talent in our cohorts), and Jean-Luc was clearly a source of inspiration and learning for others. We had a number of tremendously talented leaders in this cohort, so the fact that Jean-Luc stood out in such a positive way makes him deserving of this recognition.”

Brad Harris, Ph.D.
Professor of Management and Human Resources
Associate Dean, MBA/EMBA Programs
Vice Dean, TRIUM Global EMBA
HEC Paris

 

“Jean-Luc distinguished himself through exceptional leadership and methodical execution at HEC Paris. As the key ambassador for the MBA program’s new Capstone initiative, he demonstrated a remarkable capacity to both articulate complex concepts and inspire each classmate to invest deeply in their individual projects, ensuring the initiative’s success through personal mentorship. His organizational prowess was equally evident in his pivotal role supporting the prestigious MBA Tournament, where his systematic approach and attention to detail ensured its continued excellence. Throughout his time at HEC Paris, Jean-Luc exemplified the balance of strategic thinking and tactical execution that characterizes truly effective business leaders, consistently delivering tangible results while strengthening the program’s collaborative spirit.”

Jeremy Ghez
Professor of Economics
Academic Director, MBA’s New Horizons Capstone
HEC Paris

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