Thanks for the opportunity to contribute to this Yury. Here is my modest contribution:
Tom and I have worked together for many years and those have been enjoyable, albeit challenging years, that we can now look back on with a sense of achievement and great satisfaction. The critical philosophy adopted by Tom with everyone was give them a chance and they will reward you with results. The main thing was to learn as you go, too much analysis can lead to paralysis, so give it a go and see where you get to. We worked on issues that were new to the world and developing as we went along but challenge, debate followed by clear action always worked and Tom was a keen advocate of that. His style of encouragement can be misleading and sometimes appear to be laid back but he was always prepared to take a chance on anyone and anything and give everyone their opportunity, the results speak for themselves! Fond memories of very happy years!

Have a great evening Tom and congratulations from David & Jo

Tom was a true champion of Action Learning at Johnson & Johnson. I participated in the very first program under Tom's leadership more than 20 years ago and, today, Action Learning is still a key part of leadership development at Johnson & Johnson. Tom brought an entrpreneurial spirit, great enthusiasm, and a truly global approach through his leadership and coaching during this program. He took every opportunity to encourage us to challenge the status quo, think differently about growth in emerging markets, and took every one of us out of our paradigms and cultural silos--skills that have been invaluable to me as a leader to this day.

I have known Pierre for 20 years and each and every one of them has been a most rewarding experience both on a professional and personal level.

Professionally, I doubt there could be many better in his domain. Deep expertise, combined with a huge intellect, passion,  and an insatiable thirst for learning, humour and an acute business sense combine to make him one of the best. I was, and continue to be, awed by his creative and innovative thinking. He always pushed the boundaries my own thinking to deliver better solutions for the businesses we worked in together.He was always willing to share his wealth of knowledge, especially with young professionals for whom he was is always a wonderful mentor.

On a personal basis, Pierre is the best friend anyone could wish for. Warm, humorous (in many languages) and always prepared to go above and beyond to make sure you feel welcome and have the best possible experience. This is of course facilitated by his love of great food and great wine. He is also a fabulous cook (along with his wonderful wife and life companion, Gentiane). The best restaurant and wine cellar in any city in which they live is “Chez Guillon”. 

Congratulations on your award my dear friend. I can think of no-one more deserving.

What Can You Say About Pierre?

I have known Pierre Guillon for more years than I care to count. It has been very hard to keep up with him, since he has had almost as many jobs as the years that I have known him. I can only conclude that my opinion of him---that he is a master at leadership development, has been acknowledged by many companies, all of which have tried to avail themselves of his considerable talents. Pierre is a true “citizen of the world” when it comes to leadership development, having worked in many countries around the globe to bring the benefits of Business driven Action Learning to their executives. He is a visionary, and a ground breaker, embracing the idea that companies in diverse businesses can learn from each other. He was an enthusiastic supporter of our efforts to create a consortium of companies to do a joint action learning program, and that foresight resulted in a series of successful programs that served as a model for programs that continue to this day.

Beyond this, Pierre is a true gentleman, and an inspiration to all who know him. He never fails to come forward to help, and no problem seems to stop him. It has been a privilege to know Pierre and his lovely wife Gentiane, who is really the “Power Behind the Throne”.

No one is more deserving of this award.

I have worked with Pierre for over 20 years as a colleague, friend and a client. In my experience (and I am a very well traveled old person), Pierre is the best global HR executive I know. He is very knowledgeable and well networked around the world. I have watched him perform inside of major organizations and as a consultant to major organizations. I have watched him as a thought leader, as a manager and as an innovative implementer. He is an avid learner and is always up to date on all things important to HR and talent management. In our first ever meeting, his original intention was to inform me that I was not selected as a preferred vendor to his company. After a fine dinner and a fine wine and a vigorous debate, we bonded for life. A chance meeting but a very enhancing two hours.

I first met Pierre three years ago, when he addressed the importance of Strategic Human Capital Management at the Annual Strategy Meeting at Ultramar, a major shipping company based in Chile, for which I work as the Head of Strategy & Human Resources. Since then, I have always seen Pierre as a truly dedicated professional; committed to the highest standards of excellence when applying and sharing his deep understanding and knowledge on the Strategic Human Capital Management field. He has passionately focussed his effort in trying to transfer his knowledge and experience of HR best practices and policies of companies in more developed countries to those based in South America. By all means, this has proven to be a difficult task, but nevertheless he has demonstrated to be an outstanding professional. At all times, he was able to bring to the table relevant, assertive and forward thinking ideas. For those working alongside him, his valuable know-how and business acumen provided a significant contribution and inspiration.   Overall, a strong mentor and consulting companion, a significant team member, and trusted colleague to many: for all of the above mentioned, Pierre is widely a respected professional in his field.Pierre, it was a pleasure to work with you and my most sincere congratulations to you on this award.

Congratulatory Testimonial to Pierre Guillon as the Recipient of the Robert L. Dilworth/Global Forum Award for Outstanding Achievement

I first met Pierre and his wife Gentiane at the 5^th Global Forum on Action Learning at the Boeing Leadership Centre in St. Louis, Missouri. At that time Pierre was happily living in Australia as Global Talent VP for BHP Billiton. That was my first introduction to this community of sharing and Pierre was one of my first influences into the realm of ‘action learning’.

I followed his career moves as Global Director of HR Services for Allied Vitner and Pernod Ricard; and started to look at Pierre as a role model. I was travelling approximately a 100,000 miles a year at the time; and Pierre was probably travelling twice that. I couldn’t help but marvel at how he managed such high level, global professional responsibilities and his disability did not limit him to travel all over the world. I would take the ‘dis’ out of my description of Pierre and just say he is a person of many ‘abilities’.

It wasn’t until the 2007 Global Forum in Dublin that our friendship grew stronger. But this had more to do with his amazing wife Gentiane bonding with my wife May on the partner programs; and from that year onward at each GF we began to hang out as couples. So this is really where the story begins during his foray as Senior Client Partner in Leadership Development Solutions with Korn/Ferry International.

Over the years we have spent time together both at and outside of the Global Forum community. We have met his daughter and her boyfriend, his brother and sister-in-law, niece and nephew from Hong Kong in Beijing; have wined and dined in Paris on many an occasion and again whenever at Global Forums we hang out as couples. So my testimonial is more a witness of Pierre as a family man and friend; as a wonderful father, great brother and uncle, very lucky husband and for me most importantly proud for us to be friends with each other.

You will always find Pierre to be impeccably honest, forthright, to the point; serious about the roots and construct of the Global Forum Community. One example of Pierre being straight forward is that I had gone to Paris on two occasions where my wife May was not with me… I was warned, in a jovial and half serious tone, “next time you visit us we won’t meet you if you don’t bring your wife with you”. We stay in contact, remember birthdays, and special occasions and engage in a variety of topics including action learning, family, executive development of which Pierre is absolutely a global thought leader. I believe that if Reg Revans was here this evening he would acknowledge that Pierre has the stuff that it takes to be an honest man. I’m proud to call Pierre my friend and honored to formally congratulate Mssr. Guillon on being the recipient of the Robert L. Dilworth, Global Forum Award for Outstanding Achievement in the field of action learning, human resources and executive development. Congratulations on a well deserved recognition of your personal and professional contribution to our community of global sharing.