Portrait
Born in France,Mathilde Noble grew up in Mexico, studied in the United-States and now lives in Sweden. While many of her colleagues still call her “the French woman,” she is above all a citizen of the world who seeks to expand her multicultural horizons. Today, as senior project manager at the Spotifymusic streaming service, she thrives on challenges, and faces them with determination and agility.
New frontiers
After receiving her science-focused baccalaureate in Mexico, Mathilde Noble returned to France to enroll in a preparatory class for the French grandes écoles (French higher-education institutions requiring a competitive exam for admission). She was admitted into a “Letters and Social Sciences” program at the Institution des Chartreux. She then decided to turn towards a business school and was accepted into the Atlantis program at INSEEC for a Bachelor in Business Administration (BBA). That’s how she received a triple diploma: a BBA at INSEEC de Lyon in France, a BBA from Linköping University in Sweden and a Master of Science specializing in information technology from DePaul University in the United States.
An international study program that allows students from different countries and points of view not only to work together, but also to grow as individuals:
“It was an incredible experience that allowed me to push my limits and to get a foot in the door of the tech world. When I went to the United States, for example, I had never dealt with hard science, but I looked forward to the challenge,” she recalls.
A woman in a man’s world
When she started her career at Klarna, in Sweden, Mathilde Noble was not only the youngest member of her team, but also the only woman. This was not a problem for a dynamic young woman versed in knowledge management. Early on, she played her best cards: ease in communicating with others, ability to adapt and continuous improvement.
Persevering and audacious, Mathilde Noble dreams of one day taking on FAANG (an acronym for Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) as a program manager, or of launching an attack on the fast fashion industry, with the aim of changing the world from the inside.
“Walking the agile slackline”
If she had grown up in the circus, Mathilde Noble may very well have donned the ringmistress’s costume If she had grown up in the circus, Mathilde Noble may very well have donned the ringmistress’s costume A bit of a tightrope walker, she organizes and directs the various phases of her projects, manages the participants, and makes sure deadlines are met. Mathilde Noble is a sort of orchestra conductor, an adept of agile methodology, which allows her to make the most of her managerial skills and at the same time, juggle difficulties.
As a professional project manager, Mathilde Noble sets up a framework so that every individual can play their part with confidence. By playing their instrument, each member of the team can help construct a collective work.
Depending on the context and objectives, Mathilde Noble adapts her stance, uses collective intelligence tools and creates workshops so that everyone can reveal their potential.
The culture of sincerity
Mathilde Noble moves between reactivity and proactivity. She likes to work for businesses that are not stuck in their ways, capable of adapting quickly to change and new trends. And when she is at the helm of the NWOW (New Ways of Working) ship, she puts people at the center of it all, giving them confidence and responsibility. That’s how she coordinates her crews and changes tack, allowing her shipmates to show their agility during a storm.
So, it’s not surprising to find Radical Candor by Kim Scott at her bedside, a book that explains that one can be a powerful leader and demonstrate humanity. The goal of every good manager should be to create the best environment possible so that each employee can be themself, with their own personality, their faults and above all, their own emotions.
*New Ways Of Working
Nerves of steel
Mathilde Noble feels that you cannot savor success without first having experienced defeat. After all, it is the errors and frustrations that lead us down the road to progress by obliging us to think and see things in a different way.
“When I was a student, I wasn’t afraid to ask questions or to admit that I didn’t understand. That is, in my opinion, the best way to make progress. Looking back on it, I’m proud that I was comfortable in that vulnerable position,” she reveals.
Mathilde Noble loves to push the limits of her comfort zone, in all domains. For example, while she hates cooking, she is capable of taking over her kitchen and spending days making pastries to achieve the perfect result with a recipe.
Feeling alive
As Mathilde Noble has well understood, pushing our limits helps us grow. It has made new experiences possible for her and allowed her to discover qualities and resources that she didn’t always know she had.
And when she is not in the middle of setting herself new goals to attain, Mathilde Noble listens to the little voice in her head while reading or writing poems. Like Proust, she doesn’t hesitate to plunge into her memories. That is how she re-energizes, at nightfall, on the cool sands of the beaches of Ixtapa in Mexico, to the soft sounds of lapping water. A moment of escape before bounding back into a life full of challenges!
Her advice: “Make people talk about you!”
“No matter what your level of experience, it is essential to present the best possible image of yourself and to let people around you know who you are,” she says.
In fact, when she started as Business Analyst at Klarna, Mathilde Noble didn’t know exactly what she wanted to do with her career. She was familiar with tradition and thought she would have to work in the same business at the same job for the rest of her life. However, she was quickly promoted and showed what she was made of in engineering and managerial positions.
“When you show that you are trustworthy, and that you share who you really are and what you want, people will remember you when an opportunity arises. Because in the end, what counts is not who you know, but rather what others know about you,” she confides.
« Lorsque j’étais étudiante, je n’avais pas peur de poser des questions ou d’avouer que je n’avais pas compris. C’est, selon moi, le meilleur moyen de progresser. Avec le recul, je suis assez fière d’avoir été à l’aise dans cette position de vulnérabilité », confie-t-elle.
Mathilde NOBLE
ALUMNI INSEEC