Laurence was the President and Chairman of Airbus China from 2004 - 2017 where he led the business to grow from producing 40 to over 160 aircraft per year and grew revenue to over €20bn in China. He joined Airbus in 1982 in aircraft finance where he ran customer finance for 10 years and then asset management for a decade. Laurence spent a total of over 25 years in aircraft financing and leasing before moving to lead Airbus China.
I would say, take your opportunities. In my case, I never dreamt that I would leave my home country and move to France, which I did at 22-years-old, and then go and work for four years, in Japan and then return to France, but to a city that I’d never been to, Toulouse and, eventually, end up living and working in China. None of that was part of a plan. I was quite opportunistic at taking the opportunities, as and when they arose.
I think, at 28-years-old, you’ve got to be prepared to, maybe, do something that others are not prepared to do. Maybe surprise yourself, challenge yourself. Go and do something that you never dreamt of. It’s easy to say, but it’s not so easy to do. But my advice, to anybody at that age, would be, don’t get stuck in a rut. Don’t do the same thing for too long. Look for opportunities, look for things that maybe others hesitate to do and challenge yourself a bit.
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Laurence was the President and Chairman of Airbus China from 2004 - 2017 where he led the business to grow from producing 40 to over 160 aircraft per year and grew revenue to over €20bn in China. He joined Airbus in 1982 in aircraft finance where he ran customer finance for 10 years and then asset management for a decade. Laurence spent a total of over 25 years in aircraft financing and leasing before moving to lead Airbus China.