About Me

People over numbers

Early in my career, I was focused mostly on quality. The highest standard, wanting to be the best. It gave good results.

But at some point I realised something. If I keep this up for forty years, clearing my inbox every day, always beating my targets, what will I have achieved? Will I look back with real pride?

What I came to understand back then: people matter at least as much as results. Connection. Enjoying something together. People who feel heard. A team that grows, not only in numbers but as human beings.

Doing excellent work is a fine thing. But there is a difference between seeing your work as your identity, and seeing it as one part of your life. Someone who builds a strong personality as their foundation, and from there does work that matters, stands firmer than someone who builds their whole self-image on their job title.

That is also the best part of coaching. Again and again I see people grow and become more themselves. They get better at their work, and start enjoying it more too. That gives me a lot of satisfaction.

That realisation changed how I looked at leadership. And it made me curious about what good leaders actually do differently.

Philosophy, psychology and inner work

That curiosity drove me to philosophy and psychology. To Nietzsche, who wrote that your character is a work of art you keep shaping your whole life. To Joseph Campbell, on the confrontations you would rather avoid, but where the growth lies. To Alan Watts and others I collect on my inspiration page. At the same time I studied the practical side: Adam Grant, Simon Sinek, the science behind motivation and communication.

And then there is mindfulness. Not the woo-woo kind. A few years ago I did a ten-day silent retreat. No phone, no conversations, just my own head. Confronting, and one of the most valuable things I have done. You learn to observe your own thoughts and emotions without getting swept along with them. To choose a conscious response instead of a reflex. That is a skill. And it changes how you lead.

The philosophical, the practical and the inner. Those three have been the basis of everything I do ever since.

From my own experience

I lived through all of this myself as a manager for years. I know the first months as a team lead, when you go from colleague to boss and nobody tells you how. But also leading a large international department, with Fortune 500 clients as stakeholders. The hard decisions, the boardroom dynamics, the conversations you have alone, the loneliness that sometimes comes with the top. I know this from the inside.

Co-Active coaching is built on exactly that idea. The core belief: everyone is whole, creative and resourceful. There is nothing wrong with you, you do not need to be fixed. And it is precisely from that trust that it pays off so much to look together at what you really want, how you get there, and what is still holding you back. Who do you want to be? And what are you going to do? We keep asking that question.

From Amsterdam, I work with leaders at every level, online and on location. My style is honest, direct, analytical, but always with empathy and in service of your growth.

This is the work that gives me energy every day. Curious whether we click? Then plan your free introduction call below.