Executive Coach in Amsterdam

The problem:
You have the results, the experience, the track record. But somewhere inside there's a voice: sooner or later they'll figure out I'm not as good as they think. Impostor syndrome tends to get louder as expectations grow.

Many executives reach where they are precisely because they're hard on themselves. That inner critic delivers results. So they assume they need it. That's a mistake. Self-criticism and perfectionism produce results, but at a high cost.

How I approach it:
I help you create distance from your thoughts and see them for what they are: objects in your awareness that you often can't control, and that are frequently contradictory or simply untrue. You move from automatic reaction to conscious response. I work with Positive Intelligence, a scientifically grounded model that helps reduce self-criticism and build self-compassion, so you stay just as successful without the tension and anxiety. I have extensive experience here and consistently see strong results. Want to know what your inner saboteur looks like? Take the free saboteur assessment here.

The problem:
Yesterday you are a peer. Today you are responsible for their performance, their development, and sometimes their exit. That's a fundamentally different relationship. Everyone knows it. So do you.

The more senior the role, the messier this gets. You become director of the team you are part of. You know them, they know you, and now you assess their performance. Or you step in as head of the MT you are just a member of, knowing two of them also want the role.

Push too hard and you lose them. Hold back and you stay "one of the team," which costs you authority. The question isn't whether it's uncomfortable. The question is how you handle it well.

How I approach it:
We work on both the mental and practical side of this transition. How to build authority with people who think they already know you. How to keep relationships intact without losing the lead. How to set boundaries in a way that fits you. And how to communicate your new role in a way that creates clarity without creating distance.

We also look at the assumptions getting in your way. Many people in this transition hold on too tightly to the need to be liked. And that makes it unnecessarily hard.

The problem:
Most executives who reach out to me as an executive coach know roughly what the issue is. They're too direct and it comes across as hard. They listen, but not really. They're already formulating a response. They over-explain and lose the room. Or they avoid a difficult conversation until it's too late.

The common thread: what you intend and what others experience are further apart than you think. And the higher you are, the fewer people still tell you.

How I approach it:
We start with the gap. What do you intend, and what do others actually receive? From there we work on the specific pattern that gets in your way. That might be how you listen, how you regulate yourself in difficult conversations, or how you adapt your style to different people.

I include DISC, the colour system, as an assessment tool here. Not as a personality test, because it isn't one, but as a way to help you understand your own communication style and how others are wired differently. It gives you a practical map for adjusting without losing yourself in the process.

The problem:
A new role. A new company. What makes you effective now doesn't automatically work in the new context. The expectations are different. The dynamics are different. And the time to figure it out is shorter than you think.

How I approach it:
We work on the gap between where you come from and what your new role demands. How to build authority quickly in a new context. How to manage expectations effectively, upward, sideways and down. How to establish yourself without making the mistakes most people make at this stage.

The problem:
When things are calm, you're at your best. Under pressure, things change. You communicate more directly than you like. You're less accessible. More controlling. Your team pulls back at exactly the moment you need them. You see it happening and can't stop it. At the executive level, where competition can be fierce, this becomes a real challenge.

How I approach it:
We make visible what happens to you under pressure through metacognition: the ability to observe your own reactions as they occur. We look at your strengths, but also at how they overshoot into pitfalls under pressure. At your triggers: what sets you off, and why. I also help you work with specific emotions that leaders regularly face, like frustration, irritation and impatience. Not to suppress them, but to understand them and respond differently. From that self-awareness we build self-regulation.

The problem:
Your peers have their own agenda. The people below you filter what they say. Everyone around you has a stake in your choices. And the decisions that matter most you face alone, without anyone who genuinely pushes back. Leadership at the top can be lonely.

What makes it harder is that strategy at this level is genuinely complex. You're not just managing people. You're shaping direction, navigating politics, making calls with incomplete information, and selling those calls upward and downward at the same time. Most people around you aren't equipped to think with you at that level. They're too close, too junior, or too careful.

How I approach it:
As an executive coach, I'm your sparring partner without a hidden agenda. Someone with strategic insight and a real understanding of how organisations work, from the inside. I've led teams, navigated politics, and made the kind of decisions that keep you up at night.

Whether it's thinking through a strategic decision, stress-testing a plan, navigating a difficult stakeholder landscape, or simply having someone to talk to who gets what you're dealing with. Confidential and objective.

The problem:
Good role, results, respect. But something's off. You perform, but you've lost the sense that it means something. You keep moving forward, but it feels harder than it should and costs more energy than it gives.

How I approach it:
We go looking for what actually drives you. What work gives you energy, and what drains it. Are you genuinely yourself in your role, or playing a part that's expected of you?

We look at your core values. They exist in three layers. The bottom layer is the "shoulds": values imposed from the outside, like being successful, looking good, always being available. The middle layer are chosen values: ones you consciously opt into. The top layer are your core values: so fundamental to who you are that if you can't express them nearly every day, something feels wrong. Many people live, without realising it, in conflict with that deepest layer. And it drains energy.

The problem:
Always on. Always reachable. Boundaries that erode over time, without you realising or wanting it. It costs more than it gives. You know it's not sustainable. But how do you turn it around?

How I approach it:
We look at what gives you energy and what drains it. And what needs to change. More rest? More delegation? Less perfectionism? Better boundaries? The answer is different for everyone. Where your limits are and how you hold them sets the standard for the people around you. Not as a therapy question, but as a leadership question. Because a leader who burns out doesn't serve their organisation.

This one is different from the rest.

You've known for a while that your personal development as a leader takes a back seat. Not because it isn't important, but because something more urgent always comes first. What you want now is to upskill across the dimensions that matter at this level: communication, vision, influence, confidence, empathy. Not a course. Not a workshop. A real programme built around you.

As an executive coach, I build that programme based on my V.O.I.C.E. framework: Vision, Ownership, Influence, Confidence and Empathy. Five dimensions that determine how effectively and authentically you lead. I combine what you bring with what I see you need.