Executive Coach in Amsterdam

The problem:
You know your subject well. But in the boardroom, or in conversations with senior leadership, that doesn't always land the way you want. You hesitate a beat too long, or hold back. And the higher you climb, the more it matters how you come across, not only what you know.

This plays out on two levels: the confidence to take your place, and your leadership presence, the authority you project without forcing it.

How I approach it:
We work on both. On your confidence: where the hesitation comes from, and how you stand firmer in moments that feel tense right now. And on your leadership presence: how you deliver your message, how you come across under pressure, how you take up the space your role calls for. I know that world from the inside.

The problem:
You have the results, the experience, the track record. But somewhere inside there's a voice: sooner or later they'll see through me. Impostor syndrome gets louder as expectations grow.

Many executives reach where they are precisely because they're hard on themselves. That inner voice 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 inaccurate. You move from automatic reaction to conscious choice. 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. Over the past two and a half years I've worked with more than 50 leaders on exactly this theme. Want to know what your inner saboteur looks like? Take the free saboteur assessment here.

The problem:
Yesterday they were your colleague. Today you're 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 trickier this gets. You become director of the team you were part of. You know them, they know you, and now you assess their performance. Or you step in as head of the leadership team you just joined, knowing two of them wanted that role too.

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

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

We also look at the assumptions holding you back. Many people in this transition hold too tightly to the need to be liked. That makes it harder than it needs to be.

The problem:
Most executives who come to me as an executive coach already sense what's going on. They're too direct and it lands hard. They listen, but not really. They're already forming a response while the other person is still talking. They over-explain and lose the room. Or they avoid a difficult conversation until it's too late.

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

How I approach it:
We start with that gap. What do you mean, and what do others actually receive? From there we work on the specific pattern getting 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 use DISC, the colour system, as an assessment tool. It's not a personality test. It's a practical way to understand your own communication style and see how others are wired differently, so you can adjust without losing yourself.

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're coming from and what your new role demands. How you build authority quickly in a new context. How you manage expectations effectively, upward, sideways and downward. How you establish yourself without making the mistakes most people make at this stage.

The problem:
Your peers have their own agenda. The people below you filter what they tell you. Everyone around you has a stake in your choices. And the decisions that really matter, you make 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 set direction, navigate corporate politics, make decisions with incomplete information, and sell those decisions upward and downward at the same time. Most people around you aren't able to think with you at that level. They're too close, too junior, or too cautious.

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, understand how corporate politics works, and have made the 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 understands what you're dealing with. Confidential and objective.

The problem:
Good role, results, respect. But something feels off. You perform, but the sense that it means something is gone. You keep going, but it 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. Values exist in three layers. The bottom layer holds the "shoulds": values imposed from the outside, like being successful, looking good, always being available. The middle layer holds chosen values, the ones you consciously embrace. The top layer holds your core values, so fundamental to who you are that if you can't express them nearly every day, something feels wrong and your energy drains. Many people live, without realising it, at odds with that deepest layer. And that costs energy and happiness.

The problem:
Always on. Always reachable. Boundaries that slowly fade, without you noticing or wanting it. It costs more than it gives. You know it isn't sustainable. But how do you turn that around?

How I approach it:
We look at what gives you energy and what it costs. And what needs to change. More rest? More delegating? Less perfectionism? Better boundaries? The answer is different for everyone. Where your boundaries sit and how you guard them sets the standard for the people around you. This is a leadership question, not a therapy one. 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 keeps slipping to the background, because something more urgent always comes first. But good leadership at this level asks that you work on every dimension that matters. Not one. All of them.

How I approach it:
As an executive coach, I build a programme based on my V.O.I.C.E. framework: Vision, Ownership, Influence, Confidence and Empathy. Not a course. Not a workshop. A real programme built around you, focused on the areas where you have the most to gain.