That is not a question.  But I take it as: does your coaching always get the results the client wants? The answer is, yes, most of the time. When it doesn’t work, the client is usually set up for suboptimal results from the start. For example, when the client has an improvement goal that is not really his or her own, but from his or her boss, or someone else. The better the quality of the personal adaptive improvement goal we can jointly craft at the start, the higher the odds that the results will also be very good. That is why I then usually advise not to begin the full coaching cycle yet. And then there are results. We focus on mindset and behaviour – on the One Big Thing that a person would like to improve on. I don’t promise more money, hassle free clients, lives or fast track promotions. Nevertheless, very often people do feel that they are in a much better place to achieve these outcomes and have a different (bigger) perspective on these outcomes as well.

In individual coaching, I work on my own. Sometimes, in the course of a coaching cycle a need arises for some orientation on a particular technical skill. In these cases I might refer to another source. It’s also possible that I feel that other coaches might be a better fit. In my work with teams, I often partner with colleagues from my networks, such as the “Immunity to Change” facilitators around the world (see MindsatWork).

As coach & facilitator with Cultivating Leadership I help individuals and organizations to adapt to increasing complexity in simple and innovative ways.

Through my involvement with Great Place to Grow I aim to bring the development of adults within organizations to scale, creating more great places to grow. It entails a close collaboration with the academic home of so called Deliberately Developmental Organizations (DDO’s).

I closely cooperate with the negotiation specialist RoutsLaeven, because I believe that much of leadership, at the core, involves some form of negotiation.

I can work anywhere with you or your team. For individual coaching we can either meet face to face or through a virtual meeting (using e.g Zoom or Skype). Though it is preferable that we meet face-to-face for an intake, experience of my clients and other coaches’ clients also tells me that it is not absolutely necessary.

If needed, I can refer you to the fellow practitioners in my network from around the world.

There’s a whole book about it. It’s pretty self-explanatory. While reading it you might want to have a go at creating a first Immunity Map yourself. All it takes is a blank piece of paper with four columns.

There is more besides a book. Reach out to me and let me know what you need and we can decide what materials would be helpful.

Absolutely. It is in fact hideous. All  the same, I thought it was an imperfect illustration of how I connect the dots for myself, and in doing so it may inspire others too. In Dutch the expression that comes with the picture is: “Wat heb ik nu weer aan mijn fiets hangen?” Quite hard to translate in English.

As a Dutch boy, every school day I had to ride my bicycle against the wind in the polders of Goeree-Overflakkee for at least 50% of the time. You get used to it. It comes with the job. Interesting too that I really believe that it was more than 50% of the time. If it feels that way, it must be true! Just ignore the counter evidence of the wind statistics!

My passion is kite surfing, usually on the North Sea. A kite with 25-35 knots of wind is a powerful force. No messing around with it. Everything becomes immediate. The waves, the distance, the kites and friends around you, the feedback, the consequences. My growth edge there is to push myself to keep trying new things. To get out of my comfort zone, learn fast, yet still be safe. Quite often, I realise, it’s a mindset game. I may need a coach myself.

Now over to you:  what imagery would you chose and why?

Thanks. I got the idea from the book called Changing on the Job, written by Jennifer Garvey Berger. A very worthwhile read about adult development, by the way.

Absolutely. For many parts in my life my immune system runs just fine, until I meet my growth edge too! To keep growing and developing myself, I participate frequently in various small groups of professional colleagues. In these settings we discuss personal growth challenges as well as anonymous client cases.