Biography

I pride myself in not having a career. There has been very little planning when it comes to my professional journey. However, it has been filled with opportunities. I simply pursued what appealed to me most and am thankful for the abundance in all areas of life it has provided me.

Although I don’t have a career, looking back there is a clear theme. I like improvement, I like growth. Growth in how organizations operate as well as the growth and development of people, including myself. There is an undeniable deep connection between personal development and the wellbeing of organizations. Once this is  embraced and acted upon, it allows quantum leaps of growth in organizations. I am honored and humbled to work with individuals in this area.

I grew up on a horticultural farm in the Netherlands. I spent a good bit of my free time working there together with my brother and cousins. Physical tough work, great fun and healthy competition. Although my work ended up being in corporate environments, many of the tools and views I apply today originate from my experiences at the nursery. 

I studied Business Economics in Rotterdam. I did not enjoy my time in school and seriously considered dropping out. However, school provided the opportunity to obtain a visa for an internship in the USA. I had to pass a rigorous selection procedure with many other applicants. The quality of my schoolwork certainly did not warrant me being selected. However, my motivation and clarity made me stand out and I ended up being granted 1 of 10 visa’s.

I set up an internship and also did my final thesis at Lancaster Farms in Virginia. To Charlie Parkerson and family I will be forever grateful for the opportunity. I realized I was capable of a lot more as I had given myself credit for during my formal education. Also I learned that I had an eye for improvement and how to accomplish it. I realized that I had a skill set that could make a significant difference in the corporate world.

After my time in the US I started my first professional role out of college with Shell. I started as a Project Manager, responsible for the implementation of a new SAP module. When I was 18 my view was that I could have a professional career without any computer or IT involvement. In this role with Shell it became clear that if I wanted to be in the business of improvement, IT or Technology would play a significant role.

I had a wonderful time with Shell but after a year decided to join my brother to found an e-learning business. Entrepreneurship was calling! I quickly learned I needed the buzz of people around me, was longing for the corporate world and shaping improvement there. Hence I launched a consulting firm providing Project Delivery services to the corporate world.

For close to 20 years I have consulted a wide variety of corporations throughout Europe and the United States delivering improvements through projects. The projects grew, the issues I experienced pretty much stayed the same.

Project success often seemed temporary and the results evaporated over time. Regardless of how successful the projects were, the improvements those organizations were after often lacked.

This triggered me in investigating what was causing this. Why was sustained improvement, organizational change so hard to come by? I found clear answers in the field of personal development. Applied these to the area of organizational development and captured these views in my book Change Your Mind Change Your Business where I explain the principles for co-creating organizational change.

And that brings me to Project Management Guidance. My latest initiative where I integrate my experience as coach, project director and change manager. Assisting organizations and open minded individuals improving their project delivery and change management skills.

I operate from the vision that any successful improvement requires the integration of the science and art of projects. Today the execution of projects has become a very clinical exercise, where project techniques and methodologies are merely being applied. With limited success.

But not recognizing the fact that improvement is the work of people, the results of improvements affecting the lives of people. Without consciously integrating people in the creation of these improvements success will lack. I have learned that much. How to do that, how to integrate the science and art of projects is what we teach through Project Management Guidance.