TRAINING | COACHING | CONSULTING more than 25 years experience in sales, marketing, program and business management, training, coaching & consultancy and entrepreneurship in international b2b and b2c
EXPERIENCE AND EXPERTISE
Embracing wisdom of the past and integrating it into todays leadership development
Empowering leaders, managers and professionals to navigate the complexities in business and life with clarity, confidence, and competencies
Developing leadership that is self-aware, inspiring, and entrepreneurial through training and coaching
Creating robust foundations for 'true success' of individuals, teams, and organisations
INSPIRING LEADERSHIP
PRINCIPLES
Self-awareness and introspection: Ancient wisdom often emphasizes knowing oneself. Leaders who are self-aware and understand their strengths, weaknesses, values, and purpose can make better decisions, build authentic relationships, and inspire others.
Balance and harmony: Many ancient philosophies emphasize the importance of balance and harmony in life. In the fast-paced and interconnected world, leaders can benefit from seeking a balance between work and personal life, fostering healthy relationships, and finding harmony between different aspects of their organizations.
Mindfulness and presence: The practice of mindfulness, derived from ancient traditions, can be highly valuable. Leaders who cultivate present-moment awareness can enhance their decision-making, improve focus and concentration, and foster a more positive and empathetic work environment.
Ethical and moral conduct: Ancient wisdom often promotes the importance of ethical behavior and moral values. Leaders who prioritize honesty, integrity, fairness, and empathy can build trust with their teams, customers, and stakeholders, creating a strong foundation for sustainable success.
Continuous learning and adaptability: Ancient wisdom recognizes the value of lifelong learning. In the rapidly evolving landscape, leaders must embrace a growth mindset, remain curious, and adapt to new challenges and opportunities. Cultivating a learning culture within organizations can foster innovation and agility.
Servant leadership: The concept of servant leadership, rooted in ancient teachings, is highly relevant today. Leaders who prioritize serving their teams, empowering others, and fostering a collaborative and inclusive environment can inspire loyalty, engagement, and high-performance.
Vision and purpose: Ancient wisdom often emphasizes the importance of having a clear vision and purpose. Leaders who articulate a compelling vision and connect it to a meaningful purpose can inspire their teams, attract top talent, and navigate through uncertainty with a sense of direction.
Resilience and emotional intelligence: Ancient wisdom acknowledges the importance of emotional intelligence and resilience. In the face of challenges and setbacks, leaders who demonstrate emotional intelligence, manage stress effectively, and cultivate resilience can inspire others to persevere and adapt in a rapidly changing world.
PROFESSIONALS, TEAMS AND ORGANISATIONS ABOUT THEIR LEADERSHIP JOURNEY
Hi Olaf. Great to re-connect. You remember we worked together 2 times. Once with the smaller Marine team and once with the (about a dozen) Services team. Particularly with the Services team, we really got onto a good path with your help and many of us look back at those years with a memory of great team dynamics. Our success with that team was not only a better team dynamic. We also pushed ourself to better business results. A great feeling. 100% you can use my comments as a testimonial. We owe you Olaf for helping us become better leaders/professionals. Magnus Miemois - Chief Operating Officer Lamor Corporation and former VP Solutions business and Service Sales
Olaf helped us before with challenges in our team and I liked the way he worked. That is why I choose to consult him with my questions about my goals on the road to fulfill my life purpose. Olaf is confronting but not in an awkward or unpleasant way. His conclusions and feedback are always spot on and very useful. Olaf is practical, to the point and aims for results. Next to that he is also funny, makes things light and gives great insights. Very valuable and useful! It is always a pleasure talking to Olaf to put things in perspective and shed some light on the matter. Minke Booij - Managing Director Spieren voor Spieren and former captain of the Dutch hockey team
Olaf has a cool head and a warm heart. I always went home with a positive feeling, ready to take action. Challenging and confronting when needed. I never experienced a trainer that was so perceptive. Arjan Brak - CDA Fractie
I wanted a coach that was not only knowledgeable and experienced, but also one that could stand his/her ground when in discussion with me. A coach that could be firm yet fair. The fact that Olaf went through a corporate career himself, adds a lot of credibility and weight to his examples and advice.Olaf's biggest strength is that he doesn't play a coaching role but stays himself. Some people might not like it, and sometimes I found it difficult. But I am convinced that with being himself he provides the best possible mirror for you to see or discover yourself. And what I find is that it is always fresh. Never the same angle, example or framework. Jeroen Pietryga - CEO IceMobile and CIO BrandLoyalty
For me the best coaches are never 'coaches' and I felt a strong connection when we first met in a senior leadership program 😊. Olaf listens really well and is able to create the right balance between exploration and focus on the important topics with a good balance of empathy and structure (including frameworks & theory). Domenico Dargenio - Former Chief Transformation Officer Wärtsilä
Olaf has extensive knowledge about management theory and management frameworks and has the ability to contextualise them. Olaf also is able to make the sessions very personal by sharing his own experience (including failures) with difficult situations. I very much liked his holistic approach (seeing the ‘whole’ person in different contexts). You will walk away with a new understanding of your situation as well as practical tools to grow and to improve yourself. Agile Delivery Director/MT
Olaf is an original thinker who doesn't avoid the debate. This makes him an attractive business partner. He has explicit ideas about how he can add value to companies and he should stick to them because this distinguishes him from the market. Reinder Brummelman - Chairman of the Board of Directors BDO
Olaf has the ability to set a very safe environment to be open and honest and speak up without any hesitation. He challenges you to go through the painful part and doesn’t accept an easy answer 😊. He shows you that you are in control of your own path and that your own actions and behavior determine how you are seen or treated. For me Olaf is a reliable, challenging and future-looking coach. He gives inspiration and energy to move forward. Olaf can help you to handle both day-to-day issues as well as more complex topics. He gives practical tools that are easy to use and that give you control. Olaf really gives tailor made advice, no off-the-shelve solutions. Miranda Evans - Head of Concept Marketing BrandLoyalty
Olaf connects easily and gains trust. Within our organisation Olaf is well known and he was recommended to me by the BLU director as the coach that I needed. Olaf has a personal approach, an ability to ‘look through people’ and still give the ‘coachee’ the feeling that they come up with the solution themselves. Head of Program Management
I left my company and accepted a new, challenging job. It became clear soon that my manager was not the one who would be able to support in the way that I expected. At a certain moment I was looking for an independent, trusted person that was able to help me with practical topics like sales challenges, stakeholder management and improving on specific skills and also the bigger questions like "where to go in life". That was when I thought let's get in touch again with Olaf who I experienced in a leadership program in my previous job. The personal investment per month had significant impact on our budget and what was difficult for me this time was to get some kind of feeling for these pretty high coaching fees. Looking back now I feel I got more....actually much more than what I expected. We prepared some big pitches together and one of the things I learned was that my preparation was not good enough. At this moment I prepare myself better and feel more able to anticipate to things that happen in conversations, things you can expect but also to things you can not predict. What I also remember very well is that we worked on my pitch together. Over and over again....what is it exactly that our organisation does? I have used that pitch so often. It brought me inner-peace and confidence in first contacts and a lot of my colleagues started to use my pitch as well. We also talked about sales cases and I discovered what my pitfall is. Don't advise too fast. Clearly identify the problem of my prospect and client. It is a sort of mindset....some kind of inner-peace, the believe and trust in yourself like "wait a minute...the better I can identify these pieces of the puzzle the better the puzzle will be ;-). Overall it brought me a lot...you really delivered a lot of value again... (Sales Manager BeNeLux)
Hi Olaf, It's been a while so I thought I'd reach out. I am still running the business in the UK. In fact work is very interesting right now... Earlier this year we won approval from the BoM to carve-out the business as a separate legal entity so that we can un-plug from global systems and our strategy is going extremely well. In fact I am overseas as I write this, having just signed the largest contract in our history. This is in no small way thanks to your coaching a few years ago, which greatly helped me to figure out what's important to me and to go for it! I have been offered several unique (and more lucrative) opportunities by 3rd parties over the past 18 months, all of which I have turned down due to my renewed sense of purpose. Dream goal is to acquire a personal stake in my business, after which the sky would be the limit... So all-in-all things are pretty good. Sincerely, thank you for your help in getting me to this point. I hope that life is treating you well. Cheers, (Managing Director UK)
Olaf, hi! You cannot imagine how the world changed after the leadership training! To be precise - how I started changing the world around me. Today we had a great discussion with my team and we also addressed the survey. Everybody was inspired. This is just the start....I look forward to continue ;-). (Managing Director Russia)