Guiding leaders through complexity
Leadership rarely takes place at the level of clear choices and neat frameworks. In practice, the terrain is more diffuse: interests overlap, responsibilities are significant, and not everything that exerts influence can be articulated rationally.
In my work I guide leaders who recognise that precisely this tension requires attention. Not because they are failing, but because they understand that good decision-making is also connected to the ability to recognise undercurrents and take them seriously.
Complexity demands a different kind of attention
In complex situations, more analytical effort does not always lead to better outcomes. What is often missing is not information, but space to see what is truly at play. Patterns that repeat themselves. Emotions that provide direction, but are not always understood. Tension that is palpable, but difficult to articulate.
I don't see emotions as noise, but as information. They point to interests, values and boundaries. When those signals are ignored, they keep returning — often in ways that make the work even more complicated.
For me, coaching is not an instrument to organise away complexity, but a way to make it readable.
The science behind what you feel
My background lies in medicine and physics. I obtained my PhD at Amsterdam UMC and completed a postdoctoral programme in psychodynamics at Utrecht University. That scientific foundation gives me access to what is happening beneath the surface. Emotions are ultimately biology, not magic — and that biology follows patterns. I help you recognise those patterns, so you understand what you are feeling and why. And what you understand no longer needs to overwhelm you.
I observe and interpret. I don't try to fix. That distinction is essential: it means I am not standing by with a solution, but with connecting sharpness to see what is truly going on.
Leadership under pressure
Executives and directors often operate in solitude. The decisions are significant, the force fields complex, the expectations high. In that context, it is difficult to find space for reflection — even though that is precisely where the quality of decisions improves.
Many leaders think they should leave their emotions at home. I believe the opposite: as a leader you need your full humanity to be effective. Emotions are your radar. Turn off your radar and you are flying blind.
I understand that reality. I have sat at board tables myself, as managing partner and as partner at KPMG. The politics, the money, the power — you don't need to explain that context to me. That means we can get to the heart of the matter quickly.
What coaching with me is — and what it is not
No tricks. No step-by-step plans. No quick tips for Monday morning. What I do offer is sharpness. Safety. Someone who stays when things get uncomfortable.
I don't spare you — precisely because I am on your side. I say what needs to be said and I don't let go when it becomes uncomfortable. My honesty is not distance; it is a way of holding on.
When this works — and when it doesn't
This works when you are willing to look. When you realise that beneath your performance lie patterns you have not yet fully understood, and when you have the courage to spend time on that. It does not work if you are looking for affirmation, or if you want someone to tell you what to do.