Ik zocht naar mijn eigen manier van werken in de academische wereld. Ik twijfelde of ik kon voldoen aan de verwachtingen van mijn begeleiders, en onbewust twijfelde of ik het kon. Ik stem nu meer af op mijn energie, op hoe het stroomt, op wat ik belangrijk vind en wat bij me past. Ik heb mijn dromen voor mijn onderzoek helder, en ik voel meer verbinding en ruimte voor mijn idealen binnen de wetenschap. Claartje heeft daarbij geholpen door heel goede vragen te stellen. Ze voelde goed mijn tempo aan en waar ik was. Ze is heel aandachtig en open.

After having worked at one of the major top-academic umbrella organisations as Head of Department for over a decade, building bridges between high-ranking universities across Europe and top-universities in Southeast Asia, within a politically sensitive context of large-scale EU funded projects involving the European Commission and comparable bodies in Southeast Asia, I was forced by circumstances to rethink my career as a senior academic employee.

Claartje has been of tremendous help in this intricate process. One of her main assets, I find, is that she doesn’t have any predetermined and necessarily limited set of cut-and-dried answers to puzzling questions, but rather that she is remarkably apt in asking the appropriate questions. Questions to which she allows you to formulate your own answers, gently directing you to thoughts lurking in unexpected corners. The actual outcome of her approach is that you find yourself in a positive frame of mind in which to  move beyond your problems and find a constructive way to move forward. 

Her academic background in ancient Greek philosophy no doubt helps her in finding and formulating  these questions, and provides her with the means to guide you in the process of finding your own answers. Her basically Socratic approach to problem solving, refraining from providing facile and set solutions, precludes any misgivings one may have about her ability to coach older persons more heavily tainted by experience than she herself is.

During this whole process Claartje as a coach proved to be sensitive to the difficulties and emotional turmoil that such a re-orientation inevitably entails. A soft approach indeed, but with clear and tangible results.

Working in highly competitive environment the workshop with Claartje was a breeze of fresh air. Her approach to career building and leadership is based on often forgotten values that could definitely improve the quality of academia. We were additionally introduced to the “working soft” concept, which has already helped me in my daily work. Some of the tips that she gave us helped me to work with more energy, creativity and in a more enjoyable way, and she made me aware of some harmful habits in my daily work as researcher.