Ien van Duijnhoven

Leadership Coach at THNK School of Creative Leadership

My experience and deep interests:

• Business Development

• Culture

• Psychology & Mental Health

I am based in: Amsterdam

Other projects and organizations include: de Baak

I am an independent team player and I like to build. I have secured this independence through being an entrepreneur. In addition, I like co-operating. With many colleagues and clients for many years.

From my background in Gestalt, I focus on personal leadership. An important indicator is ‘vivacity’; when are we sparkling versus when are we feeling empty.

From my background in theatre, I focus on the organization, the whole package. What role is expected of me and can or do I want to take it? I motivate organizations and people, including myself, to investigate their boundaries and, where necessary, shift or expand them. Organizations remain based on people. When we get it right, the whole is more than the sum of the parts.

A bit about my background:

I always wanted to become a teacher, but I found it too scholastic. The theater was pulling me in. After graduating from the Theater School in Amsterdam, I won a famous cabaret competition: "A strong theater personality," as quoted by the press. I loved performing but missed personal interaction. So, my interests moved towards business: Taylor-made performances and presentations.

My quest to ‘what moves me and what moves you’ led me to Gestalt; aware and connected. In 2005 I completed my MSc at the Middlesex University in London.

These insights into human nature made me move to my new profession, facilitator and coach on the topic of leadership: personal mastery, managerial leadership and now towards new ways of taking and giving ‘the lead’.