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Prof. dr. Katinka Dijkstra
"The fulfillment of this new role of director comes with new challenges and ambitions. It is about balancing between different tasks, without losing your effectiveness. Coaching to fulfill this new role in a good way is a logical step. Almost 200 people belong to the Department, so it is important to create support for important decisions. I have a clear vision and course in mind, but it is important to determine with a coach how you can best navigate to that goal.
The coaching sessions with Aletta are very pleasant and practical in nature. We go through what is going on in my organization at that moment. It is useful to reflect on your own pitfalls and to find a solution for them. Aletta can draw on a lot of practical experience in the academic world and I can then translate those examples into what is happening in my own department. For example, I feel very involved in everything that is going on. But it is a tough job and then you quickly take on too much work. It is therefore important to make the right people jointly responsible and to delegate some matters in a smart way.
It was an eye-opener for me how relatively easy some strategies can be used. One of the things I wanted to achieve was to turn my ideas into action. You need support from colleagues, but your vision is also trusted. 'From connecting to cutting-edge leadership', is what Aletta calls this. The coaching process helped me to grow in my new role and the great thing is that I was able to see immediate results very quickly."
