Originally from the Netherlands, Willem Royaards lived for a long time in England before finding his niche in Paris and the South of France. A leadership coach and entrepreneur at heart, he came to own a French website with professional coaching tools, which also has a Dutch, English and Spanish version. His motto: 'A single leaf working alone casts no shade'.
How would you introduce yourself to a stranger? I am a neuroplastician and coach: I help clients restructure their brains and behaviours by consciously developing new patterns and connections. Neuroplasticity is the brain's ability to adapt and create new neural pathways based on experience and thought. One of my goals is to create 'Human Sustainable Development' in organisations, or a working environment where people feel safe, valued and motivated. Trust and shared purpose create a culture of sustainable growth and well-being within organisations.
Forget for a moment that you have completed the CLMirror. What values drive you? First and foremost, I think trust, also in relation to the psychological safety that I want people to have in organisations. Next, I think creativity is very valuable: the ability to think outside the box and explore new ways. Finally, I think listening is a great asset. Perhaps more of a skill than a value in itself, so for me, it is closely linked to the core value of Openness.
How do these core values manifest themselves in your professional activities? Well, all three show something of 'be the change you want to see in the world', so it starts with my own behaviour, and ideally that trickles down to others. In my work, I focus a lot on the functioning and especially the neuroplasticity of the human brain, and I pay a lot of attention to emotions. First, my own emotions, for example, what happens to me in a conversation with another person. And I also try to make the other person aware of his or her emotions, how they express themselves, for example in words and body language, and what might trigger them. In a situation like this, it's about being open and honest, especially with yourself. The idea is that my behaviour in this respect will shape the other person's behaviour. Ideally, the other person will begin to trust themselves enough to be able to function better regardless of the working conditions. As a team coach in a large organisation, I have found that talking to each other about how our brains work in relation to our emotions has a lasting effect on a healthy and therefore more productive working atmosphere. When you think about it, these people were at peace with themselves; a prime breeding ground for sustainable human development.
A nice bridge to you as a Connecting Leader... what struck you about your CLM profile? I find it a very fascinating tool for self-reflection from an executive coaching perspective. As you say, it is important to accept a colour as true only if I recognise myself in it. And yes, I definitely recognise my healthy combination of human green and entrepreneurial orange: the network entrepreneur. I also see myself in my most dominant value, Turquoise: the big picture and human connection, is a natural view for me. Thinking back to my core value of creativity, I was expecting a slightly higher value from the yellow 'creative intellectual' value system. When you pointed out that, as a networker, I mostly live in the We-system and therefore mainly involve others in being creative, I understand that it is good to see Turquoise and Yellow in each other's connection, and also that my We focus is greater than my I focus. Nice to see that the ideal manager is still slightly different from the ideal coach in this respect.
Finally, is there anything you would like to share with your audience? I find the format of the Connective Leadership Mirror, the model behind it, very inspiring. For me, it is a very relevant tool to take further into the world within and through my network of coaches. It can contribute well to sustainable human development.
See Willem Royaards' activities at https://mycoachingtoolkit.com.
