From Surviving to Thriving
There are speakers who excite and inspire you. And there are speakers who make you think in a way that you can no longer ignore. Jeroen Kraaijenbrink is the latter type.
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There are speakers who excite and inspire you. And there are speakers who make you think in a way that you can no longer ignore. Jeroen Kraaijenbrink is the latter type.
After a career in science, five books on strategy, and twenty years working alongside CEOs across Europe, he knows one thing for sure: most organizations do not have the wrong plan. They struggle to be honest about what is really going on. Honest with themselves and honest with each other. Not because they don’t want to, but because we have collectively created a system where honesty no longer pays off. His mission is to change that. Without detours, but also without judgment.
This makes his presentation special. He is a seasoned strategy and leadership expert who does not hide his own blind spots. A strategist, but one who creates a room safe enough for people to say what they have been thinking for a long time but have not dared to say out loud. And a speaker who applies what he talks about and is not afraid to be honest about his own issues and setbacks. He even wrote a book about it: No More Bananas, a self-help book to keep your head cool amidst the madness around you.
The leaders and organizations that go the furthest are not those with the best strategy. They are the ones willing to see what they would rather not see.
His style is direct, down-to-earth, and warm, with a touch of self-deprecation. He makes complicated things understandable without oversimplifying them and addresses painful topics without softening them. And he only leaves when something has truly shifted, sometimes small, sometimes large.
Jeroen is available as a keynote speaker, but also for half-day or full-day masterclasses and longer programs for teams and organizations. He is a highly sought-after podcast guest worldwide and reaches over 300,000 followers on LinkedIn as one of the most read voices on strategy and leadership in Europe.
Most change initiatives do not deliver what they promise. Not because the approach is wrong, but because organisations continue to circumvent the difficult things. Jeroen shows why this happens, what it costs, and what is needed to truly change. Confronting, yet hopeful: those who dare to continue where others give up, go further than where they started.
Uncertainty is no longer a temporary state. It is the new reality. The question is not how to avoid or eliminate that uncertainty, but how to continue functioning as a leader without losing yourself. Jeroen delves into what leaders really need: not more data or better models, but honesty, direction, and the courage to say what you see, both in themselves and in the organisation.
Organisations that are honest perform better. Not by chance, but as a rule. Yet true honesty is rare: in meeting rooms, in teams, and among leaders themselves. Jeroen shows how and why honesty often disappears, what it costs, and how to create an environment where people do say what they think.
Many organisations are good at surviving. They manage, optimise, and keep their heads above water. But thriving is something else. It requires stopping the circumvention of what you should actually address. Jeroen shows what holds organisations back from truly growing, and what is needed to make the leap from functioning to truly thriving.
We live in a time that continuously demands our attention, drives us, and collectively makes us quite mad. How do you remain clear, calm, and yourself as a leader amidst that madness? Based on his book No More Bananas, Jeroen shares what he learned himself: practical, honest, and with the necessary self-deprecation about his own attempts to do better.
You have the title, the experience, and the trust of others. But who are you when no one is watching? What truly drives you, what holds you back, and what have you been avoiding for years without acknowledging it? This session is not an inspirational story. It is a mirror. Jeroen asks the questions that are rarely asked and creates the space to answer them honestly. For leaders ready to go further than they have dared so far.
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