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Een hand houdt verschillende glanzende parels in zachte tinten wit, roze en grijs boven een doos met vakjes vol parels. De parels zijn ongelijk van vorm en grootte, wat hun natuurlijke en authentieke karakter benadrukt.

Echte parels: over authenticiteit en leiderschap dat glanst van binnenuit

Inclusive leadership

Toen mijn zoon een parel vond en vroeg of ze echt was, liet ik hem voelen: een echte parel is een beetje ruw, een neppe is glad. Dat moment bleef hangen. Want hoe vaak doen we op het werk alsof we echt zijn, terwijl we eigenlijk gepolijst gedrag tonen? Het lijkt veilig, maar het doet ons geen goed. Authentiek leiderschap glanst niet omdat het perfect is, maar omdat het oprecht is. Echte parels, en echte leiders, ontstaan door wrijving.

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Inclusive leadership
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Internal communication and the missing link in fostering neuroinclusive leadership

Inclusive leadership

After a recent conversation with internal communication professional and researcher May Oostrom-Kwok, I found myself thinking more deeply about the role we play in making neuroinclusion a reality. May’s research explores how internal communication can support line managers in fostering a neuroinclusive workplace. Her findings are a powerful reminder that inclusion doesn’t start with a policy. It starts with trust, dialogue, and the everyday actions of people leaders. This post reflects on what I learned from her study, and why it matters now more than ever.

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Inclusive leadership
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BDEI myths and how they spread

Inclusive leadership

2025 has become the year of backlash. Against BDEI, against justice, and, apparently, against facts. From false claims of reverse discrimination to political spin that blames inclusion for everything from job loss to social division, misinformation is being repeated so often it’s starting to sound true. This blog unpacks the most common myths about BDEI and social justice backed by data, not drama. If you’re tired of opinion pieces dressed up as fact, this one’s for you.

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Inclusive leadership
A close-up of a child and parent holding hands in a park, symbolizing love and trust.

Everything I needed to know about behaviour, I learned from parenting

Sustainable change

After eight years of parenting and over two decades in communication, I’ve realised the most powerful lessons on human behaviour came not from a classroom or conference but from my own child. In this post, I share some key insights that apply as much to toddlers as they do to workplace programmes: connect before you correct, validate emotions without accepting all actions, teach the skill (don’t just assume the will), and above all: make it easy. Because behaviour change isn’t about being smarter. It’s about being more human.

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Sustainable change
Full length of anonymous toddler squatting barefoot on floor playing with round wooden shapes of different size and pasta and putting biggest shape on while developing fine motor skills at home

What Montessori taught me about inclusive leadership

Inclusive leadership

When I enrolled my child in a Montessori school, I wasn’t looking for leadership lessons. I just wanted him to be seen, not just tested. But as I observed how the classroom worked, how the guide watched before speaking, how the space invited belonging, how even toddlers had real agency, I realised I wasn’t just looking at an educational method. I was looking at a masterclass in inclusive leadership.

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Inclusive leadership
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Flat as a pancake: what Dutch workplaces taught me about hierarchy

Inclusive leadership

This year, my eldest niece turned 18. A milestone. She can now vote, buy a beer legally, and roll her eyes with full adult authority. For me, though, her birthday meant something else: I’ve also been living in the Netherlands for 18 years. Long enough to gain citizenship, develop a sixth sense for spotting free samples at Albert Heijn, and, perhaps most shockingly, get used to calling my boss by their first name.

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Inclusive leadership
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The power of nuance in an age of superlatives

Inclusive communication, Inclusive leadership

In a previous post, I explored how nuance is often matched with native speakers sometimes have the privilege of being imprecise with language. When words come easily, it’s tempting to reach for dramatic phrases without thinking carefully about what they really mean. But nuanced thinking doesn’t belong only to native speakers. In fact, people who’ve had to learn languages carefully—weighing each word choice—often develop sharper skills for recognizing complexity and avoiding oversimplification.

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Inclusive communication, Inclusive leadership
different language, international, translation, education, hello, translation, translation, translation, translation, translation, hello

Good communication goes beyond mother-tongue fluency

Inclusive communication, Inclusive leadership

‘Native speaker’ sounds like a standard of excellence, but is it really? In many organisations, someone’s mother tongue is still seen as the gold standard for language skill. But look closer, and that assumption doesn’t hold up, and it often excludes talented professionals. In this blog, I make the case for a more inclusive understanding of language expertise: one that focuses not on where you’re from, but on what you can actually do with language.

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Inclusive communication, Inclusive leadership
different language, international, translation, education, hello, translation, translation, translation, translation, translation, hello

Goede communicatie gaat verder dan moedertaal

Inclusive communication, Inclusive leadership

‘Native speaker’ klinkt als een kwaliteitslabel, maar is dat het ook? In veel organisaties wordt moedertaalgebruik nog steeds gezien als dé maatstaf voor taalvaardigheid. Maar wie goed kijkt, ziet dat deze aanname niet alleen onjuist is, maar ook mensen uitsluit. In deze blog breek ik een lans voor een inclusiever taalbegrip: eentje dat niet focust op afkomst, maar op wat iemand écht met taal kan.

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Inclusive communication, Inclusive leadership
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