Speakers and Workshop leaders

Catherine Day is the current Secretary-General of the European Commission. In this position, which she has held since 2005, she is responsible to the President of the European Commission and is in charge of the various Directorates-General, headed by Director Generals. The Secretariat-General of the Commission ensures the overall coherence of the Commission's work - both in shaping new policies, and in steering them through the other EU Institutions;

She has an M.A. in International Trade and Economic Integration from University College Dublin and went on to be the loan officer at the Investment Bank of Ireland in 1974. In 1975 she became EC Information Officer at the Confederation of Irish Industry and joined the European Commission in 1979, becoming an Administrator in Directorate-General III. Later, she served in the Cabinets of Commissioners Richard Burke, Peter Sutherland and Leon Brittan. She subsequently served in the Directorate-Generals of Enlargement and External Relations before becoming Director General for the Environment.

Ms. Day opended the Conference by focusing on the bigger European picture. How have the financial and economic crises impacted Europe and its economy and what are the Commission's views on the future?

Back to top of page

Wouter De Ploey is a senior partner in the Business Technology Office of McKinsey & Company. Since joining the firm in 1992 he has focused primarily on financial services. He serves banks, insurance companies and service providers on strategic, organizational and operational issues. He currently leads the European Payments working group of the European Banking & Securities practice and serves on the editorial board of ‘McKinsey on Payments'. Within McKinsey, Wouter is also Global Learning Leader for Business Technology, in charge of all technology related training across the firm (close to 100 training events).

Wouter De Ploey holds a BA in Economics and in Philosophy from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven and a MA and PhD in Economics from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor).  Prior to joining the firm he did internships at the World Bank, GATT (now WTO), Generale Bank and Paribas Bank.

He is a fellow of the Belgian-American Educational Foundation and was a Researcher for the National Fund for Scientific Research (NFWO).

Wouter speaked about how companies react to crises, what they are doing to counter challenging situations, which techniques they use, etc. Lean Management being one of the techniques currently ‘en vogue', he has decided to go into more detail and explain what it really means.

Back to top of page

Ignace Van Doorselaere has been CEO of Van de Velde since 2007, a stock-listed (Euronext Brussels) company, and one of the main European companies in premium lingerie brands (Marie Jo, PrimaDonna and Andres Sarda).

He graduated as a conference interpreter (English, Spanish) in 1983 and decided to complete his education with an MBA, majoring in entrepreneurial management and finance, which he completed at the University of Pennsylvania in 1989.

After a few marketing positions at 3M and Puratos, he engaged in more strategic functions at The Boston Consulting Group and Interbrew, where he was consecutively in charge of mergers and acquisitions and corporate strategy. After 3 years as a member of  the Executive Committee of Interbrew Western Europe, Ignace created his own company: Growth Ethics, recently renamed 4F (flexible, focus, fair, fight). 4F stands for a philosophy in entrepreneurship and management that focuses on growth through respect for people.

A quote: How can we create a society that wants to win and keep winning in a sustainable and fair manner? How can we ensure that the notion ‘winning spirit' becomes part of our genetics? ‘Winning spirit with content', based on quality, value creation, eagerness, values and principles.

What are the mechanisms that we need to boost in our society today in order to reach and anchor these goals in the long run? Despite the crisis, Van de Velde is performing extremely well. What is the secret behind this success?

Back to top of page

Frieda Van Wijck is a well known Belgian journalist and broadcaster. A few years ago she worked as an editor for news and current affairs programmes. More recently, she decided to work as a presenter for programmes with a more cultural theme.

Typical van Wijck features are pertinent questions and dry humour.
Frieda led the debate at the end of the morning between management assistants on the changes they have been facing over the past two years.

Back to top of page

Wouter Goris has a master's degree in psychology and is an expert in motivational psychology. He has broad experience in developing and giving customized training on diverse topics, such as mental health, stress management, and (business) relationship improvement.

Develop a business relationship with your manager

In times of crises, a management assistant can play an important role. During this workshop participants learnt how to adapt to changes and how to use their newly acquired skills to influence others by building and improving relationships.

Wouter Goris presented a mix of theoretical models and practical approaches which he uses in his private practice. The central issue in this workshop was a new motivational coaching style based upon the Ferrari of motivational psychology: ‘the Self Determination Theory'. This coaching style is called ‘Need Supportive Coaching' and learns how to improve one's performance (asking for feedback, staying solution focused, being assertive, ...) and how to become a change agent in the organization.

Back to top of page

Marilyn Vanbesien is a dynamic business coach who works with high potentials and young managers. She is remarkably passionate about professional challenges and has energy to spare!

Marilyn is an ICF certified Coach and co-author of the book ‘Profession: Management Assistant' (2007). Her projects cover a wide range of sectors: Telecom, Finance, Global Retail, Energy, Construction, Pharmaceuticals.

From Stress to Wellness

Energy is one of the most important ingredients in our lives: we need it to work, to laugh, to act, to bring our projects to reality, to make other people move, etc. Wellness starts when you are able to pursue these activities in a dynamic and serene way. Efficiency comes from the very same channel. When you feel stress, you might misuse your energy, lose it or waste it.

Step 1: Understand
Energy is a matter of 'body', but also, and most importantly, a matter of ‘brains'! And so is stress.

What are the mechanisms of stress? What produces stress? How does it appear?

We need to understand all about stress so we can find the clues for changing stress into positive energy and...wellness!

Step 2: Find solutions
There are many ways to take control of your stress, each one having a different impact. We need to find the one that best matches our needs, possibilities and daily lives.

Step 3: Action!
What are the first steps towards wellness you can implemented as of tomorrow?

And you? What's your action plan going to be?

Back to top of page

Carolyn Moody, Dip ION, is an international Optimum Nutritionist and Transformational Coach with twenty years experience in health and wellbeing. She founded Body Balance Integrated Health in 2004 and has helped many people develop a strong sense of self-belief, and excellent physical, mental and emotional health.

A published author in many magazines and with her own book 'Nurturing Superwomen', Carolyn has worked with the following organisations, amongst others: Aspria, MasterCard, Procter & Gamble, NATO, SHAPE, EuroControl and Management Centre Europe.

How to leave the office with more energy

In a hyperactive world where the focus is on being busy and DOING, it can be hard to switch off one's mind, especially the nagging mind chatter. We all have something like 60,000 thoughts per day, most of them repetitive and many of them negative. That can be exhausting!

Participants discovered why their over-busy mind drains their energy. Learnt how balancing their blood sugar and their diet can help increase energy, and how guided visualisations (a method of meditation more suited to the Western mind) can help them take the first steps towards a peaceful state of BEING.

Back to top of page

Jan-Willem Kirpestein is an Associate Partner with Executive Learning Partnership, specialized in Executive coaching and leadership development. He works as a trusted advisor and a coach with top-executives and directors of multinational organizations and families.

He studied theology and cultural and political history. He qualified in Jungian psychology and leadership development with Ian Player in South Africa and Robert A. Johnson in San Diego. Prior to these studies, he finished the preparatory class of the Utrecht conservatory.
In 2000, together with Herman Wijffels, he founded the Encounter of Worldviews Foundation, a NGO that served several years as an international laboratory that successfully experimented in new approaches of leadership development for the future.

Norms & Values workshop: How to make choices in your career

This workshop focused on how to define own norms and values, and how to match them with those of the company. What do you do in case of conflict?

Back to top of page

Robert Van de Walle is a Belgian judoka, and was the first judoka ever to compete at five Olympic Games. He won the gold medal in the men's half-heavyweight category at the 1980 Summer Olympics and in 1988, at the relatively late age of 34, he won a second medal, a bronze, in the same category. He competed in his fifth and final Olympics in 1992, reaching the quarter finals. He continued competing successfully at the highest level of competition for several years after that.

During his career Van de Walle also captured three European titles. Together with Ingrid Berghmans he was the face of Belgian judo in the late 1970s and 1980s. Currently, he is 8^th Dan Judo.

Robert Van de Walle, is not only a sportsman. His enthusiasm has led to other achievements as well. In 1985 he set up the Resourcement Centre. His extensive experience in coaching leaders and organizations from all over the world, has given him the background he needs to support people in demanding, rapidly evolving and challenging environments.

The secret of his success lies in the notion of synergy between body and soul, constructive teamwork, and the infectious enthusiasm of the ‘master'.

Discover the path to mastery

Growing towards mastery is a path everyone can follow, for as long as they live. Olympic champion, coach and mentor Robert Van de Walle inspired with insights to apply to all aspects of private and professional life. Using the concept of unity of body, mind and skills, workshop participants gained awareness of the way their mental attitudes influence their behaviour and social interactions.

Robert Van de Walle demonstrated how to improve resilience and contribute to finding a balance between decisiveness, performance and wellbeing. Parallels with Olympic achievements gave evidence of character development, mental alertness and physical fitness, in addition to discipline and technique.

Back to top of page

Herman Konings has a PhD in theoretical (and consumer) psychology (cum laude) and is founder of Belgian trend and future research agency Pocket Marketing/nXt.

As a renowned Belgian trendwatcher, Herman is sought after as a speaker by companies and organizations throughout Europe. In addition, his insights have been featured in Belgian/Flemish and Dutch media since 1999

If you(r company) want(s) to be successful in the future, you need to know what the different generations like and how you can build this into your personal/business plan. So, as a perfect closure for the Conference, Herman offered us a glimpse of the (near) future and the trends of tomorrow: the age of Latte Macchiato!

Back to top of page