My story
Hi, Thanks for stopping by!
I have been very blessed and fortunate to have met many great teachers and incredible Masters in a multitude of fields of activity ranging from business tycoons to spiritual leaders, world class musicians to martial art prodigies, healing wizards to Navy commanders to name but a few.
I was raised in a cosmopolitan family with two brothers, my mother being Swedish and father English. For the most part of my youth we lived in Belgium, on the Walloon/Flemish border and I was educated in French.
At home we spoke a mix of French and English (we call this Franglais), and the occasional Swedish when our mother got annoyed. At school we spoke French and learned Dutch and German. In the evening with local friends we spoke Flemish! Nowadays I think mostly in English or French.
My business career started in the Belgian Navy, and at 19 progressed into a very successful 10 year career in the Fast Food Industry. I started off working for a great company in Oregon, USA as a staff- member cleaning tables looking to pay my way traveling across America. However my plans changed when on a Thursday afternoon the Director of Operations came to the restaurant and asked me: “Johan, when will you be ready to join the management training programme?” I was very taken aback as I had no idea he would ask me this, but quickly replied: “8 o’clock Monday morning, sir! And that was the beginning of my management career. 6 months later they promoted me to restaurant manager with 45 staff. I was 19.
At 21 I was responsible for the busiest fast food restaurant in the world at the time (in London). At 24 I was promoted to district manager and a couple of years later I progressed towards being responsible for Franchise Operations for the very busy London region: 36 high volume restaurants. In my highest volume store we served 250.000 customers in one month. It still remains a record to this day!
I was later headhunted into the Video Rental business where I ran the Operations of a chain of 140 stores. Seeking more freedom and independence, I set myself up as a consultant to the retail industry which broadened my business knowledge and experience and took me into many industries besides retail, both in the UK and abroad.
Activities I enjoy during my “off” time are cooking, martial arts, Zen practice and travel. Over the past few years I have enjoyed some very happy and interesting trips to California, Japan, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Germany, Belgium and at the end of last year to Washington DC and Philadelphia. These trips always end up being a great mix of tourism, cultural discovery, relaxation and rejuvenation, meeting friends old and new, work, research and learning. This year too has some rather exciting trips in store including Hong Kong and South China, Northern Australia and again Japan, as well as going back to Belgium.
Consultant, Mentor and Speaker:
My success in business, and to a large degree in life, has been in my ability to follow strong leaders, learn from them and pass the skills and messages on to key individuals and teams and follow through to “victory”. That’s what I continue to do as a Consultant to organisations and as a Mentor to individuals.
What can I offer you or the people in your life?
The different programmes I run:
1. “Focus your Greatness”:
This programme is for high flyers who are deeply frustrated because they have dropped altitude and are facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles. They remember the good times and yearn to get back. They are unsure of what is required. They may even be considering a change of focus/career.
It’s also for high fliers who are seeking to soar to yet higher altitudes.They are faced with big goals and desire to speed up the journey. A dynamic focused and highly creative programme getting you back on track and to generate new, greater extraordinary results. A Quantum Leap in Thinking and Performance, a Breakthrough in Results and Rewards. A Commitment to Excellence. The Path less traveled.
2. “Magnify Your Greatness”:
This programme is for those individuals who feel stuck, who are “playing safe”, feeling generally unfulfilled, their results remain average, they experience little
freedom and are more often than not stopped from expressing their true power. They are tired of continually living this way, yet they are not ready to resign them-selves to stagnation and are finally ready to move forward…they may well have done other courses and programmes but felt that it never got to the root problem, and thus nothing really changed.
I act as a catalyst for you to get you unstuck, give you new deeper understanding and provide strategies to break through the constraints and limitations of the “set mind” and the associated behaviours that have kept you spinning your wheels! This is a thorough programme for sustained transformation. An adventure in self- discovery. It’s challenging, it’s intense and you are held to account. It’s conducted over time and tailored to the individual. It’s about you creating new possibilities and living them. No more lies, no more compromises, no more mediocrity. A life solidly in the present, inspired by the future.
3. “Dynamic Team Leader”:
With over 10 years experience at the sharp end of fast food restaurant operations with record results year in and year out and stories you probably wouldn’t believe,
it’s only natural that I teach Leadership and Management to business owners and organisational leaders and managers. Some questions you may wish to consider:
Are you getting the best out of your team, or are you doing it all yourself?
Are you suffering from high staff turnover?
Are you delegating core tasks to key people?
Are you training your succession?
Can you trust your team to deliver the results they promised?
Are you feeling lonely at the top?
Is your team as passionate about your organisations’ vision as you are?
Can you take a holiday and “leave the shop” to your people?
Do you set regular objectives for the individuals in your teams?
Are you caught in the “autocratic vs. democratic” management style trap?
Is your team focused and motivated?
Is your team self-directed, or is it over-dependent on you?
An army general once said: “if you’re going to cross a minefield, you better let someone lead you”!
