The son of two amazing parents, a teacher and a psychologist, Jurjen has luckily turned out more like them than he had ever thought possible, mixing both professions into a lifelong passion for personal development, group dynamics and applied psychology. At the age of 16, he had the opportunity to combine this with another passion: outdoor survival! He was trusted to run youth programs and teaching kids about teamwork during summer camps and school programs. Later the exact same skills would be used to teach managers how to collaborate with and care for their teams.
Whatever the audience, you’ll find Jurjen at his best when he is in the position to support others in their development or teaching about high performance teamwork. Jurjen lives with his wife and two children in a quiet village in the Netherlands, which is a nice contrast to the work he does with leaders and groups all over the world. But if you’d ask him what is truly important, he’ll tell you to “succeed at home first”. Having said that, the GAIA Insights team feels like a second family and he deeply loves the work they do together.