René de Baaij
Developing people. Strengthening organisations.
I am a coach, counsellor and adviser to boards, managers, professionals and teams. I connect the design of your organisation with the people who do the work, and use AI where it strengthens both.Arrange an introductory conversation →
- Motivating Images
- Animated Voices
- Clarity of Mind
- Ideas in Action
Does this sound familiar?
You have set the course and presented the plans. Yet the organisation is still built for the old one. Work falls between departments, and decisions keep coming back to the table.
You stand between strategy and delivery. Pressure comes from above, unrest from below. Your team looks to you, while you are still working out what the change asks of you.
Your expertise carries the work. Now AI is changing what you do and what is expected of you. The question is what still depends on your judgement, and who safeguards it.
René de Baaij MCM
Bel · Txt · Whatsapp:
+31 (0)6 41 92 42 75
Mail: rene@dbvp.nl
Structure and people, in one movement
Many advisers choose a side. One designs the organisation, the other supports its people. I work on both at once. A design only works when people carry it. And people only grow in an organisation built to let them.
I do this alongside you, in the work itself. Together we find out what is really going on, design what is needed and learn as we go. Sometimes as an ally, sometimes as a counterweight.
For larger assignments I work with experienced senior professionals from the DBVP network and from uātēs, the collaborative I founded. For AI applications I work with a strategic AI developer.
The design. Strategy, structure, processes and governance, built on proven organisational principles. So your organisation fits the work it has to do.
The people. Leadership, culture, team dynamics and the undercurrent of what is felt but not said. So change is carried, and lasts.
AI. Applications that fit how your organisation works, with clear agreements on what stays in human hands. So AI strengthens your people rather than replacing them.
René de Baaij
The people
Leadership, collaboration, culture and change. Development from within.
Personal and engaged.
A confidential space for who you are behind the role. You find calm, direction and the courage to choose.
Giving direction where authority comes together.
Your people take ownership. Change is embraced, not imposed.
Collaboration as it is meant to be.
Your team holds each other to account again. Decisions are made faster and carried better.
Change from within.
What went unspoken becomes discussable. Change is carried within the line, not beside it.
The design
Strategy, design, processes and governance. Healthy organisations built on sound organisational principles.
From direction to design.
Your organisation fits your direction. The design is well-founded and explainable.
A structure that serves the work.
Your organisation is grouped around the customer and the work, not around positions. Teams solve what they encounter themselves.
Work that flows without detours.
Your processes run from customer request to result, across departments. Improvement becomes part of the work itself.
Clear on who decides, on what and on what basis.
Mandates match responsibilities. Board, supervision and management know what they may expect of one another.
AI
An intelligent organisation connects human judgement with AI. Together with a strategic AI developer, we go from governance question to working system.
Judgement stays human work.
You know who decides and who is responsible. Your craft grows with AI.
AI built in, not bolted on.
You know where AI works in your processes and where human judgement decides. You comply with the rules without the work getting stuck in them.
Strategy, system and people as one.
Your AI solution fits the way your organisation actually works. What gets built also gets used.
Already built something with AI yourself? Then we make it secure and stable for real users, or first assess where it stands.
Read about the approach → Plan an exploratory conversation →
Active nationally and internationally, in the public and private sectors, in professional services and industry, in finance and healthcare.
For those who carry the change
You set direction and carry final responsibility. I am your sparring partner for the questions that often go unspoken in the boardroom.
You translate strategy into organisation and people. I design with you and guide the change.
You stand between strategy and delivery. I help you strengthen your role and bring your team along, even as the pace picks up.
Your craft and judgement carry the work. I help you use AI without handing that judgement over.
You want to hold each other to account again and decide faster. I guide the conversations that have so far been avoided.
What clients say
"Sharp on the substance, but above all on what we ourselves were avoiding."
Director, public sector"He is present at the moments that count. Not with advice, but with the question you did not dare to ask yourself."
CIO, financial sector"What sat under the table came onto the table. And suddenly we could choose."
COO, industry
Situations you may recognise
Public sector
- Situation An executive team divided on course that increasingly held back from challenging one another.
- Intervention Guidance in the avoided conversations. Clear mandate, explicit ground rules.
- Result Fewer meetings, better decisions. A team that challenges one another again.
Financial sector
- Situation A board that had set up AI governance but found the organisation disengaging.
- Intervention Surface and undercurrent connected. Governance design adjusted so that learning becomes possible.
- Result More ownership at every level. Governance as a workable framework.
Industry
- Situation After a reorganisation, managers were hesitant and waiting.
- Intervention The managers' own development placed at the centre.
- Result A management team that looks ahead again. The organisation followed.
Professional services
- Situation Self-managing teams turned out not to be self-managing in practice.
- Intervention Professional identity and self-worth strengthened.
- Result Teams that function independently as intended. More enjoyment in the work.
Recent thinking
I write regularly about leadership, organisation and the impact of AI on people and work. No newsletter, no noise, only pieces that are about something.
uātēs the art of leadership
As initiator and founder I take part in uātēs, a collaboration of experienced organisational professionals focused on leadership and organisational development. uātēs works from the conviction that leadership is a craft that calls for continual deepening.
The name uātēs refers to the ancient poet-seer: the one who speaks what others see but do not say. That is the heart of leadership, and the heart of our collaboration.
From uātēs we developed uātēs Lux, an AI-driven conversation partner for leaders and organisational professionals. Not a generic chatbot, but a considered partner that thinks from the complexity of real work.