Besides having a passion for research and education, from the start of my academic career I have enjoyed helping, advising, coaching, and mentoring colleagues and students. As a PhD student, I realized how valuable it is to interact with fellow PhD students, and to share and discuss ideas, challenges, and difficult situations.

Later, as a tenure-tracker, I experienced the challenges that come with such a position: pressure to publish and learning how to teach well. But I also learned how to have fun and that working with others and sharing experiences can help. The next step was to start with the supervision of PhD students. Being part of the personal and academic development of young scholars is special and a great responsibility. I am still learning how to be a better supervisor every day.

I also had direct managerial responsibilities at the University of Amsterdam and Tilburg University, adding up to about 10 years of managerial experience. As a department head, I have been responsible for HR management, strategy, and financial matters. As vice-dean research of the school, I have been responsible for the graduate school, for research policies and overall school strategy, and I was part of projects related to improving the HR strategy and academic careers, funding of research activities, etc. I also took various academic leadership courses and recently finished the internationally accredited Coach Foundation program.

Over the years I have realized how much I enjoy working with other academics. At the same time, I have learned that the academic world is sometimes a bit rough and that the road to academic leadership can be bumpy at times. In those moments, it can be valuable to interact with an independent academic peer to share experiences, discuss challenges, and look for solutions. This has led me to start Academic Leader Advice.