From employee at a communications consultancy to owner of a communications consultancy, that is my professional life in a nutshell. And I succeeded by always continuing to learn. When I worked at FHV BBDO in the 1980s, which was also jokingly called the Ministry of Advertising, I learned a lot from people like Giep Franzen, Wim de Roos, Paul Schweitzer, Goos Geursen and Patrick Deroost. Actually, that's where I really learned the communications trade.
In the years that followed, I developed myself from a marketing-PR specialist into a professional who firmly believes in integrated communication. Of course, that was a process of trial and error. By celebrating successes and making mistakes and learning from them. Looking back on my career, a number of qualities – in no particular order – have shaped me; the urge to continuously develop and improve, my far-reaching curiosity, my interest in people and organizations and the desire to get to know new people, work with them and bring them into contact with each other. One way or the other
In my opinion, a good communications professional should always be curious. Curious about what is going on in society and the impact it has on people and organizations. Curious about what a client means when he or she contacts you. And curious about new developments in the profession and related fields such as HR, IT and marketing. As far as I'm concerned, being curious and the urge to keep learning go hand in hand. For me, every day is all about learning new things, as a communications advisor, as an issue maker and also as an entrepreneur. Only by continuing to learn will you stay relevant.
The urge to listen is perhaps the least sexy trait and also the most difficult. Listening to colleagues, clients, peers and social developments. The will and the ability to listen is perhaps the most important quality to be good and remain good in our profession. I remember that every day.

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