Participant Fabian Leijten has been an entrepreneur for almost 17 years: 'I have never studied entrepreneurship. I have always made choices and taken steps based on my own insights. What you then notice is that you always run a little faster than the organization can follow. That sometimes creates some challenge internally. The Social Entrepreneurship Course (LSO) has given me tools to better translate.'
Fabian Leijten is director of SlimInICT, a training center aimed at people with a distance to the labor market. Fabian: 'Because we work with this group of people, you notice that there is a different climate than when you are commercially busy. Man is central. This requires a different approach. It's nice that this can be found in this training.'
Watch out for the place
The program includes several guest speakers. Especially the first weekend of the training made a huge impression on Fabian. The theme of 'Personal Leadership' was discussed there. Fabian: Entrepreneurship brings a lot of hustle and bustle. I like to work hard and tackle, but because of this I have almost no peace and I am busy day and night with SlimInICT and where I want to go with the company.
Professor Wessel Ganzevoort taught me during the Course to put a pass in place and also to think from my life purpose, in order to guarantee good leadership in relation to myself and my team. Why am I on earth? Who am I anyway? Why am I doing what I'm doing now? What do I want to achieve personally? That is different from purely wanting to get results and scoring. Now I have a theoretical framework for SlimInICT that ensures that I understand why we do something and whether we are doing it well or not and how we can improve and tighten it.'
“Why am I on earth? Who am I anyway? Why am I doing what I'm doing now?”
Awareness
Fabian immediately started working in his company with this awareness. 'We notice that we are now very busy with themes such as rhythm in discussions, clearly setting goals with each other and clearly phasing that. This way everyone knows what we are doing at all times. And that gives peace. This gives people space to contribute their own knowledge, ideas and enthusiasm in a way that keeps everything balanced.' In addition, the training for Fabian himself has also yielded something in the field of awareness: 'In recent months I have read about 25 books in response to tips about speakers. I never took that space at first.'
“This way everyone knows what we are doing at all times. And that gives peace.”
Additional knowledge
In addition to lectures by various guest speakers, attention will also be paid to funding and measurement during this training. According to Fabian, these parts also contribute to an important change in the existing pattern: 'Measurement is often applied incorrectly, making results unreliable and actually pointless. With this training you learn to measure more deeply and at the same time keep a close eye on the interests of different relationships.'
Be open to new ideas
'All themes of LSO have been interesting, because it sets something in motion in yourself that makes you think and reflect', says Fabian. 'If you are open to new ideas, this can be valuable for your business. Also, don't be afraid to try new things. Use the information from this training to supplement your business, not to turn things around.'
“If you are open to new ideas, this can be valuable for your business.”