About Mark
Photograph Mark in the Kunstmuseum The Hague, where you can find some of the finest architectural models and paintings from Constant’s New Babylon project.
As a systems thinker and sense-maker, I look at the world through different prisms, constantly asking Why is it like this and not like that? So it was perhaps inevitable that making people pause and think and helping them to create meaning out of what they see and experience would become the backbone of my work.
I address what I consider the most meaningful questions in life, such as Who am I?, Where am I heading?, What questions are accompanying me? and How do I know? Questions like these catalyse profound conversations about what it means to live and lead in times of change. By enabling my clients to have these critical conversations with and about themselves, they become aware of who they can become and where they want to go. Only then, they can build the capacity for change and self-renewal that will enable them to thrive in complexity, explore uncharted territories and discover otherwise unimagined opportunities — to move forward even when things are ambiguous and uncertain.
My career can be best described as varied, multilayered and polymorphic ∆. It has taken me from publishing to executive leadership in marketing and business development, strategy and innovation consultancy, culture change, organisational design and transformation, leadership development, and many things in between and beyond. Nicely wrapped together by an implacable curiosity, often expressed in that single question: Why is it like this and not like that (or some other way)? This seemingly simple question has been the catalyst for profound and meaningful change and renewal for the many organisations, leadership teams, senior executives and other professionals I am and have been fortunate to work with.
“I spent a long time trying to overcome what I was told was a weakness until I finally recognised it for the strength it is. This reluctance to commit to one thing, to reduce myself to one dimension, manifests itself in my fluid and meandering curiosity, ranging from developmental psychology, cognitive science, complexity science and social anthropology to philosophy, design, architecture and art. All these different worlds and their connections come together in my work as an executive coach, thinking partner, architect of meaningful conversations and catalyst for change and self-renewal.”
∆ Varied, multilayered and polymorphic is a translation of Varius Multiplex Multiformis, the title of the second chapter of Marguerite Yourcenar’s novel, Memoirs of Hadrian, about the life and death of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (76–138 AD).
CONTACT
I live in the Netherlands but work across Europe. So regardless of where you are, if you want to know more about my work or explore working together, let’s start a conversation. If distance allows, we can go for a walk or visit a museum. But there is always time for an unhurried conversation.