Hans Bouritius on intrinsic drives: "People's own motivation is the best means to motivate them"

                                                                                                                                                                                        Hans Bouritius

"We've always kept the ripple effect in mind"

Today, Hans is a career and life coach. But he spent many years working in the business community — first, in sales and marketing; then, as a CEO. While operating in the consulting industry, the human side of leadership sparked his interest. "I observed that managers often adopt a functional mindset when it comes to change processes," he says. "People's deepest motivations don't get enough attention."

Most training courses were in their infancy at the time, but Hans decided to take them and start the conversation internally. For several years, he followed a growth path. Then, in 2005, he took a major step. "I decided to start from scratch and establish my own coaching business," he says.

Initially, Hans joined forces with another expert. In 2006, they organized their first training program. The business grew, and in 2010, Hans continued under the name 'BCoach' ('to be coach') — together with his partner Alice, who had been a tutor since 2007. Because Hans and Alice wanted to keep things personal, they kept their business small. They built it on a well-defined philosophy. Hans explains, "We believe people's own motivation is the best means to motivate them. Furthermore, we've always kept the ripple effect in mind: when you coach someone, you're really coaching that person's entire work and personal environment. An individual changes within their context, profoundly impacting everyone involved."

 

"You immediately use everything you've learned in practice"

Given his broad perspective on coaching, Hans uses various resources, techniques, and models. "I think it's important that every coach — including a coach who's just starting out — can act effectively with regards to all forms of life or work questions," he explains. "We call it 'eclectic coaching.' From the very start, we wanted to be able to address all life and career questions. We do this in a pragmatic way: you immediately use everything you learn in practice."

For its training program for coaches, BCoach uses a basic structure that consists of several building blocks. "First, we look at what energizes you and what costs you energy,” says Hans. “We find out why you do what you do. Then we say, 'Suppose you get more room for this. How would that impact your life and well-being?' Next, we consider how your 'why' relates to your personality. Finally, we take a closer look at your context. How do you impact others? This greatly clarifies why certain things are happening around you and how you affect them. Of course, in doing so, we also work with those aspects of life that get in your way."

 

"How do we get the best out of our people?"

BCoach's philosophy perfectly aligns with that of TMA (a LearningStone partner that won the LearningStone Impressive Design Award in 2022). The two organizations have worked together for a long time. Hans explains, "In 2007, I was looking for a good personality analysis for my participants. We were already using one, but I wanted to find an even more in-depth, scientifically validated test. When I came across TMA, I was really struck by their needs-oriented approach. As it turned out, we believe in the same principle: people best come into their own and are happiest when they are in the right place in the organization, based on their intrinsic motivation."

BCoach has brought TMA to the attention of participants for years, so they can include it in their coaching businesses. It's very useful, as Hans (who is now a partner at TMA) sees the underlying philosophy become increasingly relevant in today's world. "For many organizations, retaining talented employees is a necessity,” he says. “In doing so, they increasingly focus on the question, How do we get the best out of our people?"

"We're definitely aware of the importance of blended learning"

Recently, Hans has made technical strides to implement blended training for coaches. But he has always believed in the concept of blended learning. "We have used it in an intranet-like environment for a long time," he says. "Participants receive step-by-step guidance — from one training day to the other. We use various methods and make lots of worksheets available, which they can use in their own businesses. Plus, we share things like relevant YouTube videos with our participants. Right from the start, they can access a wealth of materials to help coachees reflect."

When Hans came into contact with LearningStone, he was very excited about the solution. While the intranet works well, it's even more convenient to collect everything in one clear blended learning environment where participants can easily communicate and collaborate with each other.

Hans has decided to digitize the method in stages. “A while ago, we created an abbreviated version of our training program,” he says. “For this five-day course, we built a blended learning environment with LearningStone. They did a great job of supporting us. Currently, we still offer the one-year training program in the traditional way, but we plan on transferring it in the coming months. It's a huge task, but we are 100 percent up to it. We're definitely aware of the importance of blended learning!”

 

More about BCoach: coachopleiding.nl