Arval - business coaching

“We have grown closer and the communication has gotten even better"

Geert Jan Braam, Business Unit Manager

Leadership

With a fleet of 30,000 vehicles, Arval (a BNP Paribas subsidiary) is one of the largest lease companies in the Netherlands. Due to a new organizational structure, Geert Jan Braam and his colleague Harold Kappers wanted to work on bringing more substance to their new function as managers of a business unit.

The new organizational structure of Arval established two business units each consisting of four account teams of 12 to 14 people occupied with the management of vehicle fleets for clients. Each unit has a two-person management team which gives the responsibility for the sales team to one manager and the management of the fleet to the other. Braam and Kappers both had a leadership position, but as leaders of a complete business unit, they ended up at a higher level. That was a good reason to work on their professional and personal qualities.

Professional collaboration

Arval already had a business relationship with InContext and Braam and Kappers became acquainted with Willem Goris. Goris suggested setting up a program of duo-coaching, which would not only allow the two managers to work on their own qualities, but would also improve their professional collaboration. Braam: “We had an intake interview and from day one actually it clicked with Willem.”

In the spring of 2007, both of the business unit managers started monthly sessions with Willem Goris. Braam: “One portion of it was real training. We had to read assigned literature, carry out practical projects, that type of thing. With the coaching, it was more about working out daily responsibilities and conversations in role-playing games. One of the benefits I found was that he took the time for ‘deeper’ questions like ‘who am I?’ and ‘what do I want in my life?’”  

The business unit leaders are now excellently attuned

Especially in the coaching portion, both men were regularly confronted with a mirror. Braam: “Harold and I know each other very well and we trust one another, but we also know the other’s weak points. It could also be quite confrontational if during a role-playing game one of us unfailingly played upon the pet-peeves of the other.” The result is that both of the business unit leaders are now excellently attuned to one another. Braam: “We have grown closer and the communication has gotten even better. We each have our own responsibilities. I handle sales and Harold deals with fleet management. There is always a healthy competition between the two areas, but now we barely have to open our mouths and we know exactly where we need to draw the line.”

In total Braam and Kappers had six sessions with Willem Goris. In May 2007, they came together for their final formal session. But that was not the end of the trajectory. “A program like this is never completely finished”, Braam says. “There are other people at Arval who are doing duo-coaching, because it is very good for collaboration. That means that Willem is around regularly. He keeps in touch with us and from time to time we sit together for an hour or so just catching up.”