About Birgitta
I work with leaders in transition because I know how much can shift beneath the surface while life, work and responsibility keep moving.
Many leaders begin new challenges in survival mode without realising they are in survival mode. They keep responding, keep carrying, keep making things work, often before they have had the space to understand what the new situation is really asking of them.
My work creates that space.
Through coaching and The Leadership Lens, I help leaders pause, widen perspective, strengthen self-trust and lead with greater steadiness within ongoing change.
I know something about transition, not only from my work, but from my own life.
Born and raised in the Netherlands, I spent the first 25 years of my career working in and with corporate organisations across Europe and America. I worked as a leader myself, and alongside senior leaders navigating complexity, change, growth and uncertainty.
Then, in 2012, my own life entered a major transition when my family and I moved to Australia.
At 52, I had to find my footing again while life and responsibility kept moving. I was rebuilding professional identity, creating new connections, and making sense of a world that looked familiar on the outside, yet felt unfamiliar on the inside.
That experience stayed with me.
It deepened what I had already seen throughout my career: transition is rarely separate from life or leadership. More often, we are asked to keep showing up while something within us is still adjusting.
Over time, that became the heart of my work.
I found renewed purpose in helping others navigate change, transition and complexity. This work brings together my curiosity, instinct, lived experience, and ability to make sense of what is happening beneath the surface.
Over the past decade, this has become the foundation of my work as a coach, facilitator and speaker.
This same belief also led me to create Power Her Impact. I am deeply passionate about supporting women in leadership and creating spaces where women can be supported, challenged, connected and seen. My intention is to grow Power Her Impact into a global leadership community where women open doors for one another.
What shapes my work
- 25+ years in leadership and organisational environments
- Corporate, IT and business transformation experience
- International and multicultural leadership contexts
- Certified leadership and team coach
- ICF ACC
- MA Social Economic History
- Founder of The Smartest Path
- Founder of Power Her Impact
I bring a practical understanding of organisational complexity, a deep respect for the human experience of change, and a natural ability to see patterns beneath the surface.
The leaders I work with are not looking for simple answers. They are often navigating shifting expectations, competing demands and decisions that carry weight.
The spaces I create help leaders slow things down, widen perspective and make sense of what is really happening, so they can choose their next response with greater clarity and steadiness.
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The Leadership Lens
None of us leads in isolation.
What is happening around you, and how you respond to it, are always connected.
The Leadership Lens is the framework that underpins my coaching, facilitation and speaking. It is not a rigid method or a fixed set of steps, but a way to bring perspective to the realities leaders are navigating in the moment.
The five lenses Orient, Expand, Discern, Experiment and Recalibrate help you explore what is shifting around you, what is shifting within you, and what the situation may now require.
The work is practical, reflective and grounded in the realities leaders are navigating every day.
Leadership does not always become clearer by moving faster.
Sometimes clarity comes when there is space to pause, widen perspective, and notice what is really being asked now.
That is the space I create for leaders: a place to think, reflect, make sense of what is shifting, and strengthen how they lead within ongoing change.