Joep C. de Jong, BSc
JLS International BV,
PO Box 448,
1970AK IJmuiden, The Netherlands
Phone: +31 (0)654 396936
Email:joepc@mac.com
Joep C. de Jong is Managing Director and Founder of JLS International
(JLS), an organization that offers consultancy and support in the areas
of leadership, personal development, coaching and organizational
development (OD). Core in the approach of JLS is that it strongly
believes in the potential that resides in us all. From that perspective
there are logical connections to Social Constructionism and Appreciative
Inquiry (AI), which are used as the basis for interventions. Ever since
he joined BT in 1998 he has been using AI to coach, facilitate change
and innovation in the organizations he has been responsible for and to
bring out the best in people. Using AI in the day-to-day business he is
particularly interested in the sustainability of AI in organizations and
in the use of AI in every day processes (coaching, appraisals etc.). In
recent years he has developed a special interest in what he often calls
‘the search for the soul of Appreciative Leadership’.
He was one of the founding members of AI Consulting, an international
organization promoting the use of AI. He has been invited to speak at
international conferences (Boston 2001, Miami 2004, Soesterberg 2006,
Tilburg 2008, Copenhagen 2009, Nepal 2009, Gent 2012), and worked on a
large number of assignments for multi nationals like Abbott, SmithKline
Beecham (Glaxo), Viasys, Compaq (HP), Apple Computer and Chevron. He has
published in Dutch in leading HR magazines like Personeelsbeleid and
Avanta. He is co-author of the first management handbook on AI in Dutch ‘
Waarderend Organiseren’ (ISBN 978-90-78440-26-0).
Joep is father of two daughters and a son, lives on a houseboat with his
partner, Hanne, was born in 1953 and holds a BSc degree in
Horticulture. He taught at the Central School for Horticultural
Engineering, and was involved in training activities with the
International Agricultural Centre (IAC) in Wageningen (1978 1984). He
later became Sales & Marketing Manager for the Education division in
the Netherlands at Apple Computer (1984 1991). From 1998 – 2009 he
was Director Learning Solutions at BT, where his team was responsible
for state-of-the-art technology enhanced learning solutions. From 2009
-2013 he was CEO of Van Harte & Lingsma. In 1991 he founded JLS
International, an organization that provides high-end training, coaching
and consultancy to organizations in various markets. It was here that
he started to use AI as one of the core approaches to coaching,
organizational development and organizational change. His first formal
introduction to AI was by Jane Watkins and Barbara Sloan. He has
received a certificate in Global Change and Social Innovation from Case
Western Reserve University’s Global Excellence in Management program
[GEM] in 1997.
