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.
