Questions to Buddy: Niki Achterkamp

As a doctor, Niki discovered how fixed patterns can hinder a person’s emotional well-being. As a manager, she noticed how important it is to know yourself if you want to be able to give direction to your life and career. As a coach, she uses these insights to help others take back control. She often sees how people get in their own way, her motivation: to make the heaviness lighter.

How do you recognize a good coach?
A good coach does not provide answers, but helps you to gain insights. To discover patterns that you don’t see in yourself. This requires a combination of listening, asking the right questions and challenging someone to go outside their comfort zone. To achieve that, you have to dare to be confrontational if necessary. But always from a sincere involvement. You are there to help someone further. If you succeed, it is really satisfying. The best moment is the moment when the pennies start to drop. Suddenly someone discovers possibilities that have always been there, they know what they really want and they find the courage to take real steps. The energy and motivation that is then released, that is a magical moment.

What did you not know at the beginning of your career, but now you do?

Many people are looking for a clear picture: where do I want to go? We often look enviously at people with a mission. But life cannot be completely planned, most careers form gradually. The more you learn to move along and make choices based on self-knowledge, the stronger you will be. Setting goals is valuable, but don’t just focus them on external milestones, focus them on yourself as well. Then you can grow, no matter which way life takes you.

At the same time, there are also many people who have a goal in mind, but have no idea how to achieve it. I had a coachee who had a dream, but he thought it would never be achievable. By making that dream very concrete and pouring it into a clear step-by-step plan, he left radiant. With the feeling: it is feasible and I know what I have to do.

“A good coach does not give answers, but helps you to gain insights.”

What do you hope to achieve with Buddy?

I want companies to become more human, that there is room to look beyond just performance. With Buddy, we not only help individuals grow, but also companies. We can provide insight into what is going on, so that organizations can improve it. The real difference is made when a company is willing to look in the mirror itself. Work should not be a duty, but energy and satisfaction. I want to be on the preventive side of the burnout. Unconsciously, many people get in their own way. With convictions, full agendas and the pressure to do well. Even when there is apparently nothing wrong, many feel a constant heaviness. Whereas, if you keep asking, everyone is looking for the same thing: space. Space for yourself, for the people around you, and to discover what is really important. How nice would it be if I could contribute to this? That people become kinder to themselves, choose more consciously and not just react to what is ‘right’. Personal development is not only a luxury for later, but prevents people from getting stuck.

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