I am Elly de Lorijn, living in Den Haag and working as a Corporate Anthropologist, Interim Manager, Coach, Advisor and strategic leader. People know me as an enterprising world citizen who loves people and organisations. As a dynamic unifier and improver in body and soul I steer change and improvement processes, help people and organisations discover and utilise their highest potential and take everyone involved along with me to a collectively-accepted end result. I feel at home in organisations that are at the heart of the community and that embrace a wide diversity.
Attention, working together and love are the key
I was born in Gelderland and grew up in an entrepreneurial family in a small village where I learned that working together, love and attention are the most important things. Attention, working together and love are now the basis on which I make my choices in both my personal life and my work. I enjoy being amazed and curious about the other person. Full of expectation and hope and based on everything that is positive in a person I look for a connection. My goal is to find the power and purpose in people so they open themselves up rather than shut themselves in. For anyone who thinks this all sounds very ‘soft’: I believe attention and love also means having high expectations, being honest and daring to make decisions. And honesty can sometimes also cause pain.
Inclusive leadership and warm professionalism
I was still quite young when I discovered that having a wide focus on the whole produced the best results and an outcome that made everyone happy. During my career I have learned to define this characteristic as ‘inclusive leadership’ that adds depth and focus. As a Corporate Anthropologist I am curious and I enjoy looking for the story behind the story. Learning together, doing it together, inclusive leadership and looking at the context are now major hallmarks of my working method and of me as a person. The combination of inclusive leadership and warm professionalism differentiates my approach as improver and makes my working method effective and complete. This is reflected in my passion for a healthy living, learning and working climate in which inclusivity is key. In a healthy climate everyone is involved, we enjoy our work more and work better as individuals and together, everyone feels they have been listened to and we achieve the best result.
World citizen and nature lover
Because I’ve never known precisely where my ancestors came from I have grown up with the notion that I could come from anywhere and everywhere. This is one of the reasons why I consider myself a world citizen. I am curious about other societies, have travelled far and wide with my family and enjoy meeting people from very varied cultures. This is why the photographs in my website are ones I have taken myself and that mean a great deal to me.
The natural world and walking with my dog, Mila, mean a lot to me. As a child I spent endless summer and winter hours playing outdoors and enjoying village life. I grew up with nature, sport and animals and couldn’t be without them. Nature, exercise and being outdoors are for me synonymous with feeling my own resilience and ensure the, in my eyes, essential link between head, heart and body.
Previous clients, portfolio and CV
My clients are extremely varied. They are active in the business world, the education and non-profit sector, in care institutions and in government. For more information about my education, experience, clients and references go to my LinkedIn page.
