You don't need to take all the steps, just the next one
About Next Step & More
Next Step & More began during the Summer of 2021. How many times have I said it during my career: ‘let’s do it step by step’ ‘Let’s make the next step in the customer relationship.’?
People have been wishing me good luck to make that next step and then of course with a last name like mine it was time to make one myself, a next step…
My name is Kris, born and raised in Belgium, now living in Vilvoorde, near Brussels. I have spent my professional career in the Tourism and Hospitality Industry in local and international service, sales and operational settings.
Authentic, passionate, excellent leader with a good sense of humour is how people tend to describe me. Being an entrepreneurial driven Sales Leader with an eye for details, always on the lookout for a service solution driven approach and with a heart for my team.
At the age of 50 and after a reorganization within the company I worked for, I was ready for a change. I needed a certain guidance throughout my search and Kris helped me in every step of the process. Thanks to the coaching I learned who I was, what my brand was, which values are important to me, which talents I have and so much more. I gained a lot of self-confidence and together with some tips and tricks I was ready to give it a go.
Kris is very professional, well-prepared and down to earth. He doesn’t give you the solution, but he gives you the tools to find it, he doesn’t give you the answers to your questions, but he let you find the answers yourself.
Thanks to Kris I know now what I stand for.
I had the good fortune to work with Kris, many years ago. While we only worked about 4 years together, I have always valued his management style, professionalism and friendship. In all my years of employment, Kris, to this day, remains one of my favorite leaders/managers. Kris has a diverse background, resources and business know how. He is dynamic, creative, customer focused, a true leader (not a boss) and many other superlatives, but more importantly, I would gladly join a team Kris was leading, any time. A true value add to any company, team or network.
Kris and I have known each other for over 15 years, in different roles during our careers. I have been consistently impressed with Kris’s professionalism and "going the extra-mile " for his customers. His always solution driven approach and drive for service excellence are the skills I appreciate the most in him. If you would ask me to describe Kris in 3 key words it would say without hesitation: sharp, resilient and empathetic. I am confident that he will be able to make an immediate as well as positive impact on any organization.
I used to work with Kris when I was the GM at Pullman Hotel in Brussels. Kris Is a passionnate professional leader , and helped us a lot to develop revenue in our hotel. He sets new way of communication to improve relationships between sales and hotels by giving the opportunity to GM to be much more involved in sales. Finally maybe the most important , he is very open minded and has a great sense if humour that made the collaboration much more pleasant and highly efficient !
Kris is a strong and well rounded leader, with excellent communication skills, business acumen and understanding of the Meetings & Events industry. Kris lead the BeNeLux region during his tenure with us, and was a trusted leader who drove results and grew the business. Kris has the experience and know how to lead others, manage and turn around difficult situations.Thank you Kris for all your contributions to the business.
I've been working with Kris for 2,5 years - first when he was manager of the BTC in Brussels, later in his actual role of Senior Manager Meetings & Events Benelux at American Express Business Travel. Working with Kris has always been a delight for me : Kris has a hands on/no nonsense mentality just like me, he is straightforward, a very good people manager and a clear communicator. He is results-oriented, a hard worker and has a thorough understanding of the business travel and meetings & events industries. Kris is not afraid of taking difficult decisions and he always keeps his "cool" no matter how difficult the circumstances. Last but not least I also want to add that he has a great sense of humor and that he will always defend the interests of his employees.
I have had the great pleasure to work with Kris for several years and got to know him as a very professional, commercial, creative and foremost enthusiastic (people-) manager. His communication and organizational skills are exceptional. With his excellent business insight, determination and welcoming personality, Kris is one of the best in the industry
In the past years I have learned a lot of working closely together with Kris, he has a huge commercial drive and always aims to achieve a win-win. On top of that Kris is an inspiring colleague that has learned me a great deal of people & team management. Together we have grown Topline business for the hotels in the BeNeLux region via Digital and Sales Channels to 400 € Million representing over 80% of the hotels' business in the region by aligning our strategy and capturing maximum potential of the market. But most of all Kris has a great personality and is a valuable colleague.
I used to work with Kris for several years in Business Travel where I appreciated him as great professional people leader.
Moreover recently as a client of Next Step & More I experienced to be coached by him in an excellent way in my recent search for a new challenge. He supported me in my career by self-reflection and by discovering my wants next to my skills. Once this was clear to me the next step was to give support for my resume and to be ready and well prepared for the final interview, to see what set me apart from other candidates.
As a result, I am now thrilled to announce that I started a new career a couple of weeks ago, and I am more than happy with my new challenge. Thanks Kris!