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I am not in the mood for fluffy stuff

December 17, 2025

I honestly don't expect much from it. I've had enough team sessions already. And I'm not in the mood for woolly stuff." So said Thomas, director at a large retailer, in preparation for a team development session. In his Insights profile, he immediately recognised himself: task-oriented, decisive, results-driven. He also knew he was sometimes too short-tempered and could come across as aloof.

His previous experiences with team development did not help. Barefoot, yoga exercises and lots of emotion. What Thomas did want was growth. With his team towards high performance. And precisely that sometimes requires something other than steering harder or deciding faster.

Development often starts just outside the comfort zone. Thomas chose to experiment. During two intensive team days, he remained sharp and to-the-point, but also showed that empathy and vulnerability go perfectly well with result-oriented leadership. That made an impact. His team now saw the complete leader: clear, decisive and approachable. The distance disappeared. People approached him more readily, dared to share mistakes and started the real conversation.

The result: more trust, more ownership and sharper focus on shared goals. And Thomas? Who admitted that team development was less "floaty" than he thought after all.

Team development doesn’t have to be ‘soft’ or ‘woolly’. It does, however, need to be honest, focused and effective.
Curious to find out what this could mean for your team? Get in touch with us.

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Frequently asked questions

Practical answers to questions we often get.

What kind of organisations work with ElevenGroup?

We work mainly with medium-sized and large organisations, often internationally, in sectors where collaboration, leadership and culture are crucial. Our clients range from commercial companies to (semi-)public organisations. What they have in common: the desire to look beyond standard solutions and achieve truly sustainable development.

We combine more than 20 years of leadership and team development experience with systemic work and organisational consulting. This means that we do not only look at behaviour or skills, but also at underlying patterns, dynamics and context. In addition, we always work in a custom way, paying close attention to the reality of the organisation as well as to what happens between people.

Systemic work is about making unconscious patterns and relationships within teams and organisations visible. Consider questions such as: Who takes what place? What gets excluded? By working with these, clarity, movement and relaxation often emerge quickly - without becoming woolly. We always translate insights into concrete steps in practice.

We often get this question. Our experience is exactly the opposite. Systemic work is actually very effective because it gets to the heart of the matter quickly and makes persistent issues open for discussion. We always link it to organisational goals, performance and results. Gentle in the approach, clear in the impact.

We almost always work with custom solutions. Sometimes we build on existing leadership programmes or interventions, sometimes we design something new together. We match the form, pace and content to the organisation, the people and the question behind the question.

Among others for:

  • leadership development (individual and collective)
  • team development and cooperation
  • coaching of leaders and professionals
  • culture and organisational change
  • guidance in case of tensions, transitions or growth

Often, assignments start with an exploration in which together we clarify what is really needed.

You work with one or more experienced professionals from our network, always carefully selected for the demand and context. We strongly believe in cooperation and complementarity - also within our own team.

We focus not on 'inspiration alone', but on change that carries through into everyday work. We do this by:

  • Work on concrete issues
  • giving leaders and teams ownership
  • linking interventions to practice
  • make room for reflection and action

Sustainable growth occurs when insight and doing come together.

An introduction is always non-binding. We listen to your question, share our initial observations and think along about possible follow-up steps. Sometimes one conversation is enough to determine the direction to take; sometimes an in-depth intake follows.

Sure. Many collaborations start with a pilot, a team intervention or an individual coaching programme. From there it can grow - or not. That, too, is fine.

We work in Dutch and English, and are used to international contexts and multicultural teams.

Via the contact page on our site or by calling or emailing us directly. We are happy to meet you in person.

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