A recurring pattern
Bart van den Belt, founder of BusinessCoach Netherlands, regularly sits down with former directors who are considering a new professional role. He recognizes a recurring pattern. 'They have managed companies for thirty years, but as soon as that job title disappears, they doubt their own relevance. They wonder if the market still wants them, or if they are still sharp enough. While their experience is actually at its peak. I understand that doubt. For years, their value was confirmed through a position, a team, and a result. Without that daily structure, the same expertise suddenly feels more abstract. Not less, but different. And they often make that distinction for themselves too little.'
Practical knowledge fades into the background
Many of these professionals ultimately choose a supervisory role, some volunteer work, or simply decide to stop. Not because they want nothing more, but because they see no suitable alternative. Van den Belt: 'A supervisory role offers distance, but little daily involvement. Volunteer work provides meaning, but lacks the strategic complexity they are so good at. They are actually looking for something that sits in between, and they rarely find it on their own.'
Thus, a generation of practical knowledge largely fades into the background. Not because they can no longer contribute, but because the bridge to a meaningful new role is missing. From a labor market perspective, this is a significant missed opportunity: precisely the people that SMEs need drop out before they take the step.
Business coaching as the next step
Van den Belt sees business coaching as that bridge, but emphasizes that it must be taken seriously. 'It's not about a non-committal advisory role or a business card with coach on it. Business coaching is a profession. It requires methodology, the ability to set oneself aside, and to let an entrepreneur find their own answers. That is a different competence than leading, but the foundation of experience is the same.'
For SMEs, the added value is concrete. A former director who knows what it feels like to be ultimately responsible, who recognizes patterns in a balance sheet and at the same time can guide someone in a leadership issue: that profile is scarce. And the demand for it is growing.
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A profession deserves training
This does require serious preparation. Not every good manager is automatically a good coach. Leading and coaching are related but fundamentally different skills. Those who want to make the transition should consciously make that shift and methodically substantiate it.
That the sector itself recognizes this is evident from the existence of a formally recognized training route at post-hbo level. The Register Business Coach® is currently the only qualification at that level in the Netherlands: a route that brings together coaching, strategy, and knowledge of entrepreneurial dynamics. The existence of such a standard says something about the extent to which business coaching is taken seriously as a discipline.
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The gap can be bridged
The mismatch between the departure of experienced leaders and the need for guidance in SMEs is not a natural phenomenon. It is a matter of positioning, self-confidence, and the right professional route.
Van den Belt is clear about this: 'I speak to these people regularly. The knowledge is there, the motivation is there. What is missing is the framework to make that step credible, for themselves and for the market. That is precisely the gap we are trying to bridge.'
Doubt is understandable. But it is not a dead end. And for SMEs, it is a wait for experienced leaders who also draw that conclusion.
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