In balance
As a yoga teacher Manufacturing Support Employeneur Peter Adams knows better than anyone how important it is to find a balance in the postures that you adopt. Balance is also something that Peter is working hard on in daily life. ‘At some point in my life I felt that I was getting out of balance. I had to keep a lot of balls in the air and felt the pressure on my shoulders increase,’ Peter says. ‘I took a sabbatical for six months to relax and find out how I wanted to organize my days.’
In his role as Manager of Engineering at Philips, Peter met TMC account manager Noortje van Boxtel four years ago. ‘I came in contact with Noortje, because I was regularly looking for temp employees for my department. We immediately had a good click and I was amazed at how she managed to introduce suitable people for a position to me every time. We felt that we could do more for each other in the field of work and discussed this regularly. During one of those conversations we talked about my skills and she wrote them on a whiteboard: Consultant, Mentor, Trainer.’
‘At some point in my life I felt that I was getting out of balance.'
During Peter's sabbatical some projects came his way and soon he was asked to be a mentor within his field. ‘As a mentor, I went to look at a client's work situation. After that I worked as a Production Manager at Neways for a year as a maternity leave replacement. Then it was time for a real sabbatical. I took care of my family, cooked, read books and took the time to think about how I wanted to organize my daily life. During that time, I kept in touch with Noortje and a Pontes coach advised me to follow a coaching course. One of the books I read was Developmental Coaching by Rudy Vandamme. I signed up and started a two-year course.’
In addition to this training, Peter has started a career at TMC, in which he has taken on a triple role. ‘I have a tailor-made employment contract with TMC. I work a minimum of three days a week as a consultant on different project at clients and two days a week as a mentor. I also provide training in ‘Lean’ or another subject within my expertise Operational Excellence. As a consultant, I also work at TMC on a Business Development project, focussed on Digital Performance Management. After a working day of approximately 6 hours, I cycle home and prepare the yoga classes that I give in the evening. The outcome of my sabbatical is exactly what Noortje wrote on the whiteboard four years ago. Back then Noortje had already seen my talents that I had not seen myself. Now, I can fully use my talents, I come home relaxed and have enough energy for my lessons. My dream is to start a yoga class at TMC and let colleagues experience what it is like to start a working day relaxed.’