Life after TIAS: Exploring your boundaries and the world
June 19, 2019 | 1 min read
A blog post written by John Dortmans MSc MBA from The Netherlands | Executive MBA alumnus 2007-2009
Today 12,5 years ago, I started my career at Royal Agrifirm Group. During this 12,5 years I got the opportunity to develop myself from starting as a management trainee, to becoming a team leader, manager, country director, regional director and currently an Executive Committee member of a leading global company in Animal Nutrition and Agriculture (€2,5 billion turnover). On top of that, the last seven years I have been working and living as an expat in Poland, Hungary and now Uruguay and Brazil. Royal Agrifirm Group has provided me with great opportunities to develop myself, my people and my family.
A perfect journey
At the start of my career, I quickly discovered that I would like to pursue the Executive MBA at TIAS to build a strong foundation for a fast development of my career. It proved to be a perfect journey in which I developed a broader and deeper insight in strategic management, finance and innovation. Furthermore, the personal development track which was part of the MBA, was aimed on getting a better understanding of what type of leader I was and wanted to be. Most importantly, the MBA at TIAS gave me new friendships for life with fun and inspirational people!
The challenging TIAS MBA, together with the opportunities and trust which I got from Royal Agrifirm Group, was a perfect mix which brought me to my current role and will definitely impact any future career perspectives.
My advice to you!
“The great leaders are not the strongest, they are the ones who are honest about their weaknesses. The great leaders are not the smartest; they are the ones who admit how much they don’t know. The great leaders can’t do everything; they are the ones who look to others to help them. Great leaders don’t see themselves as great; they see themselves as human.” (Simon Sinek)
The best way to inspire people is to know what drives them, to understand what gives them energy (their 'why'). When you truly connect with that, you can achieve everything together!
Read more about the Executive MBA