Being a Founding Partner of LIFO and Senior International Trainer, Bernadette Deitmers loves to coach and motivate people, and teams to perform on a higher level with collaboration and personal effectiveness through Face-to-face (on-site) & Online sessions. She expertises in Communication, Collaboration, Personal Leadership, Personal Branding.
Bernadette was born and raised in a small village in the South of the Netherlands. Being a beta oriented kid she finished her studies in Industrial Engineering & Management Science at the Technical University Eindhoven. Meanwhile, she has been living for quite some time in picturesque Haarlem, just south of Amsterdam. She specifies, “My personal values stand for personal growth, integrity, dedication and optimism. I believe that we as humans never stop learning, that a safe environment in which you can be vulnerable is the best learning environment and that mindset is everything in how you experience life. My passion is to guide employees, executives, board members and teams in a growth process to always be the best version of themselves”.
Bernadette uttered “During my studies, I knew that I aspired to a managerial position. My first employer is MSD, Merck Sharp & Dohme, a large American pharmaceutical company. I had three leadership positions there. Started as a supervisor of a packaging department to grow through manager of this department to manager planning. For me, these years have laid a solid foundation for my leadership skills and working with and/or motivating employees. A very nice intensive period in which working weeks of 60 hours was self-evident. And then children came. It had to juggle my attention for work and home. With the arrival of my third child, I changed course. It was a difficult choice to let go of ‘my career’. Stephen Covey’s second characteristic ‘Begin with the end in mind’, has helped me enormously. I opted for the most enjoyable part of my job: letting people grow in their personal development, empowering them”.
The LIFO Practitioner believes in the personal development that is central to the second half of working life. Bernadette has run her own training agency Savvy Training since 2014, which focuses on in-company training focused on personal leadership, practical leadership and personal effectiveness (time savings, work pressure, burnout and stress management). An investment in the development of your employees is an investment in the growth and development of the company. Savvy believes in a practical approach. The company provides tailor-made solutions for each participant by following-up the workshops with personal coaching. This increases the applicability in everyday practice and also challenges participants to apply new behavior directly. Because the team leads the training trajectory in small steps over a few months and guides the participants towards sustainable behavioral change.
The LIFO services provides a conceptual map and master training technology for trainers and consultants that helps improve communication skills and productivity at all levels of an organization. Trainers and consultants are provided with high-impact, low-cost training materials that appeal to participants and reinforce learning. An extended learning on how to deliver a highly engaging and interactive virtual workshop using the latest available learning and Development digital tools in the market is rendered. The Life Orientations gives a 360-feedback approach, the surveys will show how one is perceived by other survey takers, such as team members, colleagues or direct reports, those who may have different perspectives on the subject’s behavioral styles.
Having 10 years of experience as a logistic manager, 3 years managing a production department and 13 years of experience as an independent trainer/coach focused on leadership, stress reduction, collaboration, communication and team-building, Bernadette outperformed at every stage of her personal and professional life. Bernadette surpassed all of the recurring challenges with her provocative ideas. The first 10 years was wholly dedicated to a complete understanding on how to lead teams. The second 10 years was devoted to balancing work – home: a demanding job in combination with raising three kids. The last phase in her journey was about really standing on her own feet: running her own business (acquisition, development of training content and execution of the training). She focused on bettering herself every year.
She states, “My business grows every year, despite the Corona impact. Participants experience a real change in their behaviour. The moment they understand and reflect on their personal growth, is my reward. Due to the shift I made to training, I was able to organise work around the kids. I never stopped working, but was able to prioritise. I’m happy I did that. And I focussed on the nicest part of my leading role: supporting others to be the best version of themselves”.
One quote that changed Bernadette’s life which strongly impacted her existence is “Follow your heart, do the things that make you happy”.