Improven welcomes Justa de Graaff as partner after flying start TLAB

Written by Consultancy.co.uk

Justa de Graaff is in a good flow. More than a year after launching transformation label TLAB, she has now joined Improven's partner team. A good time to catch up with Justa again - about the thunderous start of TLAB, her new partner role ánd the next chapter for Improven: “It's all moving fast, every now and then I have to slow down.”

It is an established tradition at Improven: to become a partner, you first give a presentation to the entire partner team - what makes you a valuable partner for the Utrecht-based finance, risk and IT consultancy? Justa de Graaff decided to take a different approach.

“On the contrary, I started asking them questions,” she says with a big smile: “What kind of team are you as a partner team? Where do your strengths lie? Where can you still grow? Do you form a team together that I want to be part of?”

It totally suits Justa - and TLAB, the label she launched within Improven early last year. TLAB focuses entirely on the human side of change. “That's where real transformation begins. We help employees, teams and organisations push their boundaries by focusing on personal and team development: how do you actually exhibit the behaviour that matches your objectives?”

It is a dimension that receives too little attention within many organisational changes, Justa noted when we spoke to her just after the launch of TLAB. Judging from the new label's first year, this may be slowly starting to tip over.

“It has gone fast,” explains Justa. “We started with two people and now there are already 13 of us - half in-house and half consultants to the firm.”

Building strong teams (and LEGO)

So TLAB was not short of work this first year. “For instance, we are building high-performing teams at a Scandinavian department store, training teams at a grid operator in guiding organisational change and working on the maturity of the IT organisation at an energy company by connecting hard with soft - i.e. tackling IT on the one hand and building a stronger team on the other.”

"As a partner, you have to have your own business. And with such a first year, I had a strong case.”

“We also do a lot of fun inspiration sessions. Like EGO LEGO, in which we let C-level leaders play with LEGO: get out of their heads for a while and work with their hands. We also let them build their ego - the worst version of themselves. In this way, we hold up a mirror to leaders working at a level where they rarely get feedback anymore. Because self-awareness is crucial for leadership.”

The absolute highlight was winning a large tender with a well-known Dutch regulator. “There, we set up a leadership programme to help the entire organisation change behaviour. Financial companies have increasingly become tech companies and are therefore moving at lightning speed. To control this properly, the organisation has to move with it. That's why they want to become more agile - and that starts with strong teams.”

This conviction was also at the heart of the tender plan. “We wrote it entirely from what we think is important. That it has caught on so well is fantastic, though.”

Young guard

In short: TLAB experienced a more than successful start. Not surprisingly, then, Justa dared to turn the tables on her presentation to the partner team. “I had spoken to all the partners extensively before that too,” she nuances. “But the success of TLAB definitely helped yes. If you are a partner, you do have to have your own business within Improven. And with such a first year, I had a strong case.”

At the same time as Justa also closed Reinier Plantinga joins at the partner team. “It's really nice to start together,” she says. “We are a lot younger than the rest and that does provide a breath of fresh air with new insights and ideas.”

There is no shortage of dynamism at the moment anyway at Improven, which has just established itself affiliated with Moore accounting firm. “That creates great new opportunities. For instance, with the help of their network, we want to expand considerably in the large SME sector, we are working with Reinier to strengthen our position in the financial sector and we are aiming for growth abroad. We are at the beginning of a great next chapter.”

Broadening the view

As a brand-new partner, Justa plays an important role in this. She continues to build TLAB, but now also helps decide on the strategic direction of Improven as a whole. “I have to broaden my scope considerably. Until now, I was completely focused on TLAB. That's a bit of a switch, but mostly very cool.”

“We all have our pitfalls. The important thing is to learn to recognise them.”

What makes it extra nice is that the two priorities do not bite, but rather reinforce each other. “We started TLAB as a broadening and deepening of Improven's services. We add something new, but can also strengthen each of our other specialisations by adding that behavioural component - it is relevant everywhere.”

Knowing, doing and slowing down

For now, at least, Justa does not have to be bored. She has enthusiastically started this next chapter for Improven as well as for herself. “It's something I've wanted for some time, so now that I'm here it feels very special - to be a real partner now and to be able to decide even more things myself.”

At the same time, it is also quite exciting at times, she acknowledges. “I have had moments when the uncertainty briefly hit: How did I end up here? Can I do all this?”

It ties in with what Justa told us in our previous conversation as well as the core of what she does with TLAB. “There is a big difference between knowing and doing,” she points out. “Mentally, I know I can do it, but you just have to do it every time - stepping out of your comfort zone, showing the guts to take steps again, occasionally making mistakes and learning from them.”

“It's all moving fast,” she observes. “That also requires me to be aware of my own patterns. When I am under stress, I tend to run even faster. When in fact I should slow down. Stop for a moment and ask yourself: Are we doing the right things? Am I using my energy wisely? That ultimately delivers more pleasure, peace and success.”

These are the lessons she regularly imparts to others. “But that doesn't mean I've been taught myself. That is precisely what makes us human: we all have our pitfalls. The important thing is to learn to recognise them. And occasionally you still fall into them.”