CEO insights: Dolf Kos reflects on his first five months at Newpeople.

Dolf Kos, entrepreneur, author, and also a former interim professional himself, has been CEO of Newpeople for five months now. Time to look back on this period: How did he experience the takeover? What challenges have been overcome, and what are the plans for the future?

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You’ve been CEO of Newpeople for five months now. Tell us…

I was looking for adventure and challenge, and I’ve certainly found it here! Firstly, I’m incredibly proud of the Newpeople brand. Newpeople has built an excellent reputation over the years, which I’ve experienced myself and now often hear in the market. Credit for this goes to founder Ben Holewijn and his team. This once again confirms that you can make an impact on people’s lives through proper mediation. How cool is that. By the way, I was also mediated through Newpeople in 2016, and I still have pleasant memories of those conversations and placements. I still remember having a cup of coffee with Maurits van der Does back in February 2016. A few months later, I had my first interim role. I recently read back the notes from that conversation in our CRM system… nice!

And what an amazing location! It’s a daily pleasure to enjoy the view. Honestly, I thought I had an amazing location with my other company in Huizen, but this surpasses everything. And the summer with rooftop summer drinks hasn’t even started yet. The energy I get from events and meetings, such as Connecting Fridays and the New Year’s reception, is tremendous. People are curious about our plans, and the positive reactions motivate me to continue building Newpeople together with the team. And many exciting things are coming up!

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What new course is Newpeople setting?

While the brand was strong and still is, I noticed that there have been several managing directors in recent years and that communication within the team was sometimes more internally focused. There is now a need for a shift towards the outside. That’s why we are now actively engaged in external communication and reactivating valuable network relationships. This includes a wide range of activities, such as social media, newsletters, events like Connecting Fridays, Round tables, and executive connect events with a lot of personal contact. Our team of ‘mostly Newpeople’ consultants invests time in getting to know people better, which requires a consistent and proactive approach to be successful.

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Changes always bring new challenges. What ‘challenge’ did you face?

My most engaging challenge at the moment is building a new and strong team. I hoped to keep some of the old Newpeople members on board. Unfortunately, not everyone is sailing along, and some have departed. That’s understandable after several years. The departure of some also allows room for renewal and new faces. I find it very pleasant that I can rely on a strong team of interim professionals with diverse areas of expertise, both in executive search and in networks within interim solutions, marketing, and digital strategy.

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This doesn’t sound easy, how do you view the future?

Regarding the future of Newpeople, I am very optimistic. There is an amazing foundation in a fantastic place. Digital transformation and growth remain important topics for companies. The scarcity of good marketers and strategists makes it essential for companies to have the right people on board, and we want to help with that. Newpeople makes a difference in this regard and will continue to do so in the future. Making connections and making an impact!

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What are your goals to achieve for the next two years?

Our focus remains on C-level mediation and interim assignments within the digital domain. Around these focal points, we will organize various events to attract our target audience to our beautiful location. In the past, there have been wonderful initiatives such as Online Tuesdays, Product Owner Hubs, and Digital Transformation Award. We will explore how we can collaborate with various partners to give these initiatives meaningful content.

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What are you looking forward to?

We are looking forward to the coming years, during which we want to connect people and position Newpeople as a vibrant brand. And I am definitely looking forward to the spring and summer sunshine here on the REM Island. That will be double enjoyment. It was nice to experience that clients are happy to receive us and requests are coming in that we can build on; it indicates that we are on the right track.

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Do you want to know more about Dolf’s experience over the past five months? Send an email to dolf.kos@newpeople.nl.