Coaching & mentoring

Why get a coach or mentor?

Do you want to learn or grow, but you’re not sure how?
Do you want to grow your technical skills or optimize your workflow?
Do you want to change a pattern or behavior that keeps repeating?

In modern individualistic society, it’s normal to try and do everything by yourself.
But you can grow and learn a lot faster with the right person next to you.

Asking for support requires great courage.
– Laurens DC

Coaching vs. mentoring

What’s the difference exactly between coaching and mentoring?
I explain my vision on these terms below.

Note that I offer both of these services.

Coaching

If you have a goal, target or desired outcome that you want to realize, but you don’t know how, you don’t know what’s limiting you, you don’t know what way you can take to get there, …

This is where a coach can help you.

A coach is someone who stands with you. Cheers for you. Believes in you.

Someone who helps you to empower yourself and find possibilities to build the changes and life you want for yourself.

Coaching has changed my life and I believe it can change yours, too.

Example topics:

• How do I navigate social situations at work?
• How can I overcome my impostor syndrome?
• How can I take ownership of my day with all the stress, deadlines and meetings?
• How do I grow my confidence?
• How do I work towards a promotion or new role?
• …

Mentoring

Noun. mentor (plural mentors)
A wise and trusted counselor or teacher.

Different from a coach, a mentor assumes knowledge and experience in the relevant field.

A mentor will set out a tailored learning path for you, based on personal former experience and an estimation of your current skills, personality and knowledge.

With a mentor, you can dig into specific technical topics and problems.

Services and topics to cover:

• Pair programming
• Code review
• Rubber ducking and architectural review
• Clarifying complex code bases or projects
• Investing in your technical skills (testing, TDD, code quality, DX)
• Optimizing your day-to-day workflow
• …

Discovery call

To find out if you will appreciate working with me, schedule a free 30 minute discovery call with me.
There, we can discuss or clarify your goals and get clear if I’m the proper solution for your needs.

You can also send me a message, I’d love to hear from you!

Things people say after working with me

You did what so many teachers failed to do.

I am honored to call Laurens my first mentor in a working environment in the field of IT. He taught me many things, ranging from incredibly useful coding skills, tricks, and thought processes to very cool but probably somewhat useless facts. 😁 He still inspires some of the work I deliver today, and I strive to achieve Laurens’ open outlook on life.

Laurens played a pivotal role in my personal growth and developing my coding skills. His teaching approach is patient, unique, and adaptable, making complex topics easy to understand.

Why am I offering this?

My main work experience is in the crazy world of Software Engineering.
It’s here that I explored designing workshops and trainings, coaching and mentoring fellow engineers, and discovered that I love supporting others and seeing them grow and thrive!

The journey we all make is the main thing we’re doing here.

I’d love to be a part of your unique journey, with its own unique challenges and learnings.
Your unique path, story and dreams are worth pursuing.

If you want to get a feel for who I am and how I connect with people, work and life, you can read about my vision for leaders and managers, my ideas of healthy behaviors in teams, or my thoughts on what an awesome engineering environment could look like.

My relevant education, experience and certificates

My technical experience can be find through my resume and projects page.

Aside from technical mastery, I highly value personal growth and continuously invest in mine.

Coaching

2025: Toolkit voor leidinggevenden - Een team coachen - VDAB
2024: Inspiring and Motivating Individuals: University of Michigan
2023 - present: Volunteer as a Buddy & coach: Kom op tegen Kanker
2023: Inspiring Leadership through Emotional Intelligence: Case Western Reserve University
2023: Conversations That Inspire: Coaching Learning, Leadership and Change: Case Western Reserve University

Leadership

2025: Toolkit voor leidinggevenden - Conflicten en compromissen - VDAB
2024: Leading People and Teams Specialization: University of Michigan
2024: Leading Teams: University of Michigan
2024: Influencing People: University of Michigan
2024: Managing Talent: University of Michigan
2022: Transformational Leadership & Emotional Intelligence: Institute of Global Leadership

Career coaching

2024: Finding Your Professional Voice: Confidence & Impact: University of London
2024: The Career Design Lab: University of California, Santa Cruz

Personal growth and inner development

2023: Shoonya Intensive - Advanced meditation and yoga programme: Isha Foundation
2015: Volunteer: Isha Foundation
2015: Bhava Spandana - Experiential and transformative yoga: Isha Foundation
2015: Inner Engineering yoga: Isha Foundation

Facilitation

2025: Talent Coaches Role Support - Tailored workshop designed and faciliated by Laurens DC
2025: Coaching Strategies for Technical People - Workshop designed and facilitated by Laurens DC