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Want to secure greater commitment from your client? Act like a strong leader!

Absolutely—you can apply leadership methodologies within a client context to win more commitment from your customer!

If we define leadership as engaging others in the realization of your goals, then it naturally applies to leadership toward both employees and clients.

With both employees and clients, you must navigate toward your goal through ‘social complexity.’ After all, realizing a goal together is complex, in the sense that there are many factors involved. Everyone has their own convictions and opinions, their own background, and their own interests and values. Realizing a goal together therefore means moving away from separate viewpoints toward a single engagement that serves common interests.

In recent years, BrainTrain has helped VDAB achieve stronger commitment and engagement with its job-seeking clients. We did this by deploying Impeccable Leadership as a leadership methodology, specifically applied to a challenging client context.

Below, I provide some valuable tips if you would like to get started with this yourself.

  • # Be firm (clear) on the content while remaining soft on the person.
  • # The framework is never negotiated; everything within the framework is negotiated to the maximum.
  • # Connection is a necessary prerequisite for obtaining commitment from the other person.
  • # Connecting with the other person is not only relational but also substantive (e.g., providing the right information or a clear framework, and offering the right support).
  • # Establishing a connection is not the same as agreeing with the other person.
  • # To truly connect, you must be able to (temporarily) set aside your own ego and your own sense of being right.
  • # To gain commitment, you must first listen and ask about the other person's interests before sharing your own—stop transmitting, start receiving.
  • # A true commitment for both parties is a win-win within the established framework.
  • # If you hand over a solution on a silver platter or push it through, the other person falls back into 'reactivity' and you will not get a genuine commitment.
  • # Once the other person has given their commitment, it does not mean you can sit back and relax. You take a step back, but you keep your eye on the compass.

Insights on leadership, communication, and collaboration in practice

Discover articles and videos on behavior, difficult conversations, team dynamics, and influence — with practical tools that work, even when the pressure is on.
Frequently Asked Questions

You may still have questions about how we work or what you can expect. Here, we answer the most important ones.

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Participants will approach their communication with others differently in the broadest sense of the word, even when situations become difficult or tense. They experience more calm and self-confidence, and have a better understanding of what to do instead of simply reacting to events. The difference lies in conscious action: not being at the mercy of the situation or the conversation, but engaging with it actively and curiously. The focus is on individual behavioral change, which has a visible impact on interactions with colleagues, employees, and clients. Participants often notice a difference during the training itself, which is then further reinforced through practical application.
Yes. Content, methods, language, and cases are fully tailored to the organization’s context. Where necessary, I explicitly immerse myself in the sector, the role, or the workplace itself. Context determines how people communicate and make decisions, and therefore determines how a training program is designed.
Our training programs are suitable for anyone who works with people and is willing to examine their own behavior. They are less effective when participants are under heavy pressure to attend and show no willingness to open up. We address this explicitly.
Transfer is central. We work on awareness and practice with real-life situations during the training, so that participants gain successful experiences. Where possible, we provide follow-up with participants and the client, and together we examine which contextual obstacles might hinder practical application.
The training always starts from the participants’ reality. We work with their own cases, combine reflection with practice and dialogue, and only introduce insights when they are needed. It is not a classroom-style transfer of theory or a PowerPoint-driven training.
Dealing with resistance is a core competency. We create safety and neutrality, name what is happening, and investigate the needs behind the resistance. We do not force anything, but create space so that participants can move forward again and take responsibility for their own learning process.
We always start from what is feasible within the available time. There is no fixed format: we adapt to needs, context, and workload. Where meaningful and desirable, we supplement physical sessions with preparation, digital elements, or phased trajectories to use time efficiently.
We do not work with tricks or imposed behavior. We also look “below the waterline” at beliefs, fears, and automatic patterns that block new behavior. As a result, people dare and are able to apply what they have learned outside the training, in their actual work situation.
Impact becomes visible in behavior. We work with observations from the client and participants, targeted reflection questions, and feedback during the training. Satisfaction is a starting point, but more important is whether people feel confident enough to effectively apply the new behavior.
Follow-up steps are always discussed with the client. This could be a debriefing on transfer, additional depth on specific themes, or individual coaching. The client decides what is desirable and feasible within their own context.
We are happy to think along with you about your context, challenges, and objectives. Not a standard solution, but a targeted approach that works in practice.

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