The Aha! moment.

As an alumnus of Netherlands Business Academy, I have experienced that the strength of our academy lies in the personal approach. In creating a committed and trusted environment. An environment in which students can grow to a higher level. The fact that I am now part of the NLBA team is a logical consequence of this.

My name is Bert Leppers and I guide students during consultation meetings and in the graduation phase of their studies. After 25 years of working in the Royal Military Police, I switched to the National Police. There, I lead teams of highly committed detectives and experts who want to make the difference for our society.

I also want to make that difference within Netherlands Business Academy. Based on my passion for knowledge transfer, I want to contribute to our future generation. Guiding professional master students is how I try to make that happen. Of course, I am very proud of all the students I have successfully coached.

I also have a passion for endurance sports, especially running, mountain biking and swimming. The latter preferably in the Caribbean Sea. Because of my work I moved eleven times, twice I was allowed to work and live in the Caribbean for several years. That I therefore also love Salsa dancing and am a member of two Brazilian samba bands will come as no surprise. Sometimes it confuses people that the orderly project manager one encounters during the day is the loose percussionist in the evening or at weekends. Partly through my own studies at our academy, I understand myself and others better and better. How unique we all are and together mostly even better!

When, alongside my work in the police, I successfully mentored first a law student and then a law student, I discovered my dormant passion for knowledge transfer. So I contacted our rector Jan van Zwieten and shared this passion with him. As a result, for several years now, I have enjoyed guiding students of our academy in preparing their papers, portfolio, thesis and/or thesis.

Beautiful moments for me are the student’s Aha! moments. The moments when they understand a concept or theory and can apply it to their own work situation or paper. Sometimes this is preceded by difficult moments. It is precisely at these moments that I want to provide optimum support and guidance. It's cool to see when that works out together with the student.

One student compared such situations to the film Karate Kid, where a young man had to perform all useless actions from his coach. For example, painting (vertical movement) and polishing (twisting movement). Again, the Aha! moment came afterwards. Another student recently compared this process to the Octopus’ tentacles. According to this student, it is not about individual parts, but a beautiful whole at the end of our short-MBA course.

At the short-MBA at City Campus Dordrecht, students meet me during consultation meetings. The passion I have for knowledge transfer comes fully into its own within the Netherlands Business Academy team. I'm grateful for that and I’m happy to continue using that passion for new students. Students who will be the future backbone of our society. That’s what it’s all about as far as I’m concerned, the student who has the future!