It’s Friday afternoon, 4:00 PM, June 16, 2017. I’ve just finished a mental strength training for the observation team of The Hague Police and I’m on my way to IJmuiden when a former colleague from Defense calls and asks if I have a moment.
‘Sure, Jehury, what’s up…’
– ‘You know I’m in the Hunted program, right?’
‘Yep!’
– ‘We have a problem, someone just dropped out and we’re looking for someone who can fill in for the next 3 weeks.
‘Uhh, okay. And when do the recordings start?’
– ‘Tomorrow morning at 10:00 AM!’
Yes, sorry friend, but this is hopeless.
My schedule is packed, people are expecting me, and besides, I’m on my way to a party I’m really looking forward to… He asks me to think about it for a moment.
Driving on the highway, I employ a few mental tools.
I look ahead with hindsight. If I’m a year from now and I haven’t done this, will I regret it? Yes, probably.
I quickly call my wife and a few teams that are expecting me, they all react surprisingly positively and think it’s an opportunity I shouldn’t pass up.
Jehury calls back, I indicate that I see possibilities and then things move quickly…
It’s now 2023 and soon the VIP edition of season 7 will start, and I’ll be seen as one of the hunters in the TV program Hunted where viewers get an insight into how a special investigation unit searches for fugitives.
Often things go differently than you expect, the art is to deal with this, recognize opportunities and seize them when they come your way. In other words, what choice do you make at a crossroads in your life?
Additionally, it’s important to have people around you who believe in you, whom you can trust, and that we grant each other opportunities. Besides our work, sport is an excellent teacher in this area.
”Ego is the enemy!
Spreker Michael Kortekaas
My name is Michael Kortekaas and perhaps we’ve met during my career in the Government or later in the business world.
With a background in CIOS and Sports Academy, I worked for 12.5 years for the Police and Defense, and now I’ve been on stage for more than 10 years as a trainer – speaker on Mental Resilience for many different target groups.
Hunted is a Dutch TV-program in which 12 people go on the run and have to stay out of the hands of a special investigation unit for 3 weeks. It’s a social experiment that taps into the discussion about privacy. Is it still possible to stay under the radar in the Netherlands?
As a leadership speaker, workplace happiness speaker and mental resilience speaker, it’s one of his frequently used expressions; ‘what you do is what you become good at’ encapsulates the essence of a session. If you complain and grumble a lot, you’ll become good at that! But if you learn to deal with fear, disappointment or setbacks, for example, you develop willpower and perseverance.
It’s paradoxical, but ‘just’ doing is one of the great keys to real change. The trick is simply to start…
Curious how Michael as a speaker or coach can contribute within your team or at an event?
As a speaker on leadership, work happiness, and mental resilience, Michael is evaluated as energetic, authentic, refreshing, but above all as someone who can put people in a learning mode and activate them.
