Steven De Jong
Steven De Jong spent twelve years in banking IT in Geneva, then more than twenty years in one-to-one work, independently since 2005. Out of those two worlds, he built a practice centered on perspective. Focal Shift isn't coaching, therapy, or consulting: it's a precise outside perspective that reveals what being too close makes invisible.
My path
I come from several very different worlds, but always with the same role: being the one who sees what others can't see yet.
My path runs through two worlds. First the technical one: programmer, then IT project manager in banking in Geneva, at Lloyds TSB (1993-2003) and Lombard Odier Darier Hentsch (2003-2005), working at the interface between trading floor teams and IT. Then the human one: since 2005, independent work in one-on-one guidance, workshops and creative projects.
A former boss used to say at the beginning of every meeting: "There are no stupid questions."
He understood that any question could open a new path, an unexpected perspective.
That sentence stayed with me.
It shaped who I am: exploring, questioning, opening, shifting the view.
I ask a lot of questions - to people close to me, to clients, to myself - not to provoke, but because I know that behind a simple question there can be a key, something obvious, an opening.
And often, that is enough for something to move.
All my experiences converge toward one thread: perspective.
Seeing differently.
Seeing further.
Seeing what is really at play.
Today, I have gathered all of this into work that truly fits who I am.
I never followed the path I was shown. And most of my clients haven't either. That's why they end up here.
If you are looking for clarity, an unfiltered outside view, and a certain pleasure in exploring what needs to be explored, we should get along well.
Training
- Programmer analyst (1990)
- One-on-one guidance, humanistic approach (2004)
- Co-Active Coaching (2009)
- Leadership (2014)
- Photography, Graine de Photo (2017)
Dutch native speaker, fluent in French and English. I work in both languages of this site.