TrueNorthConsulting

Coaching, including:
Coaching executives and professionals strengthening their personal brand and assist them in challenges they encounter
Career Coaching, helping define the career path they want to develop and co-create a plan of action.
Talent Coaching for people to (re)discover their talents and integrate them towards achieving a more fulfilling personal and professional life. 

Leading Assessment and Development Centers.

Creating and delivering workshops and training – in Talents management, Career Management, Self Management, Inner Leadership, Limiting Beliefs, Mental Fitness.

Internal mobility programmes: the right people on the right place, capitalising on the talents of each and ensuring more people find themselves in the flow, that sweet spot where learning, challenging and having the skills is in balance.

 Leadership Coach │ Career Fulfilment Coach │ Positive Intelligence Coach │ Mental Fitness Coach │ Workshops │ Webinars

Career Fulfillment & Leadership Coach

The Humanitarian Coaching Network

The Humanitarian Coaching Network (HCN) is an initiative to contribute to the wellbeing and development of humanitarian staff globally. It entitles staff members of participating agencies (UNDP, UNFPA, IOM, UNHCR...) to four hours of pro bono coaching with a trained coach. The coaching sessions are designed to respond to the staff members' most pressing personal and professional needs and are completely confidential.
I have had the pleasure to coach senior staff of several UN organisations.

Executive Coach

Carrefour Belgium

Internal career mobility and talent acquisition, Leadership Coaching, Assessment & Development Centers, Developing personal development plans based on assessment with trainers.

External Career and Executive Coach

Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics

Lecturing on the following topics:
Turning Your Unique Talents into Your Brand
Authentic Leadership: A journey into your inner leadership style.

Lecturer Leadership Lab

Telos Partners

Working on business transformation assignments with a range of international businesses across multiple sectors, including Professional Services, Media, Telco, IT, Pharma, and Luxury Goods.
Examples of assignments that Ilse has recently been involved in include:
- Supporting executives through a business acquisition process, helping them to be positioned at their best to get the position they envisaged in the destination organisation. Process involved: profiling and experience, strengths and preferences, interview role-playing, giving feedback, and coaching (team and individual).
- Developing and delivering a workshop supporting a global team going through a business acquisition process, to, based on an increased self-knowledge, enhance their communications skills to be able to present themselves at their best and in an impactful way.
- Designing and delivering a team building workshop for a newly formed team. The aim was to set an energetic and positive stage for the team to start off with a meaningful and successful collaboration and a greater understanding and appreciation of each other.
- Individual coaching supporting the client according to their needs.

Associate - Facilitator and Coach

Independent

·	Executive Search and Recruiting assignments at international and national level
- Assessment Centres and Competency development for a full spectrum of profiles across SMEs and large organisations
- Corporate Governance Research on non-Executive Directors in Europe
- Outplacement 
- Coaching

Human Resources Consultant

TMP/Highland Partners

Successfully led international recruitment assignments from briefing to closure. 
Responsible for defining search strategy, face-to-face interviews of candidates, and advising the client during the recruitment process, for presentation/selection of candidates, and negotiations with final candidate, while seeking to proactively assure satisfaction of all concerned parties.

Associate

Boyden

Researcher

Clarity and direction doesn’t come from overthinking. It comes from alignment. And learning that changed everything for me.

I wasn’t happy in my career as HR Consultant but didn’t know what I actually wanted. Ironically, interviewing 100s of people in my job made me realise I wasn’t the only one. Many had stumbled into careers without finding real joy.

That planted a seed: I wanted to help people make conscious choices and feel energised by their work. In 2013, I started doing exactly that.

But I soon realised that knowing your talents, what energises you, wasn’t enough. It’s about self-awareness: knowing what drives you and knowing how to build a thriving mindset. 

That combination drives aligned action and eventually, sustainable success. All the small courageous steps help you give clear direction to your career and grow into the leader you want to be.

Here’s what that looks like for my clients:

→ Gain clarity on the role they want and the kind of leader they want to be.

→ Say no without guilt and lead in ways that honor everyone involved.

→ Communicate calmly, clearly, and powerfully so they’re respected as leaders.

→ Protect their energy, focus on what matters, and rediscover joy in work.

→ Cut self-doubt in half and rebuild self-trust, even under pressure.


Since then, I’ve:

⦿ Guided 100+ clients through career and leadership transformations.

⦿ Worked with leaders and teams to create lasting mindset shifts.

⦿ Supported executives and managers from organisations like Carrefour, Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Sanofi, The Nature Conservancy, and the UN.

⦿ Helped founders build leadership styles that support their company’s growth.


What clients say:
 “My experience working with Ilse has been transformative and immensely beneficial for both my personal and professional growth.”
(Find more testimonials in the recommendations on my profile.)

If you’re ready to stop firefighting and start leading with clarity, confidence, and sustainable success, let’s talk.
 📩 Book a call.

Another PWI mentoring programme was launched this week with no less than 40 mentees and 30 mentors. Those numbers show how important mentoring is!

The PWI programme director, Chrysanthi has developed what promises to be an exciting and insightful journey for both mentors and mentees. It’s a mix of Workshops & learnings, Goal setting & Reflection and Community & Celebration.
And of course there’ll be my session with my mentee Effrosyni (Fay).

Why do I mentor? To help my mentee, sure, but there are also more selfish reasons behind it. 😉 

Here are my top 3 reasons:

💫 You grow while helping others grow. Explaining, guiding, and reflecting together with my mentee, sharpens my own thinking.

💫 You expand your perspective. I chose a mentee who comes from a different generation, culture and field as it leads to enriching discussions and exchanges.

💫 You make a difference in someone’s journey - and your own. I can help them believe in themselves, take a bold step, see new possibilities. And more often than not, I also get inspired. Clear win-win!

Mentoring simply feels good. There ‘s joy in seeing someone you’ve supported making changes, growing. Let’s face it, it’s one of the most rewarding forms of human connection.

I look forward to sharing this journey with you, Fay.
Thank you Chrysa and Kasia for making this happen.

What’s your experience in mentoring? As a mentee or mentor.

📅 24 Oct 2025

If we haven’t met, Hi my name’s Ilse! I help mid-career professionals design energizing roles they love and retrain their mind to stop overthinking and act decisively.
👉 Follow for insights on leadership, mindset & self-awareness
 💬 Comment or DM me; always happy to exchange thoughts
 ♻️ Share if this resonated with you

Ilse Noppen

Empowering professionals and founders to find joy and meaning in work | Move towards your career goals with efficiency, ease and joy. 🔹 Leadership and Positive Intelligence Coach

Last week, six women gathered online for my "Remarkable in Action" workshop.
They came from different industries, faced different challenges and had different goals.

But one shared desire: making themselves more visible.

Here's what happened in 90 minutes:

The "aha" moment everyone needed: Visibility isn't self-promotion. It's service.

When you hold back your expertise, your insights, your voice, you're not being humble: you're withholding value from people who need it.

The shift from insight to action: We didn't just talk about visibility. Everyone left with a concrete commitment:

💠 Launching that website
💠 Speaking at an event
💠 Sharing their research
💠 Posting on LinkedIn (yes, really)

And then there was the unexpected gift: The connections. Within minutes, these women went from strangers on a screen to a support network. They were already following each other on LinkedIn before the session ended. And they’re holding each other accountable.

One participant said it perfectly: "We don't exactly struggle with the same things, but still we do."

That's the thing about visibility work. The saboteurs (those nagging voices in your head) show up differently for everyone, but they're always saying the same thing: You're not ready. It's not good enough. Who are you to...

Thank you dear amazing participants for being there!

My biggest takeaway as the facilitator: You don’t lack capability, or expertise. Neither do you lack worthwhile things to say.

You just need permission to take up space. And what the participants felt is the reassurance that they're not alone in the struggle.

Visibility isn't about being loud. It's about being seen for the value you already bring.

Do you see talented people holding themselves back?

📅 28 Oct 2025

*****
If we haven’t met, Hi my name’s Ilse! I help mid-career professionals design energizing roles they love and retrain their mind to stop overthinking and act decisively.

👉 Follow for insights on leadership, mindset & self-awareness
 💬 Comment or DM me; always happy to exchange thoughts
 ♻️ Share if this resonated with you

The trees don't hold onto their leaves forever. They let go, rest, and then start fresh. It's a cycle: release, renew, begin again. 

Watching that unfold makes me wonder: what am I holding onto that's keeping me stuck in the same season?

So, here are 5 things:

Procrastinating.
I’ve made progress here, but there’s still room to grow. Reminder to self: If I want it, I need to take the first step. I’ll figure it out as I go.

Trying to avoid mistakes.
There's no such thing as getting it perfect on the first try. Starting messy is still starting. I learn more from doing it wrong than from endlessly planning to do it right.

Being self-critical.
It's feedback I get often, including just last week from my coach. And they have a point. I need to, no, I want to be kinder to myself

Holding on to relationships out of obligation or history.
As they say: you are the average of the five people you surround yourself with. I'm choosing to spend my energy on connections that feel mutual and nourishing.

The hyper-achiever's mindset. 
That drive that never lets me rest because there's always another milestone. Doing less doesn't make me less. My value isn't measured in checkboxes

What do you want to let go of?

📅 26 Oct 2025

*****
If we haven’t met, Hi my name’s Ilse! I help mid-career professionals design energizing roles they love and retrain their mind to stop overthinking and act decisively.

👉 Follow for insights on leadership, mindset & self-awareness
 💬 Comment or DM me; always happy to exchange thoughts
 ♻️ Share if this resonated with you

My client had a problem most leaders don't talk about: she cared too much.

She's the kind of leader people naturally turn to. Empathetic, present, always ready to help. But somewhere along the way, helping turned into rescuing.

A team member was going through something personal that affected her work. My client didn't just listen, she immediately jumped in to fix it. She took over tasks, adjusted deadlines, shielded her from consequences. After weeks of this, she was exhausted. And the team member? Still struggling, now more dependent than ever.

This is what happens when we prioritize everyone else's needs over our own boundaries.

My client knew something had to change. 

Through our work together, she started to pause before jumping in. She got curious about her patterns. Why did she always need to rescue? What was she afraid would happen if she didn't?

The shift wasn't overnight, but here's what changed:

She learned to separate empathy from responsibility. She could care about someone's struggle without owning it.

She got comfortable with discomfort - letting people sit with their challenges instead of swooping in to solve them.

She started saying things like "I hear you, and I trust you can figure this out" instead of "Let me help you."

She realized boundaries aren't walls - they're clarity about where her role ends and someone else's begins.

Today she's still the empathetic leader people turn to. But she's also sleeping better, feeling less resentful, and watching her team members actually grow stronger.

Setting boundaries isn't about caring less. It's about leading better.
Would you agree?

📅 27 Oct 2025

*****
If we haven’t met, Hi my name’s Ilse! I help mid-career professionals design energizing roles they love and retrain their mind to stop overthinking and act decisively.

👉 Follow for insights on leadership, mindset & self-awareness
 💬 Comment or DM me; always happy to exchange thoughts
 ♻️ Share if this resonated with you

The mayor who forgot to ask questions

I'm traveling through Italy with a friend who's exploring creating an artistic project in the area.

Through a contact, we met the mayor of an exquisite village, one of many slowly emptying as locals move to suburbs and foreigners only want isolated farmhouses.

He'd heard beforehand that my companion might buy property IN town and launch a project. He was visibly excited.

But here's what struck me: He never asked a single question.

Not about the project, the vision or the timeline or needs.

Instead, he launched into charming selling mode, talking rapidly about his town, the challenges, and his dreams. His excitement was real, but so was his anxiety. You could feel the weight of his mission to save this place, and it was drowning out everything else.

He was operating from scarcity, and it blinded him.

I've seen this pattern in leadership countless times:

❌ The manager so desperate to fill a role they forget to truly understand the candidate
❌ The founder so anxious about funding they pitch without listening to what investors actually care about
❌ The leader so focused on their agenda they miss what their team is really saying

When we lead from scarcity, we miss what's right in front of us.

What could have changed this conversation?
→ Curiosity over urgency. Ask questions first. 
→ Calm presence. Anxiety narrows thinking; calm expands it. 
→ Connection before solution. Understand the person, then explore possibilities together.

Back to the mayor. The opportunity he wanted was literally sitting across from him. But scarcity mode made him (potentially) miss it.

I know this pattern because I've fallen into it myself. I've walked away from conversations thinking "I should have asked more questions" or "Why didn't I just truly listen?" It's hard to catch in the moment.

But awareness is where change begins. When we notice ourselves operating from scarcity, the rushed energy, the urge to convince rather than connect, we can pause. Breathe. Get curious.

Have you witnessed this? Or caught yourself in a scarcity-driven conversation?
📅 30 Oct 2025

*****
If we haven’t met, Hi my name’s Ilse! I help mid-career women leaders design energizing roles they love and retrain their mind to stop overthinking and act decisively.
👉 Follow for insights on leadership, mindset & self-awareness
 💬 Comment or DM me; always happy to exchange thoughts
 ♻️ Share if this resonated with you

Your body knows before your mind does that you are on your way to sabotaging yourself.

My client came into our session yesterday carrying the weight of something that happened months ago. She was angry and disappointed, ready to march into a meeting with her new boss about her future at the company.

Not exactly the energy you want to bring into a conversation about your career. Doing so would have put her in a negative light. And chances are she would do or say something she would have regretted later.

As we talked, I helped her zoom out. Look at the situation from different angles. And that's when she saw it:

She was painting today's picture with yesterday's colors.

What happened in the past, mattered then. But it didn't need to define this moment.

She had a choice: stay in the overthinking loop, or focus on what was actually possible now.
She chose differently.

She took a breath. Got grounded. And asked herself what truly mattered:

💠 Her career and who she is as a person
💠 Her family
💠 Joy

Suddenly, the situation that had consumed her thoughts shrank down to size.

She walked into that meeting being calm, curious and open. It changed everything. 

The messages she sent me after said it all. The relief was palpable.

Here's what I want you to know:

Self-sabotage has a signal.

Before the overthinking spiral fully grips you, your body whispers a warning. For many of my clients, it's tightness in the chest. For you, it might be something else.

The moment you feel it, you have a choice.
Try this:
1️⃣ Feel that tightness (don't push it away)
2️⃣ Take a few deep breaths
3️⃣ Ask yourself: What's important right now?

Not what went wrong before. Not what might go wrong later.
What matters right now.

That question brings you back to solid ground. Back to clarity. Back to your power.

Because stepping into your power isn't about never feeling thrown off. It's about catching yourself mid-spiral and choosing your next move from calm, not chaos.

Ever caught that signal just in time?

If we haven’t met, Hi my name’s Ilse! I help mid-career professionals design energizing roles they love and retrain their mind to stop overthinking and act decisively.
👉 Follow for insights on leadership, mindset & self-awareness
 💬 Comment or DM me; always happy to exchange thoughts
 ♻️ Share if this resonated with you

Your story is not written. It is to be written.

Last week, I attended a talk by Benjamin Ferré, the French sailor who won the 2024–2025 Vendée Globe, a non-stop, solo round-the-world yacht race.

He shared his journey: the years of preparation, the race itself, and the challenging readaptation to life afterward. What struck me most were two insights I wanted to share with you.

💫 Your story is not written. It is to be written.
Benjamin's father used to tell him this to encourage him to persevere and pursue his dream. It's a powerful reminder: don't accept things as if they're set in stone. You are the author of your life, and you decide how your story unfolds.

💫 If you don't have confidence in yourself, have confidence in those who believe in you.
His mentor, Jean Le Cam, told him this during a moment of self-doubt. So beautifully said. If others believe you can do it, there's a reason. Don't take it lightly.

Hearing Benjamin share his story was remarkable. The technical and logistical challenges, the loneliness (84 days, 23 hours, and 19 minutes alone at sea!), and how he navigated it all. His passion was so infectious that you couldn't help but be drawn into his adventure—even if you don't share that passion, as is my case.

His journey is an invitation to all of us: to create the life we want, to write our own stories, and to lean on those who believe in us when our own confidence wavers.

Food for thought for the weekend?

📅 1 Nov 2025

Do you find it hard to speak confidently about yourself or your achievements?

You're not alone - and it doesn't have to stay that way.

Join me for a free 90-minute workshop where we’ll explore the art of self-promotion, uncover what’s really behind imposter syndrome, and practice simple, powerful ways to share your accomplishments with authenticity.
This interactive session includes group discussions and practical exercises designed to help you apply what you learn right away - in real conversations and real situations.

hashtag

#IAmRemarkable is a global movement that empowers everyone, including underrepresented groups, to celebrate their achievements in the workplace and beyond while challenging the social perception around self-promotion.

Many of us feel uncomfortable sharing our achievements for various reasons, including imposter syndrome, societal stereotypes, and cultural influences. By amplifying stories and research on the transformative power of self-promotion, we aim to inspire and motivate everyone to share their accomplishments.

You can register here: https://lnkd.in/e4Ee84Ef

I look forward to seeing you at the workshop.

Taplio

Ilse Noppen's Linkedin Analytics

Ilse Noppen

Performance ScoreIlse Noppen's LinkedIn Performance

Ilse Noppen's Best Posts (last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Taplio

.css-6ytdur{background-image:linear-gradient(284deg, rgba(39, 43, 72, 1) 0%, rgba(33, 47, 183, 1) 100%);color:transparent;-webkit-background-clip:text;background-clip:text;}Ilse Noppen's Linkedin Analytics

Ilse Noppen

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Ilse Noppen's LinkedIn Performance

Ilse Noppen's Best Posts .css-1emoo84{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:400;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);}(last 30 days)

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Ilse Noppen's Linkedin Analytics

Performance ScoreIlse Noppen's LinkedIn Performance

Ilse Noppen's Best Posts (last 30 days)