Imagine starting off as a specialist in a particular field, honing your skills, helping to develop the firm and gradually growing to achieve an exceptional milestone: partnership. This was Mike Leerdam and John Parker’s journey, our two newest partners.
Since being a partner at Projective Group doesn’t come with a specific job description, could you explain what your typical day-to-day responsibilities entail?
Mike: Depending on the day, I wear a different ‘hat’. Three days a week, I manage an IT Risk & Compliance programme for a financial market infrastructure. The other two days I spend internally as Country Lead of Projective Group Belgium. Although this may sound like an important role, in reality we take decisions jointly as a team, always at the service of our employees.
Combining client and internal work can be a juggle, but the variety also gives me great energy so I’m definitely not complaining!
John: As of this year, my role in Projective Group is the Transformation Practice Lead. This involves working across all regions to develop and grow the practice, which is made up of four different capabilities: Managing Successful Programmes, Agile & DevOps, Operational Excellence, as well as some unique training capabilities for our clients, and available internally. Aside from this, I also currently work as a consultant at one of our key UK clients, where I support their Operational Resilience programme.
So, did becoming a partner influence your role within the company at all?
John: Partnership is a recognition of contribution to date, so the day job actually remains the same. There are no special meetings or new responsibilities. In fact, the biggest change has been the exciting challenge of establishing the Transformation Practices and collaborating with the other practices.
Mike: I agree with John. At Projective Group, there isn’t a competition to achieve partnership. We avoid hierarchy in our organisation, so being a partner is a recognition of contribution rather than a definition of role. Being appointed as a partner does not alter one’s day-to-day responsibilities.
Now that we understand your role, we are also curious about your aspirations.
Mike: As a Country Lead, I am accountable for ensuring Projective Group Belgium is a great place to work. Or better said, the best possible place to work, not hiding our ambitions. (laughs) We have 3 focus areas to realise this: happy people, cool projects, and happy clients. In each area there is still so much we can do to finetune and improve, and I am super excited to realise our plans with the entire team.
John: My key objective is to drive the Transformation Practice forward and identify sales opportunities that arise from it, while also examining how transformation can assist with the sales and business development of our other practices.
Additionally, at a group level, I am strongly committed to advancing the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion agenda, with a particular focus on promoting female leadership. However, I’m mindful that we need to address all dimensions of diversity, not just gender. I am also passionate about promoting wellbeing, recognising the importance of mental and physical health in keeping everyone motivated and engaged amidst the demands of work and life. To this end, I believe that our Culture & Community Pillars, which are being rolled out across the Group, have tremendous potential to make a positive impact and I want to be part of that.
It’s clear that there is much to be accomplished. As a final inquiry, how do you think your colleagues would describe you if we asked them to do so?
John: (laughs) When I look in the mirror each day, I see a young, calm, professional, and quiet individual that just wants to get on with his work. However, I do recognise that others may have a different opinion… I’ll leave that one up to them!
Mike: I would love for people to say that I’m a down to earth, hardworking professional spending his time at the client. But, since I also love our own office, and most specifically our meeting room called barON (hint hint), I think that over time they started seeing me as Projective Group’s resident DJ at our Friday After Works. Always welcome to join us, I’ll prepare a special set! (laughs)
Alright, thank you for the interview. We’re very curious about what the future will hold and couldn’t be prouder to have you as our newest partners.
About Projective Group
Established in 2006, Projective Group is a leading Financial Services change specialist. With deep expertise across practices in Data, Payments, Transformation and Risk & Compliance.
We are recognised within the industry as a complete solutions provider, partnering with clients in Financial Services to provide resolutions that are both holistic and pragmatic. We have evolved to become a trusted partner for companies that want to thrive and prosper in an ever-changing Financial Services landscape.
