Impact snapshot
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18+ years of leadership coaching experience
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2000+ leaders and teams coached
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100+ organizations served
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Worked in Europe, the Middle-East and Asia
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Former HR manager for 850 employees at P&G
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Creator of a high-performance program for P&G Brussels' top 150 leaders
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PhD in Chemical Physics, MSc in Bioscience Engineering
Debbie Baute is an international executive coach, leadership strategist and founder of the Brussels Leadership Circle. She has worked with more than 100 organizations and coached over 2000 leaders and teams across Europe and Asia.
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With a background in bioscience engineering and a PhD in chemical physics, Debbie brings a rare blend of analytical rigor and systemic intuition. She worked at Procter & Gamble, where she led large-scale change programs, managed HR for 850 people and launched a high-performance initiative for the company’s top 150 leaders in Brussels.
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Since founding her practice in 2012, Debbie has guided senior leaders across sectors, from corporates and NGOs to fast-growing scale-ups, helping them navigate complexity and lead from their natural design.
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Her work combines systems thinking, neurodivergent awareness and regenerative principles. She teaches internationally and speaks at leading venues such as TheMerode in Brussels.
MY ORIGIN STORY
I am a certified leadership coach and change consultant with a PhD in physical chemistry and a master’s degree in chemical engineering. Quite atypical, you say? My path may have been atypical, but it has brought me exactly where I need to be :)
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It is true my career path took some unexpected turns.
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From engineer in Leuven to scientist in Israel and Switzerland,
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From researcher at IMEC to HR manager at Procter & Gamble,
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From HR manager to independent executive coach,
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And now I am carving my path as an entrepreneur.
What it taught me? To find my path, no matter how rough the circumstances are.
MY LIFE
And if you look back on my life, that is exactly what I have always done.
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As a child growing up in a traumatized family, after my brother unexpectedly died at 2 years of age, just a few weeks before I was born.
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As the first member of my extended family to get a university degree.
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As the only Belgian PhD student in the Weizmann Institute of Science during the Second Intifada in Israel.
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As the only woman on the R&D executive team of Procter & Gamble in Brussels.
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As an independent leadership coach/entrepreneur/co-founder of Metaphors@work.
MY APPROACH
So this is exactly what I do now:
I support leaders and teams to find their path in chaotic circumstances.
Navigating chaos with grace, is my driver. Every organizational challenge is approached as a way to learn and grow. As a scientist I go immediately to the core: what is really going on here? I invite leaders and change teams to explore the context and teach them new methods to tackle change.
My approach does not only lead to results, it also increases the intrinsic agility of the leaders and the organization.​
MY MAJOR INFLUENCES
My major influences are: Nature, Physics, Chaos, Social Permaculture, Deep Ecology, Regenerative Leadership, Yoga, Zen, Stoicism, Tao, Systemic Wisdom, Transformational Presence & Leadership, Pranayama, Shamanism ...
I have followed ICF certified coaching training on the individual, team and organizational level. As HR manager at Procter & Gamble I led large-scale organizational change programs and I was a member of the R&D executive team in Brussels.
MY IDEAL CLIENT
Today I serve leaders and lead teams from public institutions, fire departments, police districts, not-for-profit organizations and big corporates. Their context really does not matter, as long as it is complex and they want to find a way forward.
There is one big prerequisite: the leaders I work with really need to be willing to take a look in the mirror.
LET'S TALK!
Debbie Baute, Confidant gcv, Biesboslaan 7, 1785 Merchtem
BE0847.714.672
+32 485 543 014