Author of the forthcoming book Transformation First: A Guide to Personal Power for Aspiring Leaders in Asia
Coach Wouter
Wouter T. Lincklaen Arriëns was born in Curaçao, and grew up in the Netherlands with a stint in the USA. He started working in Asia in 1979, and has lived there full time since 1985, in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and the Philippines, and with travel for work to most other Asian countries.
He is a trained coach and facilitator, and a member of the International Association of Coaching. He works with executives and aspiring leaders in Asia and elsewhere who want to become influential change makers. His clients are in business, government, and civil society, and include executives, senior and mid-career specialists, and emerging leaders. He also helps young professionals and youth leaders.
As a leading specialist of the Asian Development Bank for more than 20 years until August 2013, he helped clients in most countries of the region in investment projects, change management, stakeholder engagement, leadership development, and regional cooperation. He currently coaches and advises several organizations in Asia and beyond on leadership, water security, and sustainability.
He is a lecturer and coach for sustainability leadership at the United Nations University in Tokyo, has served as a member of the Global Water Partnership's Technical Committee, and works as a senior advisor of the Network of Asian River Basin Organizations, a leadership coach and advisor to the UNESCO-IHE Institute for Water Education, a senior advisor to Tsinghua University in Beijing for the Asia-Pacific Center for Water Security, and the president of Natalie in the Light Inc., an NGO in Manila that empowers a new generation of high-school and college leaders.
He has led a stream of innovations including the Global Quality Standards for Water Leadership Development Programs, integral water leadership coaching, the Water for All policy of the Asian Development Bank, integrated water resources management in Asian river basins, the Network of Asian River Basin Organizations, the Asia-Pacific Water Forum, Water Voices documentary films, and the Asian Water Development Outlook 2013.
His development experience in Asia ranges from community-managed to large infrastructure projects, national policies and sector reforms, regional and global knowledge networks, journalist workshops, television documentaries, summits for government leaders, roundtables for CEOs, retreats for management teams, mentoring and coaching programs for professionals, leading cultural change in organizations, and facilitating workshops, meetings and multi-stakeholder dialogues in projects.
Coach Wouter is a national of the Netherlands and lives in the Philippines and Indonesia. He holds an Ir. (Masters) degree in tropical land and water management from Wageningen University in the Netherlands, with specialization in policy and management. Besides leadership coaching, his passions include public speaking, writing, photography, energy healing and playing the saxophone.