Fuel sessions
Fuel sessions
Individual coaching for VIB group leaders & managers
Being a group leader or manager at VIB comes with many challenges — balancing scientific excellence with team leadership, strategic priorities and personal wellbeing. To support you in this role, VIB offers fuel sessions: short, individual coaching sessions (90 minutes) where you can reflect, recharge and gain new insights to tackle your leadership challenges.
These sessions are safe, confidential conversations with experienced coaches who know the academic and research context. They act as your sounding board, helping you prepare for key conversations, strengthen your leadership approach, or clarify your next career steps.
Examples of topics:
- Handling conflict or tension within your team
- Finding balance between priorities, expectations and personal aspirations
- Delegating and motivating your team effectively
- Preparing for a difficult conversation or decision
- Organising a team event or retreat that truly makes an impact
- Developing your group’s strategy and long-term direction
- Reflecting on your career path and next steps
All sessions are strictly confidential.
If, after one or several fuel sessions, no structural solution can be found for the challenge discussed, we encourage participants to reach out to their HR representative for further guidance and support.
Approach
You can freely choose your coach based on your needs and preferences:
- Herwig Deconinck (True Colours): Book your session by sending Herwig an email
- Lisa Boelaert (True Colours): Book your session by sending Lisa an email
- Lucia Smit (Braingain): Book your session by sending Lucia an email
- Robin Lefebvre (Grow2Excel): Book your session by sending Robin an email
Each coaching session can touch on one or several of these domains. You are free to choose the coach who best fits your current question — the themes and names are intended as guidance, not strict boundaries.
| Focus | Examples | Suggested coaches |
|---|---|---|
Personal leadership & wellbeing Leading yourself: gaining self-insight, setting priorities, managing energy and stress, finding balance |
| Lucia Smit (Braingain) Lisa Boelaert (True Colours) |
Interpersonal leadership & team functioning Leading others: building trust, communicating clearly, handling conflicts, motivating people and fostering collaboration |
| Herwig Deconinck (True Colours) Lisa Boelaert (True Colours) Robin Lefebvre (Grow2Excel) |
Strategic leadership Leading the group and its future: defining direction, setting priorities, aligning people and projects |
| Herwig Deconinck (True Colours) Lisa Boelaert (True Colours) Robin Lefebvre (Grow2Excel) |
Lisa Boelaert, True Colours
Lisa Boelaert is a founding partner of True Colours and has been coaching and training VIB group leaders since 2007. With extensive experience in leadership development within academic and scientific environments, she supports leaders on topics such as self-leadership, communication, leadership styles, team dynamics, strategic decision-making and wellbeing for leaders. She has also guided numerous VIB teams through complex collaborative challenges and provided hands-on training in essential soft skills including communication, conflict management, collaboration and self-management.
Lisa’s coaching approach is highly practical, empathetic and future-oriented. She creates a safe environment in which leaders can reflect openly, while also offering “carefrontation”: honest questioning and gentle challenge that help bring underlying patterns to the surface. Her deep understanding of the scientific context — combined with her ability to translate insights into concrete actions — makes her a trusted coach for researchers and leaders across VIB.
In Fuel Sessions, participants can expect a supportive and engaging space to discuss their leadership challenges, gain clarity, and explore new strategies they can apply immediately in their daily work.
Lucia Smit, Braingain
Lucia Smit, PhD, founding partner of Braingain, has been coaching and training researchers, Principal Investigators, and scientific professionals since 2013. With extensive experience in career development, leadership coaching, and organizational dynamics within academic and research environments, she helps research leaders strengthen both their personal effectiveness and their team's performance.
Lucia's coaching combines strategic insight with practical action. Through her warm, direct, and thought-provoking approach, she helps leaders gain clarity about their goals, priorities, and leadership challenges. Together, you will translate ambitions into concrete actions and create a clear roadmap for achieving meaningful results.
A particular strength of Lucia's coaching lies in helping leaders understand the dynamics within their teams. She supports PIs and group leaders in identifying obstacles that may hinder collaboration, productivity, or innovation. By recognizing the different strengths, motivations, and communication styles of team members, leaders can build stronger teams, increase engagement, and create an environment in which people perform at their best.
Lucia also recognizes that leadership often involves navigating personal and existential questions. Whether facing difficult professional decisions, setbacks, conflicts, or periods of uncertainty, she provides a confidential space for reflection and perspective. Her coaching helps leaders reconnect with their values, regain clarity, and move forward with confidence.
By aligning your leadership actions with your values, strengths, and long-term vision, Lucia helps you lead with greater confidence, authenticity, and impact—allowing both you and your team to thrive.
Robin Lefebvre, Grow 2 Excel
Running a research group means leading people, managing conflict, navigating funding pressure, and making strategic decisions – skills few of us were ever trained for as scientists.
Robin Lefebvre knows this from the inside: he earned his PhD at VIB [20 years ago], before building a 15+ year career in leadership development across industry, government, NGOs, and academia - including over 6 years delivering leadership training at VIB and 10+ years at universities across Flanders. He combines that hands-on, evidence-based approach with a real understanding of how research groups work, day to day.
His coaching helps PIs and professors with situations like:
- Managing a team conflict or a difficult dynamic in your group
- Delegating effectively when you're stretched across research, teaching, and admin
- Navigating a transition – a new PI role, a growing group, succession planning
- Giving feedback that lands, especially to PhDs and postdocs
Herwig Deconinck, True Colours
Herwig Deconinck is a senior change consultant, leadership coach, and leadership trainer with nearly 20 years of experience supporting VIB group leaders. As one of the founding partners of True Colours, he has facilitated leadership development programs, individual coaching trajectories, and team coaching sessions across a wide range of topics, including self-leadership, communication, navigating difficult situations, team dynamics, strategic decision-making, and organisational development.
With a long-standing focus on academic and scientific environments, Herwig brings deep familiarity with the realities of research teams and leadership roles within universities and research institutes. His coaching style is evidence-based, hands-on, and future-oriented, combining clear structure with empathy and “carefrontation” — offering honest reflection in a supportive way.
In Fuel Sessions, leaders can expect a safe, focused space to explore challenges, gain new perspectives, and develop concrete next steps that strengthen their leadership in practice.