(Diary of a Yes We Can CEO, #4)
Reading time: 5 minutes
Our clinics in Hilvarenbeek are one of the most beautiful workplaces in the Netherlands, perhaps even in Europe. Don’t roll your eyes just yet—this won’t be just another ode or a standard marketing pitch about Yes We Can. Above all, this will be an honest story.
An older South African man I worked with—and looked up to—in Johannesburg once said to me: "Everything comes at a great cost. Especially the most beautiful and wonderful jobs in the world”. As a young, somewhat naïve professional, I didn’t quite understand it yet. But not long after, I felt exactly what he meant. Those words have never left me since.
Giving everything to someone else, even in the most beautiful places, brings incredible fulfilment, but it always demands the sacrifice of something else. It could be anything—time at home, attention to your passions, or, in extreme cases, even your health. Dedication and commitment require giving a part of yourself. This is also true for my colleagues at Yes We Can, who, in one of the most beautiful places in the Netherlands, give their all for our fellows.
It’s the very reason they work here: the passion to help young people who have hit rock bottom, as many of us have experienced ourselves. Behind every fellow and family that finds healing is a team of professionals who have given a part of themselves—a currency that cannot be measured in numbers but is also not infinite.
Yes We Can keeps on growing due to the enormous demand, which means we are constantly facing new challenges. We continually have to find ways to support our colleagues with training, healthy food, sports, peer supervision, challenges, growth opportunities, and more. Sometimes, we succeed in time; other times, it takes a bit longer.
If you get the impression that our colleagues complain about their dedication or think it's not worth it, let me correct that. They do it with love and a smile. Our employee satisfaction survey shows excellent results compared to the benchmark in Care & Welfare, but that doesn’t say much about the energy or the moments when the pressure from the waiting lists at Yes We Can places extra demands on our colleagues. And as Yes We Can continues to grow, the organization and support must adapt.
For example, how we train new colleagues, ensure our experienced staff are not overburdened, or recognize that they too want to grow. How we maintain our directness and honesty to keep each other sharp—because nothing is more important than the fellows—while also remaining warm toward each other. And how colleagues no longer deeply involved in the clinic stay genuinely connected to "where it happens," so we understand how best to support them. Sometimes, I too am guilty of a certain blindness, as we are simultaneously so passionate about making Yes We Can accessible to families across Europe.
At times, I look on with admiration. Sometimes even with “positive jealousy”: I wish I had the talent of some of our therapists, who, with 1-on-1 sessions, can change a life with so much skill and calmness. Or the counselors who, against their naturally warm nature, confront fellows harshly because no one has ever done so before. The confrontation, which can feel so hard at first, later feels like a gift you’ve never received before—because finally, someone didn’t just show compassion but also pushed you to take ownership of your own life. Something that is so crucial and that they, together with the therapists, prepare with such love and care. But it requires our therapists and counselors to invest so much of themselves because if they didn’t, nothing would change for fellows, for whom Yes We Can often is the latest stop.
The same goes for psychiatrists, who typically have worked very differently in other places. They seamlessly fit as supervising clinicians and medical leads in the multidisciplinary team, overseeing the entire treatment and, alongside the nursing team, keeping an eye on the physical side of things—utter professionals who do not behave hierarchically despite the reputation many medical specialists often have.
Perhaps I enjoy the role of our coaches most of all. They are the brothers and sisters of our fellows, ensuring safety and fun while also forming the heart of everything that happens in a day. They lead the big MDOs (multidisciplinary meetings), share the atmosphere and notable moments in the groups, and bring all the insights and focus tasks back to the teams. It might even be the profession I secretly wish I had if I worked in the clinic.
However, multidisciplinary work doesn’t stop with the healthcare professionals in the clinic; it goes much further. From colleagues in the kitchen who have 70 days to change the eating habits of a fellow, to the technical- and housekeeping service that maintains the clinics at an incredible level. And many other professions that are present every day. The danger of listing all the roles in a short article is that I’ll surely overlook a few, not mention them, or not give them the attention they deserve. But let me name one more, and I hope the rest will forgive me until another time.
Having had the chance to “shadow” a team up close, I’ve witnessed how our Planning & Organization team gets the logistics in order for almost 200 fellows and hundreds of colleagues every morning. At 7:58 AM, it was still eerily quiet in the empty planning room, but at precisely 8:00, an incredible spectacle unfolded before me: all the planning colleagues and two senior therapists meticulously discussed the day and made (necessary) adjustments to the schedules. This was more than a logistical feat; it was warm and personal—it was about what was best for fellows like Sem, Mike, Sophie, or Jesse. You are heroes.
In every place where hard work is done, where core values like respect, openness, honesty and willingness are so important, we must also keep working on ourselves. Because in places where we demand so much of ourselves, the work pressure can sometimes be high. We must take care of each other without getting lost in the busyness of the day or taking for granted “what it costs.”
I’ll conclude with thanks to all my colleagues. And perhaps especially to these colleagues whom I have recently had the pleasure of experiencing up close, because they allowed me to follow them as a shadow or as a silent witness.
I see how you care for our fellows and families, and I hope, together with many other colleagues, to take better care of you every day. I can’t promise to always make the right decisions, but I can promise to always strive for it, to try to see more, and to work every day to make working at Yes We Can better and more enjoyable.
In every smile from a fellow and their family in recovery, there is the story of Yes We Can professionals who gave a part of themselves, knowing that real change always demands deep sacrifices. Because although dedication always comes with a price, it’s the fulfillment of a new future for the fellows that makes us all choose, time and again, to give it our all.
