Philip
Van Wely.

After completing his studies in Applied Economics (with orientation marketing) at the University of Antwerp, Philip started working as a Sales Promoter at Mars. Over a period of 15 years he built a career in various Sales & Marketing positions at leading multinationals such as Black & Decker, Duracell and Gillette. In his last role within the corporate world he was as Business Development Director responsible for all Benelux Business Development activities of the Gillette Group (with brands like Gillette, Duracell, Oral B, Parker, Waterman) operating from Rijswijk (The Hague).

Driven by his passion for people and talent development, Philip made the switch to the world of recruitment in 2000. He learned the job of executive search consultant at Ahead (a spin-off of Egon Zehnder). Soon, together with a partner, he decides to build his own firm under the name Lincoln Associates. Together with his team, he develops Lincoln into a qualitative and well-respected player in the recruitment / executive search market. 

After an 18-year partnership, Philip separates ways with Lincoln and decides to continue on his own. Initially as an independent consultant, but soon he decided to join Cross International as Principal Consultant to put his shoulders under the further expansion of Cross International, together with a team of like-minded people.

The main anchor points in his life are Kathleen Beckers, his life partner, and his 2 daughters, Ines and Oriana. In his free time, his passions, motorcycling and photography, take a very important place. He also tries to stay physically in good shape with badminton and cycling.

Since 2021, Philip has also been a certified 'Tapas Practioner'. TaPas is a scientifically validated instrument that was developed to provide insight into which talents a person likes to work on, and which professional context you need to maximize your talents. This instrument is used in both recruitment and coaching processes.

Philip draws inspiration from Jim Collins and his book 'From Good to Great', among others: Those who realize a great company know that growth is ultimately not determined by the market, technology, competition, or products. One factor does determine it: the ability to find and retain the right people!