Today we’d like to introduce you to William Vanderbloemen.
Thanks for sharing your story with us William. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
The foundation for Vanderbloemen Search Group was laid long before the firm began helping churches find key leaders. For fifteen years, I was active in local church ministry, the bulk of which was spent as a Senior Pastor of churches ranging from 350 to over 5,000 people. That active church leadership, combined with my work experience in a Fortune 200 company doing talent integration and retention, laid the groundwork for a company that would be the combination of the best business principles with real-time church experience. Through extensive experience in both ministry and business, God placed a desire in me to build a search firm that could help churches find key leaders.
In 2008, I sought out and received top-notch training in executive search, learning from an expert in the field who had served over two decades in retained executive search, including time at Russell Reynolds. In six short years, God has birthed a firm that has gone farther and wider in executive search work than I ever foresaw. We’ve since added over thirty full-time staff members to the team and boasts the only executive search firm built solely for the church with a full-time staff, real corporate training, and over 190 years of combined active church leadership experience.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
As I headed into summer break this year, I read a tweet from Randi Zuckerberg (Mark’s sister) that made me rethink how I would spend my time away from the office and what I should do once I’m back.
She tweeted: “The entrepreneur’s dilemma:
Maintaining friendships. Building a great company. Spending time with family. Staying fit. Getting sleep.
I wish I could say Randi is wrong, but in my experience, she’s pretty close to the truth. Balancing all five of those objectives is almost impossible when you’re in startup mode. You would think that now after seven years since I started Vanderbloemen, the balance would be attainable, and the startup fever would slow down. But it hasn’t. In fact, this year, it has sped up to a new level.
In my life, I’m learning Randi’s dilemma is too frequently true. Fighting it has led me to the brink of burnout many times. But lately, I’m spending time looking for new answers, new ways out of the dilemma, and new approaches to balance that might help others on a journey like mine.
My biggest takeaway was learning that building a great company means scheduling a time to work on the business, without working in the business.
I used to take less time away, but I am realizing that a little more time away, with some regular reflection on our work, helps me prepare for the upcoming year. I take my break during the slowest time of the year for my work. This year, as the break approached, I found my leadership team encouraging me to fully disengage from day-to-day operations and think about the business.
As a founder, it is very hard for me to let go and let things run without my involvement. But I’m learning that disconnecting from the small things in our company actually connects me to a larger sense of where we are being led for the future. No matter how collaborative your leadership structure, founders have a unique and undeniable tie to the DNA and vision of the company. I’m learning that if I’m going to cultivate that and leverage it for the future, I have to get away.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Vanderbloemen Search Group story. Tell us more about the business.
Vanderbloemen Search Group is an innovative executive search firm in that every search is entirely team-based. The combination of our highly skilled team and our innovative process is as unique as the clients we serve.
Vanderbloemen Search Group has completed over 1,000 searches and worked in nearly every state in the USA. The firm blossoming international practice including work in Canada, Ireland, Uganda, and Bermuda. We work with churches and organizations of every size, ranging from 70 to over 75,000 in weekly attendance. Most of Vanderbloemen’s work involves helping churches find their senior staff.
I’m most proud of the way our team lives out our company value of solution-side living, daily solving problems we’ve never seen before as we help values-based organizations build great teams.
Vanderbloemen has won the following awards:
Forbes Best Executive Recruiting Firms 2017
Houston Business Journal’s Best Places To Work 2015, 2016, & 2017
Entrepreneur’s Top 5 Company Culture 2015 & 2016-2017
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Luck means something different for everyone. We’re thankful for the opportunities that have come our way as we work hard to serve our clients with wow-making excellence.
Contact Info:
- Address: 3737 Buffalo Speedway
Suite 500 Houston, TX 77098 - Website: vanderbloemen.com
- Phone: 713-300-9665
- Email: info@vanderbloemen.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/vanderbloemen
- Facebook: facebook.com/vanderbloemen
- Twitter: twitter.com/vanderbloemensg
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