Erik de Haan is the director of Ashridge's centre for Coaching and a senior organisation development consultant for Ashridge Consulting near London. He is also an executive near London. He is also an executive coach, supervisor and accreditor of other coaches. In his role as programme director of the Ashridge masters in Executive coaching, he draws on the content of this book in the second year of study. His previous books in English include the Consulting Process as Drama (2003) Learning with colleges (2004), Coaching with colleagues (2004) and Fearless Consulting (2006). these books have all been published in Dutch, and the latter also in Russian.

Ashridge is one of the world's leading providers of executive education. established in 1959, it has acquired an outstanding international reputation in helping to make a difference to both individuals and organisations through its combination of executive development, research and consultancy expertise. Its activities include open & tailored executive education programmes, MBA, MSc & Diploma qualifications,organisations consulting, applied research and online learning. Clients include leading organisations in the private and public sectors in the UK and across the globe.