• Mental Resilience at Work:

    Staying Strong Through Change

    Your employees don’t need to learn to cope with even more.

  • How do we help employees maintain their resilience while the organisation is constantly changing?

    You may recognise this: your people aren’t against change, but they have less and less capacity to take on yet another new initiative.

    A new strategy follows a reorganisation. A new system is introduced before the previous change has been fully absorbed. And when yet another change is announced, you hear: “Can’t we just get on with our normal work for a while?”

    That’s not a lack of motivation.

    It’s often a sign that employees’ resilience is under pressure. Resilience doesn’t mean people have to keep putting up with everything that comes their way. It’s about being able to cope with uncertainty, change and setbacks — and then find a way to move forward again.

    The pressure is real. In the Netherlands, for example, 43% of employees reported having a very heavy workload in 2025. In addition, 17% reported work-related mental fatigue. (Statistics Netherlands, CBS)

    That’s why mental resilience at work is about more than employee wellbeing.

    If change keeps draining people’s energy, you also need to look at how change is organised and experienced.

  • Strengthening resilience starts with looking at change differently.

    For more than 20 years, Cyriel Kortleven has been helping organisations make change simpler. His Change Mindset approach helps people look differently at uncertainty, resistance and changes they haven’t chosen themselves.

    The principle is simple: You can’t always control what changes. But you can influence how you respond to it.

    That doesn’t mean you have to look at everything positively. It means learning to recognise where you have influence and where you can take a first step. One of the approaches Cyriel uses is YES, AND, ACT:

    • YES – temporarily suspend your judgement.
    • AND – look at the situation from a different perspective.
    • ACT – take a small step and discover what works.

    This is how resilience becomes practical.

    Not: “You need to become stronger.”

    But: “How can we help you find a way forward again?”

  • Discover 345+ recommendations on LinkedIn

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    “Cyriel was one of the keynote speakers at the HR Days conference in Croatia, a leading event for HR, leadership and business that brings together more than 500 experts every year.

    During his keynote, he shared valuable insights, practical examples and best practices. At the same time, he brought fantastic energy to the stage and created a genuine connection with the audience. His keynote received a score of 4.9 out of 5! A wonderful experience, and a big thank you for the professional and truly enjoyable collaboration!”

    - Petra Rulek Ladan - Conference Organiser, HR Days Croatia

  • What will the audience take away?

    After a 60–90-minute keynote, participants have practical ways to navigate change with greater resilience.

    • They recognise what puts their energy and resilience under pressure during change.
    • They develop a practical change mindset to deal with uncertainty and resistance.
    • They learn to look differently at situations they have little control over.
    • They turn change into small, actionable steps they can take straight away.

    This means participants can start doing things differently the very next day. For example, a colleague says: “This will never work.”

    Instead of joining in the resistance, a different question emerges:

    “What could be one small first step?”

    That’s not a grand theory. It’s a small shift in behaviour that can get things moving.

    When is this keynote relevant?

    The Mental Resilience keynote is a great fit for:

    • Mental resilience and sustainable employability
    • Change programmes
    • Reorganisations and transformations
    • Leadership
    • Culture change
    • Strategy implementation
    • Organisation-wide events
    • HR and employee wellbeing programmes
    The content can be tailored to your organisation and the changes you’re facing. After all, resilience during a reorganisation calls for different examples than resilience during a digital transformation.

    The central question remains the same: how do we help people keep moving forward without change draining more energy than necessary?

  • So, who is Cyriel?

    Cyriel Kortleven is an experienced keynote speaker on change and an expert in building a change mindset. He helps organisations look at change in a different way and make it easier to navigate in daily practice.

    What you can expect:

    • More than 20 years of experience as a keynote speaker
    • Delivered keynotes in more than 40 countries worldwide
    • Collaborations with international organisations
    • More than 345 recommendations on LinkedIn
    • An interactive and energetic speaking style
    • Practical insights that can be applied immediately
    • Humour combined with genuine depth

    Curious to experience his approach? Watch the 3 minute showreel.

    Other keynotes that might fit your challenge

    Change Mindset: For organisations that want to help employees look at change differently.
    Making Change Simple: For organisations that want to make change simpler and more tangible.
    Guerrilla Change: For organisations that want to get things moving faster instead of waiting for perfect conditions.
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