Monitoring is about performance: management lessons from athletics

“Never give up”. This was the title of the presentation of Tunde Leidsman, a professional athlete and owner of Training Maastricht, who gave a guest lecture in the 1-week Monitoring and Evaluation in Development Projects (M&E4DEV) Executive Course on Tuesday, 21 April 2015.

Tunde’s story as a sportsman, with personal testimony of effort and performance and with continuous training to improve, puts monitoring in a completely different light. “Monitoring is not just about technical issues but all about raising the bar and asking for more and better from you with key words being: overcoming difficulties, performance and endurance”.

In his presentation, Tunde took the participants through his rich career: from memories from early childhood and his experiences helping his grandpa in Surinam on his farm to his education and professional career in the corporate world to the turning point in 2011 when he founded his company Training Maastricht. The blending of his professional and athletic career turned out to be a golden combination which becomes apparent when seeing his recent success: winning a bronze medal during the European Master Indoor Championships in Poland in March 2015. Tunde outlined that fun, support from your loved ones and finding your passion are key in achieving high performance.

“Whether in development projects, the corporate world or in sports, fun, support and passion are key” and as Tunde says: “never give up!”.

About Tunde Leidsman
Tunde has an extensive track record in short distance running (track sprinting). Recent athletic accomplishments include a bronze medal during the European Master Indoor Championships in Poland on the Men’s 40+ 60 meter sprint in March 2015 and Dutch champion in Men’s 40+ 60 meter sprint in 2015 and 2012. After several jobs in the corporate world working in the field of marketing and logistics, he decided to follow his passion and founded Training Maastricht in 2011. Training Maastricht offers different workouts including running training and various bootcamp trainings, the majority taking place outdoors, using the city park and beautiful outskirts of the city of Maastricht as a training base instead of a traditional gym.