About Margot
Connection as compass. The future as a playing field.
about Margôt
Humanity as a compass in times of acceleration
I am Margot van Brakel. Futurist, keynote speaker and author. For more than 25 years I have worked on the human side of organizations – with executives, boards and leadership teams who sense that speed alone is not enough.
My work is about what it takes to be human in a world that changes exponentially. About direction, meaning and connection as the foundation for lasting movement.
For organizations that want to move forward after a keynote, I work through EmpoweringPeople on development programs where human vision, leadership and direction come together.
Vision
From Homo Sapiens to Homo Conexus
Through my work, I developed the vision of Homo Conexus: a view of the human being in which not performance or intellect takes center stage, but the capacity to connect. With yourself, with others and with the larger whole.
Connection is not a soft skill. It is a way of being – and the most underestimated force in organizations today. This vision is the foundation beneath my keynotes and publications.
approach
Speaking as a strategic intervention
My keynotes are not a survey of trends and not a collection of tools. They are a strategic starting point. I help organizations look differently first. Zoom out. Slow down. Open the right conversation.
Sometimes I work with words. Sometimes without. Sound is my instrument when we want to move beyond the rational conversation – and create space for reflection and genuine insight.
impact
Direction before acceleration
What my work delivers is not a quick fix. Something more lasting.
Groundedness where it matters most. Language for what often goes unnamed.
Support for decisions that need to be made now.
People who know what they stand for – and carry that into their teams.
From EmpoweringPeople to self-empowerment. The human being in their own strength.
Margot
background
The roots of my work
From the beginning of my career, one question has been central: how do you truly bring people with you when everything around them is changing?
In 2007, I founded EmpoweringPeople, drive by the conviction that lasting transformation doesn’t begin with systems, but with people. That thread runs through everything I do – as futurist, as keynote speaker, as author of three books.
My vision has been shaped in practice. In conversations with executives, leaders and teams searching for direction and meaning in a world that moves ever faster.
My goal is clear: through empowering people toward self-empowerment. The human being in their own strength – not dependent on a system or a leader to know who they are and what they contribute.