A Purposeful Decade in the Making

A meeting at the Flandrien Hotel that turned shared purpose into action.

Last Sunday I finally met Jamie Anderson in person, the co-founder and owner of the Flandrien Hotel in Belgium — a symbolic place that has become, over time, a business case of excellence in hospitality.

I’ve followed the Flandrien project since its foundation in 2021 and have been one of its many supporters.

My connection with Jamie goes further back: in 2018 he hosted my guest article on his blog, The Stand-Up Strategist — “Innovation Culture: Bring on Renaissance 2.0.”

Those ideas about a new Renaissance grounded in values and culture deeply resonated with the path I was building then and continue to pursue today.

Over the years we exchanged ideas, comments, and messages across platforms, discovering how closely we aligned on purpose, leadership, and the role of culture in building organizations that endure.

During these years, Jamie has been a source of inspiration.

Meeting him in person was deeply energizing and meaningful.

The Flandrien Hotel, built on endurance, teamwork, community, and resilience, is purpose made tangible.

We talked about moving purpose from words to practice, from statements to systems that create long-term value for people and organizations.

I handed Jamie a dedicated copy of my Pictorial Atlas of 101 Purpose Statements from Around the World. The next morning, as he left for Australia, he carried it in his travel bag to read on the flight.

A few hours later, in the Flandrien lounge, Bernard Moerman, the other co-founder at the Flandrien Hotel, and I exchanged books and reflections on what it means to build something authentic, grounded in values and lived experience.

That moment captured why I do this work: connecting people who turn ideas into culture.

This meeting closes one chapter and opens the next one: building together new ways to bring purpose from theory to practice.

We’ve reached an important milestone, and I’m pretty sure we won’t have to wait so many years before meeting again.

This is a story about friendship, recognition, and most importantly it's about what happens when purpose moves beyond words and becomes a way of building something meaningful.