About Us

At illustrate.work, we help managers, executives and aspiring leaders unlock the leadership mindset and behaviours to drive performance and culture.

Combining real-world leadership experience with proven coaching frameworks, we help you:

Lead with clarity and confidence
Shift how you think, show up and lead
Build empowered, high-performing teams

Whether you’re leading in corporate or public sector environments, we help you develop the leadership foundations for impact.

Book Your Free Discovery Call

Move beyond self-doubt | Lead with clarity & confidence | Build high performance teams and thrive

Venn diagram illustrating leadership coaching philosophy — three overlapping circles representing team communication and influence, strengths-based mindset development, and building resilience and capability

Our Philosophy

Leading boldly starts with you.

How you think about yourself as a leader shapes how you show up, how you influence, and the team culture you create.

At its core, leadership is about change: moving people, teams and ideas to a more empowered, effective future. But holding many leaders back isn't their capability or potential—it's mindset.

We take a strengths-based approach, focusing on what's strong, not what's wrong. Using proven, evidence-based frameworks, we help you:

Let go of overthinking, self-doubt and busyness
Build the mindset to lead with calm, conviction and purpose
Create a team culture rooted in trust, ownership and psychological safety

Leadership is a choice, and coaching is one of the most powerful tools to make that choice count.

Learn More About Our Services

My Story

My name is Cohen Van der Velde.

I founded illustrate.work after over two decades in organisations, management and executive leadership roles across local government, infrastructure, strategy and organisational performance.

Starting my career in engineering, I quickly discovered my passion wasn’t in the technical work, but in leadership. Moving into my first management role, I learned that the real work of a leader wasn't about projects or outputs—it was about people.

Since then, I've led everything from technical engineering teams to executive portfolios. I understand the challenges of leading through pressure, people challenges and the expectation to do more and more.

That's why I now bring that real-world experience to clients as a coach, facilitator and leadership advisor—because leadership isn't just demanding—it's complex.

I'm passionate about helping leaders shift their mindset, strengthen their influence and build teams that thrive. This passion was recognised in 2025, being awarded the Victorian Public Works Leader of the Year Award.

I've helped hundreds of executives, managers and aspiring leaders through my Leadership Symposia and 'e4 Explore to Empower' Coaching Program.

Beyond illustrate.work, I'm a husband and father to three children. When I'm not coaching or facilitating, you might find me among the waves, on the course, or on the yoga mat—or writing my first book to help leaders build psychologically safe teams.

Book Your Free Discovery Call

My Qualifications Include

What Leaders Say

“Cohen is an exceptional facilitator.
He brings skill and care in his own authentic manner, which assists teams to quickly build clarity, alignment, trust and psychological safety.
His ability to read the room, understand team dynamics and get to the heart of what is really going on is rare.”
Local Government Operations Manager
“This experience was invaluable in helping me gain a deeper understanding of my strengths and how to develop them further. Cohen’s expertise, guidance, and commitment... made the process both insightful and impactful.”
Chief Executive Officer, Not-For-Profit Sector
“Made such a difference to how I look at myself and really pushed me. Left me with the confidence to follow the path and the self concept changes have been something that I have gone back to. Shifted me back to a place where I am confident in my ability.”
Manager People & Culture, Local Government
“Your guidance, advice and support have been critical to ensuring that I bring the best me to work everyday!
The inner champion is now in control.”
Engineering Manager, Local Government
“Opened my eyes to others perspectives, my strengths and weaknesses which helped me to go and seek to understand more. Would definitely seek out coaching again. Definitely be recommending the program to others.”
Civil Construction Coordinator, Local Government