Pol Hauspie

Speaker
Dutch
English
Photo of Pol Hauspie

Who is Pol Hauspie?

The story of L&H is well known. For many years, all kinds of praise was heaped upon Pol Hauspie and Jo Lernout. However, caught up in an economic rat race, they succumbed to fraudulently inflating their turnover figures. Their deceit was uncovered and both founders were thrown into jail. For Pol Hauspie, this started the search for his real self, and his long climb from the depths. But he has rediscovered himself. And he wants to speak openly about this. The passionate speaker leaves no one unmoved. His recovery process has made him a happier person and he wants to share his insights so that others can learn from them.

All proceeds from the lecture will be donated to a social enterprise, namely The H-Web (Happiness web). Pol Hauspie is setting up this venture with the help of others. They want to achieve ‘Happiness’ through sharing. Sharing insights, resources and knowledge. “Never before have there been so many ways to be in contact with one another. We phone, we e-mail, we chat… But do we actually use these tools to be happy or to make others happy? This might be someone close to you or someone on the other side of the world.”

L&H: the story behind the rise and fall

Economics

In his keynote, Hauspie looks back at his best achievement: opening Flanders Language Valley in Ypres: “I now realise that the man who stood proudly next to Jo, enjoying the adulation and praise of princes, politicians and the press - with flashing cameras and the gaze of the whole world upon him, was not the real Pol. The media and public had elevated Jo and me to a status that was truly out of this world: we featured in television programmes, won a whole manner of awards and were praised on a daily basis. But this went to our heads and caused us to become completely intoxicated. We believed this illusion and eventually thought: we are God's gift, not only to the business world, but also to our country and - in our eyes - the whole world. We felt invincible; we could do no wrong! It was a continuous series of adrenaline shots which, while helping to avoid exhaustion, became an addiction.”

When Pol Hauspie went to prison, he had nowhere to hide. It was also the start of a very long healing process, which initially involved more downs than ups: “Although my ego – which had been boosted for years as a popular and renowned entrepreneur – hated my downfall into prison, my real ‘self’ was not put off by the deprivations of a cell. For the first time in years, I rediscovered loneliness, order and silence. My experience in a stone cold prison in fact taught me how to break open the hardened shell of my ego.”

Please thank Pol once again for his valuable and genuine presentation, which everyone enjoyed greatly. His story – which was delivered with a dose of humour – left many members shocked and will leave a lasting impression.

Carlo Van Tichelen
Ontbijtclub Kempen
Photo of micro

Pol Hauspie is a good speaker. His story contained the required commercial insights, but was also very emotional. The presentation was calm and engaging. Some of the audience thought it was the best activity in years. This was a really successful event for the association.

Dirk Erreygers
Chairman, Business Club Noorderkempen

Considering the banking bubble that is currently paralysing the global economy, the story of L&H - and the ICT bubble that burst at the start of this century - is topical once again. Ten years later, in his book Priester–Muzikant–Piloot (priest-musician-pilot) Pol Hauspie talks openly - without making excuses for his own behaviour - about personal and systemic motivations that can destroy companies. Pol Hauspie primarily delivers a deeply personal and human story, but the audience will also be fascinated by his thoughts on the definition of success, which many people in our society are still aiming for.

Carl Moons
General Manager Aexis
Photo of Pol Hauspie
Photo of Pol Hauspie
Photo of Pol Hauspie
Photo of Pol Hauspie

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