Who is Nathalie Liefsoens?
Nathalie Liefsoens is the Owner and Managing Director of A Priori, a boutique recruitment agency based in Belgium, known for its focus on meaningful, long-term impact rather than volume. With more than 25 years of senior corporate leadership experience across sales, operations, and executive management, she brings a rare combination of strategic clarity, commercial acumen, and human-centered leadership. Nathalie works closely with CEOs and leadership teams to align talent, culture, and organizational ambition, helping both people and companies grow and succeed together through conscious, impact-driven leadership.
A Turning Point That Changed the Direction of Leadership
For Nathalie Liefsoens, leadership was never about chasing titles. It was about making choices that mattered. Yet it took a profound personal reckoning to fully crystallize that belief. After more than 25 years in senior corporate leadership roles across sales, operations, and executive management, a serious accident in 2017 forced an unexpected pause. In that stillness, questions surfaced that no KPI or performance review could answer. What truly defines success? What impact remains when the role disappears? And who are you when there is nothing left to prove?
What followed was not a career pivot, but a transformation. One that reshaped Nathalie’s leadership philosophy and ultimately led her to entrepreneurship. Today, as Owner and Managing Director of A Priori, she leads with a compass guided by clarity of purpose, clarity of intention, and clarity in human connection.
Shaped by Curiosity, Discipline, and Human Insight
Nathalie’s professional grounding is built on a solid academic foundation. She earned a Master’s degree in Applied Economics, followed by a Master Class in Marketing from KU Leuven, equipping her early on with both analytical rigor and commercial insight.
Yet it was never theory alone that defined her path. From the outset, Nathalie demonstrated a deep interest in how people function within organizations and how motivation, ambition, and structure intersect to produce results. Even in her earliest roles, she instinctively understood that performance is not separate from people. It is driven by them. Discipline in aligning people, processes and goals leads to more effective action and measurable results.
That conviction would later become a defining theme of her leadership in which clarity stood central. Results follow clarity, and clarity enables people to take ownership.
From Commercial Responsibility to Executive Leadership
Nathalie’s ascent through the corporate world was marked by both breadth and depth. She held senior commercial responsibility for strong food brands such as Delacre, Oreo, Pauwels as well as Private Labels sold at European retailers. Here she developed the ability to balance commercial execution with organizational alignment. She worked internationally as well, across Germany and Belgium, navigating complex markets and multicultural environments. This sharpened her strategic agility and emotional intelligence.
She also kept executive leadership roles, including Chief Operating Officer at Columbus Steel, where operational excellence and strategic decision making converged under high pressure. Across these roles, Nathalie became known for her decisiveness, structured thinking and calm presence in volatile contexts.
Still, it was during this phase that her leadership philosophy began to evolve. Success was
no longer measured solely by numbers achieved, but by the degree to which teams
understood direction, felt ownership, and were empowered to act.
“Clarity isn’t just about targets and processes,” Nathalie reflects. “It’s about making priorities explicit, giving them meaning, and living them consistently as a leader.”
Entrepreneurship as a Vehicle for Meaningful Change
In 2021, Nathalie made what she describes not as a transition, but a transformation by stepping into entrepreneurship as Owner and Managing Director of A Priori. The boutique recruitment agency acts with a clear intention: to create lasting impact by aligning people, leadership, and organizational culture. This also means value for all parties involved.
At A Priori, recruitment is not a transactional exercise. Nathalie and her team begin each assignment with deep strategic conversations, not only with HR leaders but also with CEOs and direct managers, to understand context, culture, and leadership dynamics. In many cases, recruitment questions reveal deeper organizational needs.
“Impact means creating value that lasts with positive change ,” she explains.
“Sometimes that means attracting people from outside who strengthen
organizations. Sometimes it means coaching, reflection or redefining
leadership itself, so that organizations become stronger from within.”
This philosophy has led to unconventional yet powerful outcomes. In some engagements, leadership coaching resolved systemic challenges so effectively that additional hiring became unnecessary. For Nathalie, this is success. Leadership itself becomes the lever for sustainable growth.
Her work extends beyond recruitment into leadership development, talent strategy, and cultural alignment. It bridges who organizations hire with how they lead.
Clarity as a Living Principle
Across every chapter of Nathalie’s career, one principle has remained constant: clarity. Early on, clarity meant structure, KPIs, and execution. Over time, it matured into something far more human and far more profound.
Today, clarity is embodied leadership. It shows up in how decisions are made under pressure, how priorities are protected, and how values are demonstrated in action. Nathalie believes leaders must first live what they ask of others. This gives direction to teams.
“What you ask of people must visibly begin with yourself,” she says. “That’s where trust and engagement are built.”
Her approach balances humanity with accountability. She creates environments where people feel seen, challenged, and supported without compromising performance. This combination allows organizations to remain agile, resilient, and aligned, even amid constant change.
Leading with Inner Direction
Looking ahead, Nathalie’s focus remains firmly on impact driven leadership. Through her entrepreneurial work and broader leadership initiatives, she continues to create spaces where senior leaders can slow down, think and feel deeply, and make conscious choices in complex environments.
Success, for her, has evolved. It is no longer about hierarchy or validation, but about alignment between values and actions, ambition and contribution.
“Success today means leading from inner direction,” Nathalie reflects. “It’s about impact, about inspiring, growing and connecting people and above all about creating meaningful initiatives that extend beyond yourself.”
Editorial Note
Nathalie Liefsoens’ journey is a reminder that leadership is not defined by speed or status, but by clarity of intention. Her story invites today’s executives to pause, reflect, and ask the questions that truly matter about impact, alignment, and the legacy they are shaping.
In an era of constant change, her compass points toward a timeless truth. When leaders lead with clarity, organizations and people move forward with purpose.
