Reinventing organizations is some of the most rewarding work leadership offers.
It takes a leader willing to look further ahead than the next quarter, bring the people who know the business into the room, and trust them to shape what comes next.
That is what I spend my time on.
“The strategy is never the hard part. The hard part is getting an organization to believe it can become something it hasn't been before."
— Willem Unger
Most careers follow a logic. Mine followed a pattern, one I only recognized much later.
It starts with an 18-year-old on a ferry to England, sent by his father to convince a school that had already rejected him. It runs through a research assignment in Zimbabwe, a decade of post-merger integrations across Europe and the United States, and a series of leadership roles that each demanded the same thing: making an organization believe it could become something it hadn't been before.
Somewhere along the way, the thread became clear. I'm at my best when the strategy is missing, the model is outdated, and the people inside have settled for how things are. I've led those situations across industries, across continents, and at every level from the shop floor to the boardroom.
Today I lead the transformation of one of the Netherlands' largest agricultural divisions. Rebuilding the strategy, the business model, and the culture from the ground up. But the thinking behind it applies far beyond agriculture. It's about what happens when you combine a clear direction with people who are given the space to own the outcome.
Division CEO, Plant-Based Solutions; Group Director, R&D and Data Intelligence; and member of the Executive Leadership Team of Royal Agrifirm. Previously at Syngenta (global leadership, supply chain, M&A integration). TIAS Supervisory Board Program.
