The companies and organizations where Claudia Zuiderwijk is a director share a characteristic: they are plagued by real problems. Competition in healthcare, declining relevance at the Chamber of Commerce, tight finances at the Amsterdam public transport company GVB, great social pressure at Tata Steel. Partner of De Bestuurskamer Inge Brakman, not a blank slate in the boardroom herself, wants to know from her how to keep track as a director and commissioner in “tricky times”.
You does not shy away from complex organizations. What attracts you as a commissioner and director at various companies such as Pink Roccade, APG, Tergooi Hospital and Tata Steel and, for five years, as general director of the Amsterdam public transport company GVB?
“Often, there is indeed something wrong with a company I join. Tough issues that require significant changes in the organization. At the KvK, I had to deal with a strong love between the organization and the entrepreneurial Netherlands, plus a ministerial order to merge the 14 regional trading chambers and also reduce costs by 40%. At Tergooi, it was about the start of market forces in healthcare. At that time, it was expected to solve the waiting lists. And I joined the GVB in the middle of corona time. Suddenly, the passenger market collapsed. So how do you keep the network running? Where do you get money from? How do you motivate the 5000 members of the “GVB family”? And, in the longer term: how do you make a public organization more adaptive to disruptions, where erratic market conditions compete with the necessary costly long-term investments?”
Where does your appetite for dynamism come from?
“I love shaping complex, ever-changing organizations. Above all, leadership is: keep looking around, listening, inspiring people towards the point on the horizon and then keeping track. As a person, and as a director, I want to learn something essential over and over again and contribute something — something take.”
“Once you've become part of the system, you may no longer deliver what an organization needs. As a leader, you need to be at the top of your alertness. That's what companies deserve. We live in turbulent times, with wars and crises — you'd almost forget that a few years ago, we had another curfews had in this country! Nothing is certain, I've also learned that in my personal situation. When your parents break up, people around you who suddenly become deathly ill — in my case, you're thrown back to a healthy basic trust and a mission: dealing with change.”
How important is your own personality in such a role?
“You have to know yourself well: what are you good at and what are you not good at? I myself come out well in a semi-public environment, where — amidst all kinds of political and sometimes ambiguous influences — rationality is particularly needed in the boardroom. Balancing all those influences can be complex, but it is also challenging. For example, I was responsible for the merger of two hospitals. Wonderful process devised with all stakeholders, but then there are municipal elections and the election dynamic rumbles right through them. Then you'll have to cash in. The trick is not to let that refer to your person, but to the position. Thinking: what do I learn from this? And switch directly to managing the situation.”
What do you need from your supervisors to function properly?
“I now know both roles well; for years I have been both supervisor and statutory director. Commissioners need a cool head and a warm heart. Challenging people, but always positive. At some distance, without being distant. The Supervisory Board can keep me focused, but on the essence of the company — the broad outlines. Analyze trends, ask me about them. not nitty gritty, not in the driver's seat himself.”
“It's healthy to have such an administrative challenge to have. Especially in semi-public organizations, there is enormous pressure on the leadership of organizations to act irrationally. In fact, the Supervisory Board is not involved in the daily dynamics of the executive directors. This makes it easier for a Supervisory Board than directors to contribute, a cool head to the organization, and a warm heart when it comes to keeping the right balance between external social dynamics and internal operations.”
When is a Supervisory Board a energy drain?
“When members of the Supervisory Board formulate their recommendations as regulations. A bit like how the commissioner himself would do it as a director. Sometimes in a meeting, when someone makes an argument, I sometimes say: I think you mean this question? I myself try to act according to the “Bob method” as much as possible, a tried and tested method in crisis situations; first imaging, then judgment, and only then your decision-making.”
“But to be honest, I humanly recognize that if, as a supervisory director, you can form an opinion too quickly after reviewing all the documents and a preliminary discussion in the Supervisory Board, even before talking to the directors. “How the hell can the Board of Directors make such a mistake?” You have to watch out for that. So the trick is to first form your image without prejudice.”
How can you take into account the undercurrent and culture in an organization in the boardroom?
“If you startup one scale up becomes, it is quite easy to help shape a culture as a leader. This is quite different with companies that have a rich history, such as Prorail, KvK or GVB. That's where it's good to first find out who makes the organization every day. For example, I am a conductor on the tram here once a quarter, on alternating lines, each providing their own stories. In uniform, all day, including coffee breaks. You learn an immense amount from that. And I really enjoy doing it”
“Six months ago, I planned a visit at the 'start of the day' at half past eight in the morning at our Railway Factory. That's where the colleagues responsible for our company's infrastructure work. Start with a cup of coffee, a round of questions. There were a lot of questions. From that, I found that this part of the organization had remained somewhat underexposed compared to the driving and sailing staff. I listened, I trusted. There are questions, listening, picking up signals and giving them back to managers at the right level: such an intervention is definitely of added value to standard management reports.”
What is modern governance?
“In my opinion, the structure of the board should follow where a company stands — there is no such thing as an 'ideal form of government'. For example, here I changed the board from a three-member statutory board of directors to a seven-member board. executive committee, where two board members are statutory. This helps develop a new strategy that should put an end to the strong colonization of the CFP. The company was highly decentralized. While we see added value in integral control. Integral governance understands the consequences of individual decisions for the entire operation.”
“We also had to tinker with supervision. Because the Supervisory Board only has a direct influence on a statutory board of directors. To supervise a executive committee you need to build in extras: talking to all board members annually, to let all members actually act in the Supervisory Board meeting. Of course, I couldn't get this fairly fundamental change through in five minutes. There were tough discussions with the Supervisory Board: about why, about the intended result. Such professional headwinds are nice, it's the only way to make thoughtful decisions. Which does not mean that integral governance fits this organization forever, by the way. You could say that modern governance is mainly adaptive governance is.”
