Great leaders master the art of living

It was a nice sunny day when a young child and her family wanted to go to the beach. Suddenly, the weather changed drastically and it began to rain. No beach. Instead of being sad about it, the young child switched her mind as quickly as the weather did: “Great! Now I can read a book on the couch!” to which her dad replied: “you know, you are a true “levenskunstenaar” ” (Dutch for an artist of life). This word inspired her and helped her to pay attention to the art of living.

This young child is Hetty van Ee, an inspiring and energetic born optimist. We had the pleasure to talk to her about various topics, such as leadership, talent development and the importance of finding happiness in everything you do; all essential topics for both businesses and individuals to remain relevant towards the future.

Hetty’s career started at the age of 19, right after she told her parents that she wanted to quit her studies in Dutch and History because she found out she didn’t want to become a teacher. To fill the time until the start of her next study and study year, she started working for IT company WANG. The CEO liked her so much though, he persuaded her to stay, and she did; for 18 more years. Hereafter, she worked for ADIA (currently known as Adecco) and then moved to IT company ELC which was later acquired by Ordina.

One Friday night, Hetty – who at the time worked for Ordina –  received a phone call from Ordina’s then CEO: “Hetty, we have a subsidiary called ORMIT, do you know it?” to which Hetty replied: “Well, I know some ORMIT-people from the Ordian bar I visit every Friday…” It was that same night that she became the director of ORMIT, a traineeship company which finds, develops and binds top talent to companies such as ABN AMRO, ASML, Philips, and DSM. After 10 years, she completed a management buy-out, and became one of ORMIT’s shareholders. It would take another 10 years before Hetty would sell her shares and step down as CEO. Currently she is still involved as a commissioner. Next to that, she’s a member of the board of directors at JobOn – a Dutch Network for Job Seekers, and she is focussing on giving back to society: being a mentor for NLGroeit, coaching young entrepreneurs, as well as volunteering as coach for Mauritsgroep – helping high-educated refugees towards a job.

The central theme in Hetty’s career has always been leadership. This started at her very first job for IT company WANG. “I had no particular talent for IT” Hetty said, “but one of my directors always said: ‘It’s more about behaviour than knowledge. It’s okay if others know more. Since then, questions about what is good leadership have always fascinated me.” But how do you define leadership? What does it mean? “I have this idea that leadership is transforming more and more towards what I believe: that it’s about your behaviour and the ability to enthuse both employees and customers.”

And more change is ahead, fuelled by new generations who are not in it for profit maximization, but for empowering people. And for companies to recruit these young talents, in a world where the battle for talent intensifies, organizations need to become a workplace where employees are proud of. We were curious to hear from Hetty the tips and tricks that entrepreneurs, directors and CEOs can apply to become better organizations and leaders. Hetty shared three tips:

1. Be approachable and accessible
As a leader, director or CEO, approachability and accessibility towards your employees is essential. “It’s important to stay in contact with each other.” Hetty says. “A stereotypical example are directors who say to their employees ‘My door is always open’ whilst everybody knows that’s certainly not the case. They are often so busy that the door is literally closed. That was also the case for me” Hetty said. To solve this problem, Hetty introduced “Walking with Hetty”. Two placeholders a week in which colleagues could enrol themselves to walk & talk with Hetty. “I can go for a walk, which is good for me, and I’m available for my colleagues, double win!” Next to this is accessibility is important, which we define as the ability of everyone to ask questions. “Every CEO of a company should be able to be interviewed by his/her own employees. Let them ask the critical questions. Again, it’s about staying in contact with each other.”

2. Listen carefully
The second tip is to listen to everyone and really try to understand other points of view. “What I saw in leadership is that if you truly involve people and listen, you get really valuable input.” Hetty continues with the story of ORMIT’s Board of Advice. “At ORMIT we were curious what defines a good traineeship, and it’s our clients who know that best. What I did was create a board of advice with 10 of our best clients who also liked to think along with us. We came together four times a year, and in every meeting I asked, among other things, what goes well, what can we do better, what’s going on in our clients’ organizations, and what should we take into account? Chatham House Rules applied, and so you received honest and valuable answers to questions you can use to improve your product with. In addition, all members built a strong connection with each other, learned about each other’s challenges, and had a fun afternoon which we closed off with a nice dinner”.

Hetty and her MT applied the same trick for the ORMIT trainees, creating the ‘Board of co-thinkers’; a selected number of trainees who frequently got together to talk about how they experienced the traineeship, the training, the coaching, the personal development and working at the various companies. “This way, we learned what to cherish and what to improve, so ORMIT could become better every year.”

3. Be the example
Lastly; if you talk the talk, you need to walk the walk. “As a great leader, you need to take on the exemplary role“ Hetty continues. “If you’re the one teaching the leaders of tomorrow how to lead, you need to do so by example. That’s also the reason why we wanted to be a ‘Great Place to Work’ – a certified benchmark in the best work environment – from which ORMIT has received the ‘Best Workplace’ prize fourteen years in a row.”

To be a great place to work, it’s important to look after everyone in your company. “Everyone understands that in the end, you need to make a profit as a company, but this is not where you start from. Making a profit is a result of doing things right, and for that you need the right people with the right attitude. That’s why we developed the ‘Circle of Engagement’ (Dutch: Cirkel van Bevlogenheid): the idea that you can only do the right things when everyone is passionate about your company. When employees are passionate and engaged, they will turn into ambassadors, conveying that message of passion to customers who will in turn become more engaged as well, resulting in more turnover and profits.”

Creating such a ‘Circle of Engagement’ is an active process; involving every single person who comes into contact with the company. “For instance, it already starts the moment you walk into the door, where the receptionists play such an important role” Hetty says, “at ORMIT, we deliberately chose to have a doorbell so someone greets you at the door. You’ll be offered a coffee, they’ll talk to you, there are funny pictures on the wall of our previous company trips. Especially for nervous new applicants, this really helps to make them feel at ease – and enthusiastic about ORMIT.”

Continuing on the subject of new applicants, we ask Hetty how companies should select their new employees. “At ORMIT, trainees are selected with the right personality and attitude, besides knowledge and current skills, which is what most companies still base their selection on” she explains. “What you learn at university today will be outdated in several years’ time, so we look for people with an attitude of “I’m going to keep developing myself”. We call this a growth mindset versus the opposite; a fixed mindset.”

Hetty explains that people with a fixed mindset will say things like ‘this is just who I am’, or ‘I’ve always been like this’, and will resist changing their behaviour and personality. Someone with a growth mindset on the other hand, realizes that he/she doesn’t know everything, and dares to admit this, but is willing to learn and adapt. “This requires true personal leadership: directing yourself and how you handle things, having an open mind, admitting when you’re wrong, etc. These are the people ORMIT is looking for, and encourages to be.”

Continuing to the second part of Hetty’s beliefs, she explains that personal leadership is not only limited to work environments. “I believe that great leaders also master the art of living.” Hetty proclaims, explaining that work is such an integral part of our lives. Just like in our chat with Boudie Hoogedeure, Hetty tells us how our private and professional lives are becoming more and more intertwined. “This is why we need to find happiness in everything in life; family and friends, relationships, as well as our careers. Finding happiness and fulfilment in everything you do in life – including your job – is something you’re obliged to do. Not just encouraged to… you’re obliged to.”

Hetty’s personal advice for new generations is to start by recognizing and building a solid personal foundation. “Getting to know yourself is something that is not taught enough in schools and universities, so start there and reflect upon your behaviour. What do and don’t you like? Where do you want to go in life, both professionally and privately? What values do you hold dear?” Hetty stresses that it’s important to keep in mind that nobody’s perfect, and that it’s okay to be worse at certain things than others, as long as you recognize it. “Good self-knowledge allows you to make conscious decisions all the time and really involve the meaning of other people, and if you combine this with a growth mindset, it will give you a fantastic start to your career. True personal leadership starts there, and that’s how you are best prepared for your future.”