26 Sep

What Gets Seen, Gets Repeated – Firefighters vs Preventers

Infographic titled 'What gets seen, gets repeated' showing two columns: left red section 'Visible. Immediate. Reactive.' with a red alert siren, a worker on the phone, factory silhouettes, and a '22:00' breakdown; caption 'IS A HERO.' Right green section 'Invisible. Deliberate. Proactive.' with a worker at a laptop displaying a rising graph and icons labeled 'Identify risk', 'Address causes', 'Prevent failure'; caption 'WEEKS EARLIER – PREVENTION' and 'IS ALMOST INVISIBLE.' Bottom banner reads 'Shift recognition. Reward prevention. Build resilient operations.' and shows salomons.coach.
A manager who fixes a breakdown at 22:00 is a hero. The manager whose work prevented it six weeks earlier is almost invisible. Drawing on a coaching case with an Operations Director, this post shows what preventive leaders actually do, why organisations overlook them, and the routines a senior leader needs to put in place so prevention gets seen, rewarded and repeated.
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10 May

What is my colleague’s salary? I have the right to know!

Infographic titled 'Same work' showing salary bars for three senior managers: €87,500, €105,000 and €128,000 with figures and icons beneath.
The EU Pay Transparency Directive shifts the burden of proof onto the employer. A pay difference will now require an objective, documented justification, or a correction. "She negotiated harder when she joined" is not a defence. "He's been here longer" might be — if your tenure logic is documented. The leaders who navigate this well will be the ones who do the work before the questions arrive. Conversation by conversation, fairness becomes a leadership problem.
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22 Feb

AI doesn’t replace leaders. It exposes them.

AI is often framed as a technology challenge. In reality, it is a leadership one. By accelerating speed, increasing transparency, and making decisions comparable, AI exposes how leaders decide, where judgment is avoided, and how accountability is handled. This article explores why AI does not replace leaders, but reveals leadership behaviors that were previously hidden—and why credibility in an AI-driven world depends less on technical expertise and more on explicit judgment and ownership.
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20 Feb

Five leadership decisions AI should never make

As AI becomes embedded in organizational decision-making, not all decisions should be automated. Some choices define values, require accountability, and demand human judgment under uncertainty. This article explores five leadership decisions AI should never make—not because AI is incapable, but because leadership legitimacy, responsibility, and trust cannot be delegated to technology.
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08 Feb

From Firefighting to Learning: The Leadership Shift Operations Need

Firefighting is rational, but it traps organizations. Under pressure, leaders act on what is visible and urgent, fixing problems to keep operations moving. Yet this behavior prevents learning, reinforces firefighting, and consumes leadership capacity. Sustainable performance requires shifting from solving today’s issues to redesigning the system that creates them.
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04 Apr

Innovation: Aerodynamic Trucks

Between 2010 and 2013, I worked with TU Delft and PhD researcher Gandert van Raemsdonck on pioneering aerodynamic innovations for TNT’s European Road Network. As head of business, process, fleet, and environmental development, I joined a unique coalition of engineers, researchers, and industry partners exploring how airflow, drag, and turbulence could be reduced to make transport cleaner and more efficient. Our side-wings and rear-flow experiments were ahead of their time, and even featured on RTL Nieuws. It was an early lesson in how powerful innovation becomes when diverse minds join forces to shape the future of logistics.
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