C4SL - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Partner at the Center for Strategy & Leadership
Alexandra is associate partner at the Center for Strategy & Leadership, where she specializes in executive coaching and guiding organizations through processes of transformational change. She works with individuals, teams and groups and is at her best when people need reflection and support in dealing with shifts in strategy, reorganizations and cultural change.
Alexandra studied at the University of Leiden in the Netherlands and has a Master's degree in Social and Organizational Psychology. Additionally, she completed the 'Managing Changes in Organizations' program at SIOO (the Dutch foundation for Organizational Studies). Using these inputs, and blending them with her years of experience as a manager and coach, she recently wrote a practitioner's book called 7 paths - handbook for personal development (in Dutch: Zeven paden. Excelleren in kwaliteiten, July 2014).
Alexandra has held several managerial and staff positions, among others at Content, Postbank, ING and Nationale-Nederlanden. In these roles, she noticed that there were often tensions between the interests of the organizations on the one hand and the interests of employees on the other. Her mission has become to integrate these interests, hereby enabling employees and organizations to grow and function optimally.
Alexandra has the ability to quickly analyze and determine the key issues preventing organizations and their employees to develop and grow. The human aspect is always central in her approach. She initiates lasting change by giving insights into existing organizational patterns and individual processes. Her philosophy is to work without prejudgment or prejudice, on the basis of equality, making sure ample room is available for the individual issues of each participant. Examples of companies in which she has coached teams and/or individuals in recent years are: Leiden University Medical Center, De Baak, SIOO, Hogeschool Inholland, ID College, Océ, Ministerie van Binnenlandse Zaken (Dutch Ministry for the Interior), ZilverenKruis Achmea and Danone.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Partner of the Center for Strategy & Leadership
Bill Collins is an associate partner of the Center for Strategy & Leadership and a senior academic at the Rotterdam School of Management, the Netherlands, where he teaches organizational behavior and strategic human resource management in the MBA and in-company executive programs. In addition, Bill is an independent consultant at Collins Consultancy.
Bill holds a Ph.D. and a Master of Science in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Texas A&M University in College Station.
Bill started his career working as Internal Human Resource Consultant at the Georgia Power Company in Atlanta, while simultaneously working on his Ph.D., and subsequently as Human Resource Management Consultant for Towers Perrin. Bill then moved to Spain where he worked at the Instituto de Empresa in Madrid. Here he held several functions, including executive director, internal consultant, coordinator of faculty recruitment, and professor.
After spending almost 5 years in Madrid, Bill moved to the Netherlands where he began working at the RSM Erasmus University. Soon after arriving in the Netherlands, he founded Collins Consultancy and became a visiting faculty at Leiden University.
Bill enjoys spending his spare time reading and traveling.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Partner of the Center for Strategy & Leadership
David-Jan Romijn is associate partner of the Center for Strategy & Leadership. He is specialized in strategy formulation, implementation/change and realisation, as well as a practical teacher for management teams and individuals. He studied food technology and management and holds an MBA in global e-commerce.
For 15 years, David-Jan worked mainly for large American industrial food companies like Cargill and ADM. His last position was vice-president of the cocoa division (covering plants in The Netherlands, Brazil, Ivory Coast, Singapore, China, UK and Poland) in combination with a position as a general manager of the Dutch business.
In 2000, David-Jan, together with a business partner, started a hands-on consultancy firm focused on supporting executive management in the alignment of strategy, business goals and management. From the start their services were directed at interim management, change processes, cultural integration and people development. He is working with Ron Meyer since 2002 executing programmes on strategy and leadership in a diverse range of companies and industries.
David-Jan has five children together with his partner and likes to keep a healthy work/life balance. Culture, history, society and healthy food are his main interests.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Partner of the Center for Strategy & Leadership
Dr. Peer Ederer is an associate partner of the Center for Strategy & Leadership and Director of the Human Capital Project of the Brussels-based Lisbon Council. Furthermore, he heads the Innovation and Growth Project of Zeppelin University, Friedrichshafen and is the Academic Director of the European Food and Agribusiness Seminar.
His clients comprise some of the fastest growing companies in Europe, with CEO's who want to accelerate growth through innovation and value-creation oriented strategies and regional governments interested in innovation-led economic growth.
Peer studied Business Administration at Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan and at Harvard Business School in Boston, USA. He completed his PhD at the University of Witten Herdecke in Germany, exploring the financial relationship between the state and its citizens.
In 1995, he co-authored the best-selling book Das Erbe der Egoisten, a socio-economic comparison of Germany, Japan and USA. In 1999, he co-authored a second best-selling book, Geschäftsbericht Deutschland AG, an analytical description of the German state as if it were a stock market quoted company. Numerous articles and brochures have followed on this subject, including participation on a variety of expert panels for the German government. In 2008, his newest study Geschäftsplan Deutschland was published, analyzing the need to increase investment in human capital in the German economy.
Peer started his business career as a financial trader at Deutsche Bank in Japan, trading interest rate derivatives and money market instruments. He worked for four years in the German office of McKinsey & Co specializing on issues of technology management and business growth. He subsequently co-founded a Dutch technology company specializing in food supplements. He also co-founded the think tank "Deutschland Denken!", which is creating and publishing innovative public policy choices for the German society.
The underlying theme to Peer's background ranging from financial trader, public policy expert to technology start-up entrepreneur is his long-standing love-affair and fascination with the power of strategy. Strategy is the "poor-man's tool" to be successful against the odds by generating innovation and growth.
Job Titles:
- Managing Director
- Managing Director of the Center for Strategy & Leadership
- Professor of Strategic Leadership at Tias School for Business and Society
Dr. Ron Meyer is managing director of the Center for Strategy & Leadership, an international consulting and management development organization, dedicated to improving companies' competences in the areas of strategic thinking, leadership, entrepreneurship, business innovation and change management.
Ron is also Professor of Strategic Leadership at Tias School for Business and Society, Tilburg University, where he conducts research in the areas of strategy and leadership, and teaches in a variety of post-experience educational programs.
Ron studied Political Science at the University of Alberta in his native Canada and got his MBA and PhD at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam. From 1987 to 1998 he was assistant professor of strategic management at the Rotterdam School of Management. During this period he taught strategy in 15 countries, at universities and in companies, and acted as consultant to a wide variety of firms. For two years he was also Associate Director of RSM, in charge of managing the MBA Program.
Since 1998, at the Center for Strategy & Leadership and its predecessors, Ron has combined boardroom consultancy work with in-company trainings and applied management research. As consultant he works with many top international companies on such topics as corporate strategy, business innovation, strategic alliances and strategies for growth. As trainer he has given seminars and training courses to hundreds of companies around the world and lectured at more than 30 universities.
He has (co-)authored numerous articles and books, among which the internationally leading textbook on strategic management, Strategy - Process, Content, Context: An International Perspective. Over 250.000 copies have been sold so far and the book is used at more than 200 business schools around the world. In 2005 the 2nd edition was published of Strategy Synthesis: Resolving Strategy Paradoxes to Create Competitive Advantage. His next book, Mapping the Mind of the Strategist, was published in 2007. In 2014 the 4th edition was published of Strategy Synthesis, while his latest book, Leadership Agility: Developing Your Repertoire of Leadership Styles, was published in 2017
Ron is married, has five children and together their goal is to see as much of the world as possible.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Managing Director of Circle Holding
George van Evert is managing director of Circle Holding, which focuses on business development, boardroom coaching and strategy consultancy. In addition, George is Business Development Director at Projactive, a search and contracting firm for marketing, communication and sales positions in the Netherlands and abroad.
George holds an MA in English Literature from Leiden University in the Netherlands.
At the start of his career George was an editor/publisher of scientific journals and books. After that he started as an independent publisher of commercial books about the film industry. In 1989 a major career switch was made by joining the international training/coaching company Krauthammer International. For more than 12 years, George designed and taught numerous executive and in-company management, leadership and sales programs at business schools, corporate academies and international corporations in a variety of industries and countries.
In 2001 he became Managing Director of Projactive and in 2006 he started to combine the best of both worlds i.e. business development and strategy coaching/ consultancy at boardroom level, including both commercial and non-profit organizations.
George is married and has two children. He is a fanatic golf player and an active sportsman in the field of tennis and skiing.
Hans de Groot is associate partner at Center for Strategy & Leadership, where he teaches about customer-centricity and facilitates companies in developing and implementing outside-in-driven strategies. He is also the owner of XtroVision, a consultancy that takes a hands on approach to helping firms to improve their business performance by refocusing them around customers.
Hans studied aerospace engineering at the Royal Military Academy in Breda, the Netherlands. During his career he followed a number of business programs, including a management development program at Nyenrode Business University and the Advanced Strategic Management program at IMD in Lausanne.
Hans spent the first 25 years of his career in a number of different management roles. He started as a unit-leader at the Dutch defense IT organization DTO, where he was responsible for complete business process redesign. After that he became business unit manager at the IT service provider Getronics, where he set up an entirely new business line. As a managing director of Imtech ICT he was responsible for the strategy and successful integration of four acquired companies into one strong player in the ICT networking and collaboration business in the Netherlands.
As a director at the Imtech head office in Gouda, Hans was asked to take the lead in developing the relations with the growing number of international key clients. He was also responsible for defining cross-divisional and cross-border client propositions and implementing a structure within the decentralized Imtech organization to facilitate this.
Typical for Hans's approach is that he combines thinking and doing. He loves to analyze complex situations and drill down into the essentials, to be able to move to decision-making and action. Hans brings people along with his easy, clear and open way of communication and his sense of humor.
Hans has a partner, two children and is quite active at speed skating, biking, sailing, golf and tennis.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Consultant
- Certified Executive Coach
Lisa Ross-Marcus is an internationally certified executive coach and intercultural consultant. Through her company In-coaching, she coaches and facilitates programs for a wide range of professionals from young talents, to emerging women leaders and C-Suite executives, in both the corporate and NGO sectors.
As an associate at the Center for Strategy & Leadership, she brings on board her diverse skills and international experience in professional/personal development. Lisa's passion is helping her clients to achieve their goals by encouraging them to think creatively and raise awareness of both their own internal barriers and untapped resources of strength. Her coaching provides a process for individuals to make strategic and meaningful choices about developing their leadership skills, in alignment with their values and well-being.
Lisa was a senior corporate communication trainer for 10 years, leading/co-leading programs throughout Europe (including Russia), USA and Asia for multi-nationals in the financial, industrial, manufacturing, petrochemical and pharmaceutical sectors.
She is a licensed TIP (The International Profiler) intercultural coach and delivers training programs to business partners going on assignment in both the USA and The Netherlands.
Born and raised in New York, Lisa traveled to Europe as a student to pursue her dream of becoming a professional dancer. After several years in Paris, she settled in The Netherlands, where she enjoyed a successful international career as a choreographer, theater director and performer before shifting her focus to professional coaching and training.
Lisa is married to Lee Ross and together they have a daughter Chiara, blended with Lee's two adult children, their partners and grandchildren. Lisa's favorite leisure activity is designing flash-mob surprise parties.
Roemer Visser's main interest is in unlocking the enormous potential in individuals and teams to achieve superior performance, engagement, and fulfillment at work. Roemer has designed and delivered leadership development programs for clients such as Van Oord, Atradius, Goodyear Dunlop, Royal HaskoningDHV, Marel, and Belkin.
Roemer's career includes practitioner and academic roles in both the Netherlands and the United States. He has been a faculty member at TIAS School for Business and Society since 2016. Prior to this, he was Executive Professor at Texas A&M University's Mays School of Business.
He has a strong record in creating value in areas such as teams, culture, dilemma management, integrity, communication skills, and more recently, authenticity and trustworthiness in leadership. Roemer holds a Master's degree in Industrial/Organizational Psychology and a Doctorate in Human Resource Development. As both a Dutch and U.S. national, Roemer is a native speaker in both Dutch and English.
Job Titles:
- Associate
- Associate Partner at the Center for Strategy & Leadership
- Member of Manemo, a Business
- Senior Trainer at Materne Training
Rudy Klopsch is associate partner at the Center for Strategy & Leadership, where he works as trainer in leadership development programs and coaches managers and professionals to increase their personal impact, effectiveness and work pleasure.
Rudy is also member of manemo, a business consultancy co-operative in his home town of Munich that is specialized in the areas of sustainability, change management, performance improvement and leadership development. Here he supports companies on their way to long-term sustainability, focusing on the combination of strategic and operational leadership. Besides business consultancy, he also coaches and trains individuals.
Furthermore, Rudy is a Senior Trainer at Materne Training, a leading Communication Training Institute in Germany, where he is active in the areas of leadership, team building, interpersonal communication and presence. He also regularly teaches social skills programs at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich.
Sylvia is MD of StepUp4Coaching Ltd that she founded over 20 years ago upon the firm belief that coaching has the ability to transform peoples' lives. Today this belief is even stronger than ever. Her core business is coaching senior leaders and teams across the globe, designing and facilitating Leadership Programs and developing internal coaching pools for businesses.
Sylvia has an MBA with distinction, is a qualified Coach and ICF accredited Supervisor of Coaches.
Sylvia's coaching is steeped in a deep understanding of business strategy and operations, organisational culture and learning in fast moving global environments. She works systemically to help individuals and teams to make sense of the VUCA world, to recognise the intangibles and to overcome self-limiting beliefs that can inhibit performance. She supports her clients to generate greater self-awareness and insight into their impact and their own personal sense of purpose.
She has a unique coaching style - coaching the whole person - not just the work persona to help her clients achieve their true potential. She establishes credibility quickly with even the most sceptical people and helps them achieve the results they are seeking, both in business and personally. Sylvia combines warmth and empathy with challenge, to great effect and can be relied upon to use her good sense of humour to help people regain perspective.
She has worked across the globe from the US to Russia and really appreciates the rich learning from different cultures. Sylvia's clients include PwC, Astra Zeneca, Saint Gobain, Philips and DLL, as well as the UK Home Office.