Leadership speaker: Maarten van der Weijden
Maarten van der Weijden is a speaker on leadership: Olympic champion in 2008, former financial manager at Unilever and founder of a foundation that has raised €18 million for 45 cancer research projects. His keynotes of 30 to 60 minutes cover ownership, decisions under pressure and taking people with you towards a distant goal, for boards, management teams, team leaders and leadership programmes.
No obligation · a tailored proposal within one working day
Talks given, for companies, healthcare, education and government
Olympic gold in the 10 km open water, Beijing
Swam the Elfstedentocht, in 2019
Raised for cancer research, 45 studies funded
Who it is for
Maarten van der Weijden is a speaker on leadership for organisations that find a good plan is not enough. The strategy is in place, the targets are clear, and still things stall. People wait and see, problems surface late and responsibility gets passed down to the next layer.
At that point leadership is not in the plan but in behaviour. In the choice someone makes when nobody is watching. Maarten makes that concrete with what he did himself in sport, in business and with his foundation.
In this talk leadership is not only for people with a management title. An employee who puts a problem on the table without being asked is showing leadership too. That is why the talk works as well for a management team as for a wide group of professionals who shape the culture together. The aim is a shared language: afterwards everyone means the same thing by ownership, and you can hold each other to it.
The talk suits:
boards and management teams
team leaders and middle management
leadership and talent programmes
organisations after a merger, a growth spurt or a change of direction
What your audience takes away
Ownership without being asked
Maarten did not wait for someone to ask him to raise money for cancer research. He started himself, and his foundation has now funded 45 research projects with €18 million. He shows what happens when you take responsibility before someone hands it to you.
Making decisions under pressure
During a swim that lasts days and nights you have to decide on little sleep and incomplete information. Maarten tells how he and his team made those decisions, and what that asks of the person in charge.
The day things go wrong
In 2018 his first Elfstedentocht ended early. On a day like that everyone looks at the person at the front. Your audience hears what a leader does then: be honest about what happened, and give the team direction again.
Taking people with you towards a distant goal
Getting from a hospital bed to Olympic gold took years. A goal that lies further ahead than this quarter needs intermediate steps people can see and celebrate. Maarten explains how you keep that up, even when results take a while to come.
The story behind it
Maarten was diagnosed with leukaemia at 19. He was a promising swimmer and overnight he became a patient. After that, he had to start again from zero. Many people thought elite sport was no longer an option for him.
He decided not to wait for someone else to show him the way. He took a sober look at his chances and looked for new techniques and a different way of working. In 2008 he won Olympic gold in the 10 km open water race in Beijing.
Maarten does not tell that story to show how strong he was. He tells it because it is about ownership. About choosing to take responsibility for your own situation, especially when you did not choose that situation yourself.
After his sporting career he worked as a financial manager at Unilever from 2009 to 2015. There he saw the same mechanism in a very different setting. Teams that took ownership and dared to name setbacks kept going longer than teams that only celebrated successes. That combination of experience, from sport and from a large company, makes his story about leadership useful for a management team.
What the talk looks like
Maarten tailors the talk with you beforehand in a short call. What is going on, who will be in the room, which behaviour you want to see more of. Then you choose the format:
Keynote of 30, 45 or 60 minutes, to open or close a leadership day
Keynote with Q&A, where managers can bring up their own dilemmas
Interactive workshop of 60 to 90 minutes for a management team or a group of team leaders
Maarten speaks in Dutch and English. Leadership often overlaps with resilience and teamwork and team building. An overview of all formats is on talks.
Last checked on
Maarten on setting goals
Formats
Every session is prepared with you in advance, around your organisation, your audience and the goal of the day.
| Format | Length | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Keynote | 30, 45 or 60 minutes | The story, the lessons, and what they mean for your organisation. |
| Keynote with Q&A | 45 to 75 minutes | A keynote followed by questions from the audience, with or without a moderator. |
| Interactive workshop | 60 to 90 minutes | Hands-on work with a smaller group on goals, setbacks and teamwork. |
| Event host | Half day or full day | Maarten hosts your programme: he opens, links the speakers and keeps the day on track. |
- Language:
- Dutch and English
- Location:
- On site or online
- For:
- Companies · Healthcare · Education · Government · Sport · Associations
Feedback
De zaal was laaiend enthousiast! De link met het bedrijf Unilever en ons jaar-doel werd meerdere keren herhaald in de lezing en dat maakte het super sterk. Van meerdere mensen gehoord dat ze dit een van de beste sprekers in tijden vonden.
Petra BauerUnilever Food Solutions★★★★★ 5/5 Wat hebben wij genoten van Maarten van der Weijden! Voor ons een schot in de roos. Maarten zijn boodschap, de opbouw van zijn verhaal, zijn aanwezigheid en wijze van presenteren was ‘spot on’ en heeft veel los gemaakt bij mij en onze gasten.
Radboud van der HoornEurocross Assistance
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