Nicole Edelenbos
“I want to add value: that’s my sole driving force.”
Nicole is naturally curious and often intuitively senses when much more is going on than people are willing to tell you. “I can’t help it, it’s a sixth sense I’ve always had. For a long time, I never wanted to put this skill into practice but in the last few years I started to sharpen these senses once I found they can add substantial value.”
There’s no hocus-pocus about it, as it’s mainly based on extremely clinical scrutiny of dynamics within the top levels of organisations. “That may be true,” explains Nicole, “but it’s more than just thinking analytically. At this level, everyone is analytical, so that doesn’t give you any edge at all.”
Trusted Advisor
Within boardrooms, she is able to package her feedback in a very diplomatic manner, often in the form of questions. “I create trust and offer a safe space. Although I refuse to ignore what I see and will never keep quiet if I think I can help, I try to give advice in a manner that is not threatening. My goal is to help people work together more effectively as I really believe that a strong team is the key to success.”
Future Female Leaders Program
“I set up FFL because I saw that too many women with the potential and the ambition to get to the top were deciding to leave.
At the start of my career, I worked in extremely male sectors: insurance, property and football. At first, it never occurred to me that my being a woman would affect my career. I only realised this later after seeing that too many women with the potential and the ambition to get to the top were deciding to leave.”
During her career, Edelenbos noticed that women are viewed differently and that valuable female qualities are appreciated less than male qualities despite the fact that many women have much more to offer than they are currently able to show.
Nicole Edelenbos is also the founder and partner of Edelenbos Executive Solutions, a network of clients, professionals and executive managers. Edelenbos Executive Solutions specialises in interim and permanent management solutions, particularly in relation to change processes and crisis situations.
In addition to FFL and EdelenbosHessels, Nicole is also chairwoman of the board of the women’s football league CEV, a member of the Advisory Board of RB CIF, a board member of the Dool Industries Foundation and founder of the Sioo programmes ‘Management and Modernisation of Healthcare’ and ‘Successful Hospital Boards’. She is also an in-demand guest speaker and day chairwoman for various conferences, including Kluwer, Ondernemende Juristen and OSR Legal Training.
