Martijn ten Klooster succeeds Sergej van de Bilt as director of Pondera Consult as of March 6. Sergej will continue to work within Pondera as senior consultant and partner. Martijn takes over the daily management from Sergej and together with Paul Janssen as deputy director, will form the new management of Pondera Consult. In his new role, Martijn will focus mainly on client relations, while Paul will remain the point of contact for the internal organization. Below, Martijn and Sergej outline the decision.
About his choice to step down as general manager after two years, Sergej explains the following: “It was a tough decision, but I think it was the right one for both myself and Pondera. First of all, being able to lead a great company that I was part of setting up feels like an honour. But I ask a lot of myself, sometimes maybe too much. That meant I was working more and more and there was less time for what I also consider important. One of which is spending time with my sons Pepijn and Benjamin aged 5 and 7. When I noticed that I was working too often and had to put aside other things for it, I expressed my doubts. I don’t believe you can run a business with enthusiasm if you have doubts about it yourself. Things moved quickly after that, also because a solution was available with Martijn. I am now returning to do more project work as a senior consultant, which gives me a lot of energy. And besides that I still have a thousand-and-one ideas for the organization, time will tell what crosses my path.”
Martijn on his new role: “I joined Pondera at the same time as Sergej in 2008. Together with Hans and Eric, we had the opportunity to build the company from its start to what it is today. The switch of the daily management from Hans and Eric to Sergej and Paul during the corona years was not an easy task. Sergej and Paul did a really good job on handling that together. I’ve had great conversations with everyone about this new role, which gives me confidence that together with Paul and all my colleagues I have a super exciting task in managing Pondera. My passion and commitment lies in working on the ever accelerating sustainable transition. As Pondera, we are at the forefront of complex and ever-changing, new tasks. I would like to get people enthusiastic about this, both inside and outside Pondera. In the coming period, I am especially eager to discuss on how we can do that ever better!”
The shareholders and management team of Pondera Consult are happy to have found a capable successor in Martijn and wish Sergej, Martijn and Paul all the best in continuing Pondera’s ambitions.
