1. What have you found most challenging as a leader of a small or medium enterprise?

Time flies by and it's essential to take some well deserved rest every now and then, something that's very hard while constantly trying to maximize productivity and stay in flow.

2. How did you become a leader of an SME? Can you please briefly tell the story?

I was part of the "startup generator" Antler where I met my two co-founders Innocent and Stephanie. Together we formed Aline and got funded

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

I plan on a monthly basis and execute on a daily basis. The monthly plan is always aligned with long term business goals while my daily agenda is flexible and focused on solving at least one Task of Issue per day. That way I always get forward

4. What's the most recent significant leadership lesson you've learned?

Almost on a daily basis; I see new examples of bad bad managers.. Trying to steer a department with power games isn't healthy and ain't leadership, for sure. Be nice to your employees and you'll get in 10X back. Communication is A-Z when it comes to leadership. Find a way to communicate that works for you, if it only takes a few seconds to answer that email, then why to wait?

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

Think and grow rich

6. How do you build leadership capacity in an SME?

Being the type of person who's able and willing to learn, sharing knowledge, being courageous, tackle difficulty and inequalities, respect for the teams opinion

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader of an SME so far?

I'm always celebrating together with the teams every quarter, no matter if the milestone was a complete success. If it was, they get the glory, if not I'm taking the blame. On monday it's back to business and the respect to and from the team is still on top