News

Heidi Mitchell of The Wall Street Journal asked me to reflect on the question how you can use silence in meetings. Not a simple question because in the meetings I observed a lot was unsaid but at the same time there was no silence. Many topics, many people, little time. How can silence be created and which what effect?

If there is friction between the living environment and the system, then it is time for something different. According to Marilieke Engbers, we need a culture in which people become aware of what is not said. What does this ask of us and why is it so difficult to change?

The management book jury of 6 has nominated Onder Commissarissen for the shortlist of management book of the year 2022. What an honour.

According to VU economist Marilieke Engbers, there is much more hidden behind decision-making in large boardrooms than can be read in the transcripts of meetings. "Much remains unspoken."

Current governance codes suggest that monitoring is 'do-able'. As long as you follow the rules and implement best practices. But the range of duties for the supervisory director is only expanding, says Marilieke Engbers in Onder Commissioners.

Economist Marilieke Engbers obtained her doctorate on what happens at the top of the Dutch business community, or rather what doesn't happen. How is it possible that things sometimes go so terribly wrong in Supervisory Boards? 'A good leader is also vulnerable,' says Engbers in conversation with BNR.

Ralf Beekveldt: Everyone wants to work together, right? Certainly. But does it work for everyone and is it always desirable? Ralf Beekveldt, director/publisher, states in this article that collaboration also has a dark side. He describes his experiences in the publishing house, where different generations work together. And in conversation with Marilieke Engbers, author of the book Onder Commissarisen, he compares his experiences with her research in 'the cockpit of the business community'.

Article in de Volkskrant, written by Kustaw Bessems in response to the podcast that was made in the context of the Helmless theme.

Stop choosing leaders who act like they know everything Why do leaders make the same mistakes so often, from your department manager to the Prime Minister? Because they do not look for their own wrong, explains economist Marilieke Engbers, who listened in dozens of times like a fly on the wall at the top of administrative Netherlands. With Kustaw Bessems she talks about her specialism: that which is not said, but is meant. And explains why critics such as Pieter Omtzigt or Sylvana Simons encounter so much resistance and why the corona approach is so sensitive to errors.

Ronald Buitenhuis interviewed me for NR Governance for the Governance Update about my book Onder Commissarissen.

Would you like to know more about non-directors? In this podcast I speak with management book about the Supervisory Board dynamics and why so much remains unsaid.

In the second part of the theme meeting on November 23, 2021, Marilieke Engbers presented her book 'Among supervisory directors – How the unsaid in the boardroom influences decision-making.'

This week a guest at BNR Doing Business with Thomas van Zijl in response to the publication of my book. My contribution can be heard from about 58 minutes.

'Among supervisory directors - how the unsaid in the boardroom influences decision-making' is a book written by Marilieke Engbers. In this podcast, Hans Geurts receives two guests to talk about this book: Marilieke Engbers herself and VTW director Albert Kerssies. What exactly is the "unsaid"?

Did you miss the De Mens Centraal inspiration session? The session can now be viewed online!

The online lecture 'Kracht en Tegenkracht' was recently recorded, in collaboration with Dr Marilieke Engbers, Prof. Dr Ernst Kuipers (Chairman of the MC Erasmus) and Hedy van den Berk (Director of the Havensteder housing corporation). A current and important theme, which each of us has to deal with in his or her (work) practice. We would therefore like to give you an insight into this unique lecture and offer you the first dialogue module free of charge. Would you like to know more and view the full lecture? Then we would like to refer you to the online learning environment of the Academy for Supervisors and Commissioners, where you can easily purchase the lecture (€ 125) and see where and when it suits you.

I am proud to announce that my book will be for sale in the bookshop from November 25, 2021. The book can also be reserved and purchased online via various links such as managementboek.nl, Bruna, bol.com, etc. I hope that you as a reader will enjoy reading and learning and especially hope that we start a dialogue about the impossibility of monitoring jointly, how to normalize irrationality together and think together about how we can make irrationality an explicit part of our policies, rules and codes and thus 'institutionalize' .

I defended my thesis more than a year ago. Due to Corona many parties and meetings were canceled in which I had planned to share my thesis. As a result, I still have about 50 dissertations at home. If you are interested in receiving a copy, order the book via the page on this website. I am asking 15 euros for the book. The amount that I have left after transport costs I will donate to a good cause.

A greater compliment for my work than this sentence is unimaginable: “And again and again the unsaid is more important than the saying, to use the words of an esteemed and befriended scientist.” Thanks Kees

The secretary as servant leader in the boardroom. The secretary often knows better than anyone what remains unsaid in the boardroom and also experiences many dilemmas around what he or she does not say. Last Friday, together with Arthur Hol, I reflected on the meaning of the unsaid in the boardroom, also in relation to the role of the secretary. This interview will be available in the closed ACS section of Governance University at the end of March.

In the magazine Good Governance & Supervision (2021 March) my article 'the effect of the unsaid in the boardroom' was published. An attempt to package my dissertation in an article with a relatively small number of words. I hope the readers can appreciate the article. If anyone has read it and has feedback for me, I'd love to hear it.

The role of the Supervisory Board as an employer deserves more professional attention in these times, when housing associations are facing major social challenges. Monika Milz (GovernanceSupport) and Marilieke Engbers (researcher report Kracht en tegenkracht) each give their vision on this theme as the author of a VTW guide.

In de laatste 10 minuten van deze video, in gesprek met Maarten Bouwhuis en Guido van Woerkom (voorzitter van de VTW) over botsende meningen in een raad, paradigmaconflicten en paradigmaverkleving en hoe daarmee om te gaan.

It is official! I have signed the contract with Uitgeverij Business Contact! I am writing a book about conflicts and the unsaid in the boardroom. The book is a translation of my doctoral research into practice. It will therefore also be about governance paradigms, about implicit and explicit decisions, about different speaking cultures and about the unspoken conflict in the boardroom.

In a series of webinars, we discuss scientific articles related to boards, leadership and governance