Sander Tideman

Sander Tideman a Senior Research Associate at the Business & Society Center of Rotterdam School Management, Erasmus University, Senior Fellow at Garrison Institute in New York, and Chairman of Education of the Heart. He developed a practice in Shared Value Leadership & Strategy for multinational companies, NGO’s and public agencies, working on issues such as sustainability strategy, stakeholder/value chain integration, systemic risk, social entrepreneurship, creating shared value/impact, and leadership development. His takes special interest in China/Asia where he has taken on high-level assignments on complex and sensitive sustainability issues, and where he lived for ten years.

Mr Tideman’s consulting practice is inspired by his research work at the intersection of sustainability, organizational dynamics, psychology and neuro-science. He started his career by practicing law at Baker & McKenzie (Amsterdam and Taipei office). In 1989 he turned to international finance by becoming Country Director for ABN AMRO Bank in China (responsible for offices in Beijing and Shanghai), Vice President Structured Finance at ABN AMRO Bank in Amsterdam and Regional Manager Eastern Europe and Asia for Triodos Bank (The Financial Times’ Most Sustainable Bank of the Year in 2009). He went on to complement his legal/financial expertise with leadership, strategy and organizational change, as he believed that these are indispensible knowledge domains for tackling the world’s increasing social and ecological challenges. He then worked for Teleos Leadership Institute in Philadelphia (US), Global Leaders Academy (UK/NL), and was elected board member at the Netherlands Council for Sustainable Development (NCDO).

Sander (co-) authored many articles and books, including Doing Business in China, Sustainable Development in Central Asia, Buddhist Economics; Mind over Matter; Towards a New Paradigm in Leadership of Business and Economics, and Compassion or Competition: Business as Instrument for Positive Change (2013).

His mission is to help organisations to develop the capacity to effectively respond to the new challenges of sustainability through shared value leadership and strategy. Sander’s aim is to help business transform into a force for positive sustainable change, working with (rather than against) the principles of nature. Based on his study and practice of leadership in three continents (Asia, Europe and the US) and many different sectors and types of organizations, he has developed a methodology and practice for leadership to realise this transformation.

Sander received education in International Law (LLM, Utrecht), Asian Affairs and Economics (School of Oriental and African Studies & London School of Economics) and Chinese language and culture at Taiwan National Normal University. He later studied various approaches to psychology, mind-training, organizational dynamics and leadership. He lives with his wife Sandra and three children in the Netherlands. He loves outdoor trekking, skiing, skating, yoga and soccer.