'All of our lives are
INTERRELATED - WE MUST
ACT ACCORDINGLY...'
16
talking heads
What'S NliwS Issue 11 November 1996
Herman Wijffels is boss to over 35,000 people, the majority
at the Netherlands, but a growing number is spread all over
the world and probably knows little about him. Reason
enough to put him on the Talking Head hot seat.
To many international Rabo-
bankers he is the man who
opened their office, was rushed
from top level meeting to
meeting, made a speech, then
disappeared back into a plane.
That side of Wijffels is, of
course, part and parcel of being
the chairman of the Rabobank
Group. Yet when the tall, well,
though conservatively dressed
chairman enters the room, he
brings a presence which is
almost tangible. His strength
appears to lie in a quiet
confidence and energy, rather
than in the kind of aggressive
power normally associated with
high-flying, successful business
people. Talking to him, he is
unassuming almost to the point
of circumspection, thinks before
he speaks, and when he
answers, what he says is what
he means. He sees himself
primarily as a colleague, 'as
responsibie for creating an
environment which facilitates
the work field for our people.'
'On a people level, one of the
main problems for a person in
my position in an organization
of this size is that very size,' he
says. 'I meet a lot of our people,
not least through the various
meetings I have to attend. But
most people tend to know my
face from the newspapers.
'In that sense,' he continues, 'I
had an extraordinary
experience last summer. I'm
very fond of cycling and was
allowed to follow the Tour de
France in our own sweep car -
it's one of the privileges of
being in my job, you get to do
things like that,' he laughs with
obvious pleasure. 'One of the
cyclists in our team, Johan
Bruyneel, went into a gorge
while descending a mountain
stage of the race. I was right
there on the spot and helped get
him out. Fortunately, he wasn't
hurt. But our reaction was a
natural reaction - someone's in
trouble, so you help. And
suddenly, I was just a normal
man who is fond of cycling and
not the senior banker of this
organization. That pleased me.
Another thing I really enjoy is
going to our international
offices, to see how we have
evolved over a century from an
essentially domestic bank into
an international organization.
When I'm there, there's not
much opportunity to speak to
our own people. But when
there is an opportunity, I try to
make the most of it. You
mentioned cycling with Betty
Mills and one of her major
clients in Altanta. I was very
curious, how she managed to
combine all her other activities
with a very time-consuming
sports career. We had a chance
to chat - not for long, but I
really enjoyed it.'
Flnjoyment for Wijffels comes in
a multitude of guises. As he sits
chatting in his spacious,
uncluttered office it is hard to
image him wielding a chain
saw. 'We have a small patch of
woodland and every autumn I
take some holiday to do the
preparation work for the
winter.' He also enjoys the
theatre - 'the last performance I
saw was Shakespeare's Measure
for Measure. I loved it.
Shakespeare really understood
people. Our three children, a
twin boy and girl of 21 and a
19-year old son, have all left
home now. They are at different
universities in the Netherlands.
Whenever my work takes me
anywhere near them, I try to
arrange something so that we
can spend time together.' A
Vivaldi concert on the CD
player is also a prefered form of
relaxation. His wife keeps him
up to date on modern literature.
'She teaches Dutch literature
and occasionally she'11 say: You
really should read this.' What
was the last book she
recommended? Grinning
ruefully, he quips: 'She
recommends a lot more than I
can read.'
Wijffels in his garden or
listening to Vivaldi seems a far
cry from the corridors of power
Herman Wijffels: 'I'm primarily a colleague'.
that he walks every day - he is
frequently tipped as a future
government minister.
Recognized as a high-flyer very
early in his career, he was
director of a department at the
Ministry of Agriculture at 29
having already completed a
stint at the European
Commission in Brussels.
'Perhaps my family situation
was one reason I got into
accelerated career
development,' he says, pausing
briefly before adding, 'Fm a
farmer's son and the eldest of
eight children. We lost both our
parents when I was in my early
20s, which is a maturing
experience. At the time, I was a
student, looking forward to an
interesting job, a family and a
good life. The loss of our
parents meant I was suddenly
confronted with real
responsibility.'
Now, accepting responsibility
has almost become his trade
mark and for him responsibility
doesn't stop with our
organization. In the late 1980s,
he began to be aware of just
how serious the problem of
environmental pollution had
become. Today, he is a
recognized and highly respected
advocate of sustainable
development. I am a passionate
pragmatist. We don't live in a
perfect world. You have to take
the existing situation into
account, then carefully design
steps to help you move in the
direction you want to go. That's
how I try to work, combining
the idealistic with the
pragmatic. We are all
responsibie for the world we
live in. If I look at society, then
I see increasingly more groups
of people are being excluded,
people who may not perhaps
have the talents and options to
be successful in this society.
That usually means they cannot
command big salaries. In my
view, there are clearly privileges
attached to being in a senior
position, but also
responsibilities. We must
always be aware that all of our
lives are interrelated and act
accordingly. If you ask what I
feel passionate about, then
that's your answer.'