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Sioux Source 2020Three Olympic gold medals, sixteen European championships and one world title - these are the biggest achievements of former professional swimmer Pieter van den Hoogenband. Currently he is the Chef de Mission of the Dutch Olympic team. Ron Willems, Managing Director Development & Engineering of Sioux Technologies, visited him and found common ground. Being an elite athlete, also in the arena of the international high-tech industry, requires focus, the desire to perform, innovation and – above all – teamwork.
Drive
Ron Willems: "How do you become one of the greatest athletes of our country?"
“At the time of Barcelona 1992, swimming was at an all-time low in the Netherlands. We were not performing, and nobody was interested in it. I was swimming at youth level and wanted to get to the next Olympics. Our team was promising. However, being successful requires more than talent. I set up the Topzwemmers NL Foundation, looked for sponsors and started building new support and momentum.”
“Realizing this and taking action when you are only 15 is proof of early maturity...”
“To me it was a logical development. At home my parents taught me a few import-ant things, including curiosity and having an entrepreneurial spirit. Several key matters also came together, like the arrival of Jacco Verhaeren, who was already an innovative swimming coach at the time. We wanted to become the best in the world and worked as hard as we could, but we did realize that every achievement was an achievement by the whole team. You
should recognize that...”
“Sioux Technologies was incorporated in 1996. I was one of the first to join. Our drive was and is still enormous. The aim is to be among the best in the world. Among other things, this requires professionalism and a winning mentality. However, our basis is our culture that focuses on people and openness, enjoying what you do, doing this together and working on a
better world, and playing a leading role. That is a deliberate choice. I consider it to be one of my key assignments to protect this.”
“Some people call that a soft value. I look at it as a crucial quality to maximize what you achieve. You can try to swim as hard as you can, but you can also wonder how you can make each other even better.”
“Exactly. Sioux Technologies employs some incredibly smart people. The technological challenges we face are huge. However, at our level, this will only succeed by collaborating and being happy in your work. That is why offering new challenges and development opportunities is highly important.”
“Investing in people means you can weather every storm.”
“You often wonder about what you should be doing now to be prepared later on, for example, by investing in knowledge and innovation.”
Challenges
“Talking about storms, as the Chef de Mission, how are you coping with the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics?”
“Professional athletes know what success means, but they may be even more familiar with disappointment. After being annoyed for three days, everyone changed their mindset and shifted their focus to next year.”
“What do you consider to be your core task?”
“Creating an optimum climate for world-class performance together with everyone involved. The main question is how we can do this better and smarter each time. I am safeguarding a delicate balance here: between having fun and performing.”
“For me, that is exactly the same. We are the guardians of that balance. If you swing too much to one side, you will lose your focus...”
“How is Sioux doing in these strange times?”
“This is not our first crisis; other examples are the bursting of the IT bubble and the credit crunch. Despite these, we have always managed to grow. Work is continuing now as well. But the circumstances are extraordinary. In January we already received the first reports of the virus from our site in Suzhou. Our Outbreak Management Team was up and running before Prime Minister Rutte’s team. The health of our people is our first priority: preventing contamination and making sure that everyone is feeling alright. Contact, also on a personal level, is now more important than ever.”
“Why did you actually accept that job as Chef de Mission?
“I want to bend time and space one more time, make a real difference. To get a clear picture of my capacities, I formed my own committee of critics. When this opportunity arose, I knew that I could do it. And the Olympics have always been a recurring theme in my life anyway.”
“When will your mission be a success?”
“I am not thinking in numbers of medals. It is about everyone getting the most out of themselves. I am also looking for permanent success. The Tokyo Olympics will be followed by many others. Intensifying our collaboration with the business community, e.g. in the field of innovation, can be highly rewarding here. The Tongelreep National Swimming Centre where we are now – a combined training and research lab – is living proof of this. But you can also easily lose the lead you have built up.”
Future
“Standing still means being overtaken.”
“Exactly. But my motivation goes deeper than that. I want to inspire, most of all my kids – to show them what their dad stands for and what you can achieve. We live in times of abundance, but there are many problems as well. I want to make a positive contribution to our society, and think that I can do so. Sport offers a great platform to tell a valuable story. Let go of your ego and focus on the greater whole. We are only here on earth for a short period of time.”
“Do something good with it...”
“That is all. And Sioux? Where will you be in five years” time?”
“We have evolved into an international business with operations in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and China, and back offices in Russia, Vietnam and Romania. A Sioux Campus is now arising around our headquarters in Eindhoven, the latest additions being our creative meeting space Sioux Labs and a new assembly hall. Our mechatronics branch in Nuenen will soon also relocate to this site to ensure that our developers, engineers and assembly are close together. This makes collaboration easier and increases our strength. But our ambition goes beyond that. What we achieved in the Netherlands we also want to achieve in the rest of Europe and China. The Sioux of the not-so-distant future is a globally operating, relevant, multi-disciplinary, high-tech supplier that nobody can ignore. We also want to make a difference.”
