Interview written by: Laura van de Burgt
Are they getting sentimental about their approaching retirement? No. But they do feel the weight of the upcoming change. After ten years at the helm of Sioux Technologies together, Erik van Rijswijk (COO) and Leon Giesen (CEO) will say goodbye on January 1st, 2025. They do not intend to regularly visit Sioux for coffee after that: gone is gone, they are not going to get in anyone's way. But they will continue to see each other privately, as it is safe to say that they have become friends over the years. ‘We are totally different, which is precisely why it works so well between us.’
That their lives will look completely different as of January is a given for both of them. But there is a big difference in the way Erik and Leon are preparing for this new phase of life. Leon prefers to keep his agenda as empty as possible, but Erik already has a list of new projects ready.
How typical is it Leon, that Erik has already made a list, and you haven't?
‘That love for planning is typical Erik, he likes control. I have that need much less, and not at all at the moment. For years I've lived with a full agenda, I like not having to do anything for a while. I like that unknown.'
What's on that to-do list of yours, Erik?
‘To start with, I will take Spanish lessons. Apart from that, I want to learn to play harmonica; I have already found a teacher. We also have nice trips planned to Thailand, Canada and Norway. Furthermore, I want to keep doing lots of sports, playing golf and mountain biking. And I have agreed with my wife Roos that we will visit a city in the Netherlands every month - by train, with the 65-plus card, ha! - and then we'll see what time we get home. I am a planner, yes, I like to be prepared. But my list is not set in stone you know. I decide what to do with it.'
Don't Erik's plans also prompt you to take a little action, Leon?
No, not at all. I know what I don't want. I'm not going to tidy up the house room by room like my wife wants, I'm not going to do chores at the houses of the children, and I won't become a babysitter who cycles to the petting zoo with the grandchildren every week. Nor does my wife need to worry that I want to go everywhere together with her. I would like to do something useful with my free time, but in what form that will be, I'll see.'
And your wife Erik, what does she expect?
‘The other day I said to her jokingly that I also wanted to join the choir she sings in - well, I didn't have to try that. We are good at giving each other some freedom.'
What is the secret of your collaboration within Sioux? You are completely different.
Leon: ‘The fact that we are each other's opposites is precisely our strength. Because we look at things differently, we complement each other, which we have always seen as an advantage. For example, Erik is very technical, I absolutely am not. Erik thinks about things at length before making a decision, I take decisions more quickly. What's important is mutual respect and trust. Together we get further than on our own.’
Erik: ‘I remember when we went to the Swiss city of Écublens to talk to a customer about a possible new project. Sitting there at the table, Leon suddenly made a proposal we hadn't discussed at all. I thought: what is he doing? But he did land the deal.’
Leon: ‘Commercially speaking, I am more inclined to overcome risks, but I still greatly appreciate Erik's reflective character. Of course, later on we calculated that proposal thoroughly together. If it hadn't been a good deal in the end, I would have simply gone back to the table.’
Erik: ‘But that wasn't necessary. Écublens was one of our most successful projects ever.'
What was the most important moment in your collaboration?
Erik: ‘The beginning, I think. The acquisition of mechatronics expert CCM in 2014 was very decisive for Sioux, as it allowed us to grow from ‘secondment agency’ to product developer. Leon joined as CEO shortly after the acquisition and played a crucial role in this. I never had the ambition to run a big company - I already thought 100 employees was a lot. But Leon oversaw that; he managed Sioux very well through that complex period.'
Leon: ‘The merger could only be successful if the CCM employees really became part of Sioux. I had to work hard on that, because highly educated people can still be headstrong. By allowing them to work on projects together from the start, we succeeded. It gives Sioux a unique position: we are not makers, we are developers.'
Did you ever lie awake worrying about your work?
Erik: ‘I found the first months of the corona crisis terrible. Suddenly everyone had to work from home, I didn't like that at all. If our technical infrastructure hadn't been able to cope with the extensive working from home, we wouldn't have been able to serve our customers. Then it would have been the end of Sioux. I really slept poorly because of that.’
Leon: ‘I was almost at my wit's end a few times during the ThermoFisher Ultra-X project. It was a fantastic, challenging, multidisciplinary project, but we really had no idea what we were getting into. We had agreed to produce this innovative sensor for a microscope ourselves, but we had absolutely nothing in place for that. It led to tough discussions with the customer several times: together we had got into a boat we couldn't and didn't want to get out of. In the end, it all worked out fine. Because of that project, we also increased our value considerably for other customers.’
How does it feel to say goodbye to Sioux after all these adventures?
Erik: ‘Double. I dedicated 29 years of my life to Sioux and now I'm jumping off the moving train. At 50, I wanted to be independent and have the freedom to do something else. That worked out; however I never needed that freedom, I still liked Sioux way too much. From then on, I decided for myself every year whether I could still add enough value to the company. When I turned 60, I felt more and more strongly that it was time for a new generation. So, I'm at least five years overdue.'
Leon: 'I've only been working at Sioux for 10 years, I'm a lateral entrant. I had been saying for years that I would stop in 2024. That does not alter the fact that I will miss this special company. There are so many smart, energetic people walking around here. I really enjoyed those interactions.'
Isn't it exciting for Sioux that two heavyweights are quitting at the same time?
Leon: ‘Behind the scenes, we've been working on the handover to Rene for the past one and a half years and next to that, the Executive Team consists of people who have been working for Sioux for a long time. So, I have every confidence in them. Moreover, Erik and I will stay on board as executive advisors. If Rene needs it, he can always come to us for advice. However, we won't just drop by for coffee; the initiative is up to him.'
Erik: ‘We have worked with Rene for six years, so we know that he embraces Sioux's company culture. Rene realizes that our employees are our most precious asset. We have created a safe and inspiring working environment that allows people to flourish. The brainpower within Sioux is phenomenal, I am incredibly proud of that. Rene understands that this is the basis for our success.'
Erik, as co-founder, aren't you actually a personification of the company culture?
Erik: ‘I like to think so. For example, the fact that we as board members don't have our own parking space is because we really believe that everyone is equally important. That's also why Leon and I always took the time to get to know new employees; and not by running off a dull PowerPoint, but by really engaging in conversation.’
Leon: ‘The atmosphere at Sioux is indeed great, which is mainly thanks to Erik and Hans. The core values they formulated almost 30 years ago are really being lived. They are not empty slogans. You don't see that very often.'
How do you look at the future of tech?
Erik: ‘The developments in our field are going so fast that I don't venture into predictions. But in a general sense, I mostly see opportunities. Isn't it great that surgeons will soon be able to see whether the cut edges are clean while removing a tumor, thanks to our technology? I still find innovations like that the most wonderful thing about our profession: we can make the world a better place.'
Leon: ‘I'm sure we'll talk about it when we're fishing together, somewhere in Helmond by the canal.’
