Sander Tideman is a researcher, author, entrepreneur and executive coach in sustainable leadership. He works with leaders to build flourishing organizations equipped to address the unprecedented challenges of today. He has worked for and consulted with leading organizations on three continents.
A former international lawyer, senior finance executive and board member of companies and NGOs, he is the founding director at Triple Value Leadership. He is also executive director of Garrison Institute International and a Senior Faculty member of Mobius Executive Leadership in Boston and Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, in the Netherlands.
Education: Sander’s academic training reflects his interest in East-West integration: he studied International Law at University of Utrecht, International Economic Law at London School of Economics, while also completing a degree in Asian Affairs and Philosophy at the London School of Oriental and African Studies. He deepened his understanding of the East by studying Chinese culture in Taiwan and Buddhist philosophy in Nepal.
Career: Sander started his career in 1986 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. As a consultant he worked on assignments for UNDP, The World Bank/IFC and the Asian Development Bank.
He co-founded and managed Spirit in Business (Massachusetts), worked for Teleos Leadership Institute (Philadelphia), co-founded and managed the Global Leaders Academy (London/Amsterdam), co-founded the Bridge Fund Europe and served as CEO of Mind & Life Europe (Switzerland). He also served on the executive board of the Netherlands Council for Sustainable Development/NCDO. The government of Bhutan asked him to co-create the first international conference on Gross National Happiness in Bhutan, which spearheaded a global movement in well-being economies.
Mission: Sander’s overall mission is to help the leadership of organizations to help solve today’s pressing environmental and societal challenges. By integrating insights from modern science and wisdom traditions, Sander’s aim is to help leaders transform (their organisations) into a force for positive sustainable change, working with (rather than against) the principles of inner and outer nature.
Research and Publications: Sander has explored what type of leadership is needed for leaders to be successful in the face of today’s social and environmental challenges, which he describes in his highly acclaimed book Triple Value Leadership (Routledge 2022). Other books of Sander Tideman are: Doing Business in China (1996), Mind over Matter – Towards Economics with a Heart (2009), Business as an Instrument of Societal Change (2016) and Buddhist Economics (2020). Sander’s articles have appeared in respected journals such as The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, NRC Handelsblad, The Economist and Journal for Corporate Citizenship.
Nelson Mandela said “There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.
