What's it like to work at WesselinkVanZijst? In this interview series, our team members will take you through their workday. What does their work look like and what do they encounter? This time: Stefan Szepesi, director, senior advisor, and head of SSE Academy.

Stefan, you already had an international career behind you when you started at WesselinkVanZijst. How did you end up with us?

‘Ever since my studies in Maastricht, I've had a passion for negotiation. I worked in diplomacy, in the Middle East, studied at Princeton, and collaborated with peers at the Harvard Program on Negotiation.

At one point, I wanted to go back to the Netherlands. With young children, it was time to put down roots. Then I Larry Susskind – one of the best-known American professors in our field – I asked him who I should talk to if I wanted to continue with mutual gains. It was actually a strange question for a Dutchman to ask an American, but then again, I barely knew the Netherlands back then, and he had been visiting here regularly for a very long time.

Susskind referred me to Marc Wesselink and Hans van Zijst. The first introduction felt like coming home: ’Oh, so companies in the Netherlands are also working on this!'

Why do you get so ‘fired up’ about negotiating?

‘Conflict plays a major role in my family history. That goes back to World War II and even before. Negotiation is a peaceful way to deal with conflicts. I am convinced that it is extremely important for people to be much better at that.

There is so much needless suffering in the world – and I don't just mean armed conflicts, but also issues that are resolved destructively. Relationships get damaged, people become unhappy. When that's not necessary. Good negotiation, with an eye for everyone's interests, prevents a lot of misery.’

What makes negotiation so powerful?

‘Many people prefer to talk about collaboration rather than negotiation. But that gives the impression that there are no conflicting interests. Under the guise of ‘collaboration,’ difficult issues often get put aside. When in fact, you have to confront the conflict – go through it, while preserving the relationship. That's what our agency is good at: making difficult and painful things discussable.’

Five years ago you started here, now you're one of the three directors. That went pretty fast...

‘That's right! It has everything to do with how our company is structured. At WesselinkVanZijst, co-ownership is deeply embedded. Everyone who has a permanent contract with us can become a shareholder, and most of them choose to do so.

In some other countries, that's quite normal, but in the Netherlands, employees are rarely shareholders. We've found it works very well. Everyone already took a lot of responsibility, but now with shared ownership, even more so. To keep things manageable, we have three directors: they are Marc, Thijs and I.’

Why did you choose this business structure?

‘Three years ago, the entire team went on a mission and vision trip to Berlin. Founder Hans was going to retire, so the question was what the future of the company would look like. And well, if we advise others to use the mutual gains method for cooperation issues, we must naturally do so ourselves. I think the conversation went very well for us: what are the interests of the company, what are the individual interests of the people who work there? That's partly where the shared ownership comes from.’

Speaking of mission and vision: where does WesselinkVanZijst want to go in the coming years?

‘Contributing to the most difficult societal issues, that's what we're about. That's where we want to be: where there's friction, where things can flare up. Where major interests are at stake. Besides, ‘difficult’ doesn't necessarily have to be national, you know. Processes can be terribly complicated or exciting at a neighborhood level too.

Moreover, we want to remain at the forefront of our field. Strategic environmental management is young and developing rapidly. That's why we publish a lot: books, papers, podcasts. Knowledge sharing is essential because societal and geopolitical trends are making it increasingly difficult to resolve conflicts constructively. As good as we are today will not be good enough tomorrow.

Internationally, we also want to advance the SOM method. We're already doing that: we've provided training in Finland and Germany. However, we don't want to grow too fast. You know, a neighborhood meeting in a gymnasium is at least as educational and valuable as sessions where you sit in fancy chairs in beautifully lit rooms. Anyone who only wants to do that latter kind of consulting work shouldn't come work with us.’

When should you come work for us?

‘If you want to help build the field of environmental management, conflict resolution, and mutual gains. If you want to learn a lot in this area, and also share your knowledge with others. If you enjoy challenging yourself to go outside your comfort zone. And if you like difficult conversations – perhaps also exciting, but above all enjoyable. In short: if you are inspired by SOM and MGA, we are an interesting place.’

Let's go back to your own workday. What does that usually look like?

‘Today was a fairly normal day: partly out and partly desk work. This morning a colleague picked me up. Together we drove to Vattenfall in Amsterdam for an inspiration session on trust. This afternoon I worked from home for the SOM Academy. Participants in the SOM Professional training had to conduct a complex negotiation. Those exercises were recorded and today I watched all the videos. We will discuss the results in the group shortly.

Tomorrow is also fun: our annual knowledge marathon begins. The whole team will spend two days in the heath to work on new knowledge products. For example, we'll record new podcast episodes and write chapters for a new book. During these two days, we are basically not busy with other work matters. I don't know if that will entirely succeed, but my email will be out, at least.’

Finally, what do customers and colleagues not yet know about you?

‘I once wrote a book Walking in the West Bank, many clients probably don't know that. What colleagues might find surprising is that I was born with Swedish citizenship. I have a Hungarian name, people sometimes ask about that – my father is from Budapest. But because he fled to Sweden, he eventually also received a Swedish passport.

I was born in the Netherlands myself, but at the time there was a law that stated your father's nationality determined your own passport. So I was born Swedish and only became Dutch later. Recently, I gave a training to Swedish professionals: I find that extra fun.’

Working at WesselinkVanZijst
At WesselinkVanZijst, we are always looking for driven consultants to strengthen our team. You will help our clients with issues that have a significant social impact. Want to know more? Email us at info@wesselinkvanzijst.nl or get acquainted with one of our advisors.

Director

Stefan Szepesi