Maarten van Beek
- Auteur
Maarten van Beek writes about work as if it were life - because, in truth, it is. For nearly three decades he has moved through organisations large and small, from factory floors humming with routine to boardrooms echoing with ambition - including ING, Unilever and Mölnlycke. He has served, among other roles, as CHRO and carried global responsibility for branding and communications. Along the way he discovered something unsettling: strategy is rarely the hardest part; behaviour is.
He has lived across five continents, travelling from Geleento Leiden, Beijing, Geneva, Ithaca (NY), London, São Paulo, Singapore, Gothenburg and The Hague He reads people, senses a room, and understands how organisations move and connect.
He has lived across five continents, travelling from Geleento Leiden, Beijing, Geneva, Ithaca (NY), London, São Paulo, Singapore, Gothenburg and The Hague He reads people, senses a room, and understands how organisations move and connect.
Maarten van Beek writes about work as if it were life - because, in truth, it is. For nearly three decades he has moved through organisations large and small, from factory floors humming with routine to boardrooms echoing with ambition - including ING, Unilever and Mölnlycke. He has served, among other roles, as CHRO and carried global responsibility for branding and communications. Along the way he discovered something unsettling: strategy is rarely the hardest part; behaviour is.
He has lived across five continents, travelling from Geleento Leiden, Beijing, Geneva, Ithaca (NY), London, São Paulo, Singapore, Gothenburg and The Hague He reads people, senses a room, and understands how organisations move and connect.
Maarten teaches, thinks and writes. He has served on boards and supervisory boards including Cordaid, UAF (the NGO for Student Refugees), NPO (Dutch Public Broadcasting), the Dutch Employers’ Association (AWVN), and the International Leadership Association (ILA).
He wrote HR Impact: The Power of Craftsmanship (2020). His columns blend lived experience, research, gentle provocation and a touch of dry humour. He believes sharpness can coexist with kindness, and that reflection often travels further than outrage.
When not writing, he walks through The Hague’s ‘Zeeheldenkwartier’, studies art with patient curiosity, cooks for friends, or retreats to his wine cellar — where conversations slow, certainty softens, and honesty, like good wine, improves with age.
He has lived across five continents, travelling from Geleento Leiden, Beijing, Geneva, Ithaca (NY), London, São Paulo, Singapore, Gothenburg and The Hague He reads people, senses a room, and understands how organisations move and connect.
Maarten teaches, thinks and writes. He has served on boards and supervisory boards including Cordaid, UAF (the NGO for Student Refugees), NPO (Dutch Public Broadcasting), the Dutch Employers’ Association (AWVN), and the International Leadership Association (ILA).
He wrote HR Impact: The Power of Craftsmanship (2020). His columns blend lived experience, research, gentle provocation and a touch of dry humour. He believes sharpness can coexist with kindness, and that reflection often travels further than outrage.
When not writing, he walks through The Hague’s ‘Zeeheldenkwartier’, studies art with patient curiosity, cooks for friends, or retreats to his wine cellar — where conversations slow, certainty softens, and honesty, like good wine, improves with age.
Expertise volgens het gepubliceerde werk: vakmanschap, essays
Boeken van Maarten van Beek
Maarten van Beek
HR Impact - De kracht van vakmanschap
De vele inzichten en voorbeelden in dit boek bieden een breed perspectief en geven HR-professionals handvatten om richting te geven aan de toekomst.
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Maarten van Beek
Thoughts
In these essays Van Beek reflects on leadership, organisations, work, power and craft -often with facts and research, sometimes with stories from the places where real work happens, and occasionally from the wine cellar where real conversations tend to begin once the meeting has officially ended.
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Interviews en artikelen (3)
interview
Niemand is perfect, we maken allemaal fouten
| 27 augustus 2026
Regels, functiehuizen en ingesleten gewoontes geven organisaties houvast, maar kunnen de menselijke maat ook in de weg zitten. Maarten van Beek, Chief Purpose & Strategy Officer bij ING, pleit voor meer vrijheid en luchtigheid op het werk. Aan de hand van drie stellingen vertelt hij over de rol van HR, de druk om perfect te zijn en het theater dat we met z’n allen in organisaties opvoeren.