Annette Ottolini: ‘A supervisory board can sometimes be a pain in the ass’

You retired last summer. Quite a transition?
‘Well, I have always been aware that it would come to an end at some point. And I am perfectly fine with that. I enjoyed working at Evides for almost eleven years. Of course, I miss a few things. Especially the people. But I am very good at switching gears. I have time for other things now. I just read a wonderful book by British-Turkish author Elif Shafak, There are Rivers in the Sky, about my great passion: water. And I am currently in the middle of a book by Mustafa Suleyman about AI - The Coming Wave. I now have time for deepening my knowledge and reflection, and for my supervisory board positions. I enjoy developing further in that area. I will soon be following the Advanced Governance program at Nyenrode University. I am really looking forward to that.’

You are chair of the supervisory board of Vebego, you are on the supervisory board of the Dutch Water Authority Bank (NWB Bank), and you recently took on a board position at Familiehuis Daniel den Hoed in Rotterdam. How do you decide where you want to be on the supervisory board?

‘Actually, I mainly base my decision on gut feeling. A supervisory position has to feel right. It has to be a good fit for me. It might sound a bit pretentious, but I want my supervisory roles to contribute to the greater good. What I do has to be socially relevant, have an impact, and fit in with my beliefs.’

You then make sure you are well-informed before you say yes?

‘Absolutely. For example, I think it is very important to look at the composition of the executive board and the supervisory board. I have to feel that I can contribute something. But the reverse is also true: I also have to feel that I can gain something from it. It is good when there are interesting people on such a board. People of whom I think we might rub each other the wrong way a little, but who are sure to generate a lot of good discussions. There needs to be room to discuss dilemmas and ask difficult questions.

I always say: the basic tone of a supervisory board has to be right. You have to agree on the basic tone. On top of that, you can all play different melodies with many different notes. Those notes and melodies make it diverse and playful, but the fundamental tone ensures that it does not become a cacophony. I once had a conversation with an organization where I felt that fundamental tone was not right. There was a quarrelsome atmosphere, and there was hostility towards each other – it did not feel right. I said 'no’.'

Do you think about the dynamics within such a supervisory board beforehand?

‘Yes, I will always ask about the results of the self-evaluation. What lessons have been learned from it? Is there a willingness to improve? And I want to know which difficult issues have been on the table. It is also interesting to know if the supervisory board members have ever experienced a crisis before. What does it mean when you find yourself in difficult times with such a board? Shit happens, as we all know. But when it does, do you know how to connect with each other?’

When you left Evides, you talked about the importance of 'stewardship.' Is that one of the reasons you were attracted to Vebego?
‘The great thing about a family business is that it is by definition focused on the long term; they think in terms of generations. Vebego wants to play a role in society. They will not forget who the most important people in the company are, the people on the work floor, the cleaners in the hospitals, or the people in landscaping. At Vebego, they want people to be proud of their work.

A while back, we visited the Catharina Hospital in Eindhoven with the executive and supervisory boards. The staff there were getting new work clothes. What struck me was that Ton and Ronald Goedmakers really took the time for their colleagues. They wanted to meet everyone, talk to everyone. It was truly wonderful to see. Being seen and heard is important within this company. It is deeply ingrained in our DNA. Offering meaningful work to people with practical training or no training. That is what makes it so interesting: how do we ensure that people from all backgrounds engage with each other? Looking each other straight in the eye – that is what it is about.’

Vebego is a large family business. What kind of dynamic does that create?
‘What makes it special is that you know all the shareholders. You feel a sense of ownership and responsibility. And successful family businesses, and I certainly include Vebego among them, are very well aware of what is going on ’outside’.’

The other side of the coin is perhaps that the family was not necessarily looking for outside interference?
‘I do not experience that at Vebego at all. The family has very consciously opted for a critical supervisory board. It is a very professional environment. I think the governance at Vebego is very well organized. With very clear roles and responsibilities, with clear beliefs and behaviors.’

You were ultimately responsible for almost eleven years. Now you are in supervisory roles. Do you find it difficult to operate in this different role?
‘No, I am comfortable with my role. I do notice that it is useful and appreciated that I have been ultimately responsible myself. I know what it entails. I know the challenges. I know the struggles. I know that it can be quite tough and complicated. And I also know that a supervisory board can be quite difficult at times, sometimes even a real pain in the ass. A supervisory board always comes up with difficult questions. It does not always work out well. If you know, realize, and acknowledge that, it makes the conversation easier. But ultimately, both sides have to accept that you have different roles. It never hurts to emphasize that again in discussions. Especially in a supervisory board, because within that board you also fulfill different roles – sometimes you are an employer, sometimes you are a coach.’

It also touches on themes like personal leadership. As CEO, you had a certain style. What do you consider to be an important quality for a leader?
‘One of the important things in personal leadership is the ability to reflect on yourself, to examine the beam in your own eye. Are you open to other perspectives? How do you present your dissent? That all is important to ensure that you, as the person ultimately responsible, have a clear head and also remain so. This is important within a supervisory board as, especially in stressful times, you can easily fall down a rabbit hole. And then you need people around you who can pull you out.’

Is there a big difference between being a member and chairing a supervisory board?
‘As chair, you feel even more responsible. Even already with the technical side of things. You have to make sure there is a good agenda, you have to make sure everyone gets a chance to speak. I find a good check-in and check-out as chair very important. Are we all still on the same page? How do we feel when standing outside in the parking lot after the meeting? Did we share what we wanted to share? As chair, you also have to read the body language. How are people sitting? Are they making eye contact? Who are they sitting next to? What is happening? And especially, what is not happening? I also think it is important to stay in touch outside of meetings, to have regular informal calls with each other, especially too when there are no urgent, sensitive matters.’

In the Top 100 Supervisory Board Members, the number of female chairs can be counted on two hands. What do you think about that?
‘Let us look at it positively. I am glad we are in a phase where there are simply so many good women. That is the most important thing. In my role, I always check whether there are enough women on board. But I also look for parties who, themselves, consider this important. And I pay attention to whether women are advancing sufficiently within the organization. They often stay at a certain level. I think we need to keep a close eye on this.’

You currently hold three supervisory positions. Is that enough, or do you aspire to more?
‘I have received quite a few calls for management positions lately. I have to admit that I, by nature, tend to say yes. I am easily interested in things. So, I have to be a bit careful. Before you know it, your schedule explodes. I think I now have a good portfolio, with meaningful roles. It is not that I will only be completely happy when I have four or five supervisory board positions. I am not calling headhunters. But I am quite open to it. I enjoy sharing my knowledge and working for relevant organizations.’

A new Monitoring Committee is reviewing the governance code. Are you following this with particular interest? And are there any areas in the code that you think need to be updated?
‘I am a big fan of the code. It is a real guideline. The new Monitoring Committee will undoubtedly have a good understanding of what is going on in society. I do not think the committee are desperately awaiting my input. But generally speaking, I think it would not hurt to investigate whether some things could be removed from the code. Over the years, there is always a tendency to pile up rules. Perhaps this is the opportunity to streamline it somewhat.

Conversely, I think it would also be useful to revisit the themes the committee has studied in recent years. Perhaps some themes that could be quite interesting in the current climate have fallen by the wayside. Furthermore, I think we need to take a critical look at AI and risk management. I think it would be good to discuss how we approach this. Where are the boundaries? Who enforces those boundaries? Are there things we should not leave to AI? I would like the code to say something about this.’

As supervisory board member or management board member, do you have a pet subject?
‘My motto has always been that the most flexible controls the system. I firmly believe in that. You have to be flexible in your thinking. And you have to look at things positively. Of course, things can go wrong. Of course, you can acknowledge that. But then you have to roll up your sleeves and think in terms of solutions. Ten years ago, we had a huge drinking water crisis at Evides. Towards the end we had a supply for only a week and a half. The system turned out to be less robust than we thought And the situation became truly precarious. As CEO, I said: guys, this is terrible. Really terrible. But listen, see it as a fantastic opportunity. We are going on a great adventure together. We have absolutely no idea yet how we are going to solve it, but one thing is clear: we have all the brains on board to devise a solution.

I then mentioned the example of a similar crisis at an electricity company in Canada. They were experiencing major outages due to frozen power lines. The solution was devised by a relative outsider, a woman. Not an engineer, but a hiker. She had noticed that bears loved the icicles hanging from the power lines and they got them down by shaking the poles vigorously. That turned out to be the key to the solution: shaking of the poles. That is what I told the board.’

How did it end?
‘We solved the crisis and then made the entire system more robust. Incidentally, it also had some less pleasant consequences for me as CEO. Because then I was immediately called to account by the chairman of my supervisory board. He was furious that I had not properly involved the supervisory board in the process. 'You resolved it excellently’, he said, 'but you did not inform us well’. He was right about that. I learned a lesson there.’

This interview was published in Management Scope 01 2026.