George Tokaya (Philips): ‘This award confirms that my way can also work’

Congratulations! How does it feel now that you have won this award?
(Laughs) ‘It still feels a bit unreal. I am tremendously happy with it and very proud, but it also makes me humble. You get put on a podium after all, while the award also opens various doors. I am hugely grateful too, because if you do not get opportunities, you cannot seize them. That is something I am distinctly aware of: you need to act on opportunities together.’

What does the Young Captain Award (YCA) mean to you?
‘It is an enormous opportunity which I received, and one that I have earned, because I worked extremely hard for it. The accompanying program exposed me to what a CEO’s life in a large company could look like, and that was a unique experience for me. From a broader perspective, the YCA program is motivating to a range of young talent. Just yesterday, I was sitting next to the Minister of Economic Affairs at the Entrepreneurs’ Top. That would not have happened without this competition. Normally, my focus at work is very internal – achieving targets, doing what the company asks. But the Young Captain program challenges participants to think more broadly: what is your daily contribution to society? Those are things that enrich me as a person.’

You describe winning this award as recognition for what you have done, with a substantive program from which you learnt a great deal. At the same time, it is an assignment for the future. What do you value most?
‘It is funny that so much emphasis is placed on the future. People often joke, ‘George, in 15 years you will be the CEO of Philips.’ I do not see it that way at all. It is immensely valuable that your potential is seen and confirmed by others. At the same time, I will continue to put in the effort as I always have. Where my potential might in future manifest? We will see. What matters to me is that my efforts contribute to what I care about. That is Philips’ commitment to sustainability. It is not just what you do, but also how you do it that can make a difference. There is still much to improve at Philips, but we are at the forefront when it comes to sustainability. In addition, we, and in extension I, also play a key role in providing solutions to various health challenges we face. That is something I find rewarding. If I can have a greater impact in this, it would be fantastic. So, I feel motivated, but I do not experience it as pressure or a burden. More as an opportunity.’

You recently sat at the Entrepreneurs' Top table: how was it for you, sitting there with this award in your pocket?
‘The funny thing was that when I arrived I first sat down somewhere in the hall, until one of the minister’s staff came over and directed me to my seat, namely next to the minister. I did not realize that I would have that seat. It gave me a unique opportunity to speak with people I would not otherwise have met. I tried to use the opportunity to speak about things I care about. For example, I have been advocating for an inclusive first year of secondary school, allowing students of different academic levels to be in the same class, and student financing. This gave me opportunities, and without those, I might not be here today. The great thing is that I can make my voice heard in a positive way. Because I had that seat, I can have more impact. I saw goodwill between the government and entrepreneurs, but we also have major challenges ahead.’

The YCA is an award for ‘talented business leaders.’ Where does your leadership come from?
‘As a little boy, I used to gather the whole street to build huts and do whatever we did in a small village in North Groningen, where I had an amazing childhood in a wonderful, very ordinary family. There were not many facilities, so we ourselves built what we needed. I was often the one with the ideas. One family had a farm, another a carpentry shop, so there was always something available.’ Laughing: ‘My mother told me early on: George, you cannot always decide what happens. In our old holiday videos, you see me walking with my younger brother following me. That is not the case anymore, ha-ha. But that is just who I was. I am curious and industrious and want to do things and make progress. That comes naturally. What I need to be aware of is tempering myself: you can get ahead of yourself as well as others. I had to learn to assess: where does the focus need to be? How do I ensure I make the impact where it is needed, and not just when I happen to have the energy?’

When did you become aware that people were following your lead?
‘I became aware of my weaknesses first. As a matter of fact, I have dyslexia. Because of that, I realized I am not perfect and I cannot rely on my writing skills. Nevertheless, I relished taking the lead and initiative. It quickly became second nature for me to collaborate. In high school, I was one of the organizers of the graduation gala. During my studies (industrial design at TU Delft, red), I instinctively assumed a leadership role again. Of course, I had my mishaps along the way, but it is all part of learning about yourself and others.’

The judges’ report depicts a true all-rounder. What kind of leader are you?
‘Curious and driven. I do things my way. I am quite transparent about my personal life. I try to approach my team in a personal way: why are these people here, and what do they want to achieve? Then, I start thinking: how does this goal align with the bigger goal, and how do we bring these together? A personal approach also means giving clear feedback. I like to offer constructive feedback, usually focusing on one point at a time. My intention is not to overwhelm anyone. But I do make it clear where I think improvements can be made for the company.
We live in a rapidly changing world with huge challenges. You need to be able to anticipate these. Many people find change scary. I have always been drawn to it, but I might still get my fingers burned. In my personal leadership style, I aim to translate challenges into something that is enjoyable, to see it as something positively challenging, and not only as threatening.’

Do you have an example?
‘We went through a tough time at Philips. First and foremost, the sleep apnea issue was challenging for the patients using our devices, that obviously was the priority. But our employees were also going through a difficult time: on the one hand, we needed to serve our existing customers and patients, and on the other, we needed to recall 5.5 million products. I played only a tiny part in keeping the organization running during that challenging situation. But people work with us because they want to make a positive impact on healthcare. That mindset made it easier to navigate such a complex issue and to bring it to a good resolution.’

How do you apply your leadership style to keep your employees motivated and help them overcome this setback?
‘Empathy is important to me. In a way, this is a process of coping, and such a process has stages. Most important is that you need to facilitate a process that is already happening. You need to work through it. Once you have done that, you can pick up the threads again. Of course, you hope you can deal with it efficiently, but more important is that it happens properly. I want to emphasize that this is not something I have done alone; I had a small role to play, along with many others. I think the key to such a process is to take the time to really listen to what is truly at play. Then, it is about allowing people to contribute to the solution – even if, and this needs to be clear, they are not part of the problem. Even then, it is about calibrating goals. If you can offer people a new perspective, from a negative to a positive contribution, work can become a rewarding experience again.’

So, do you stand on a soapbox, or do you believe in individual conversations?
‘The management team I am part of oversees about 200 people, and in that team, I have individual conversations. With a speech to a broad audience, you lose about 70 percent of the impact. I thoroughly believe that one-on-one conversations have the greatest impact, with a hoped-for snowball effect. It really depends on choosing the right words.’

Has anything gone wrong in your career where you think, ‘I should have done that differently’?
(Laughs) ‘Yes, many times… But one of my strengths is that I am self-critical. I get too involved at times. Although you can rather be too involved than not being involved enough when it comes to people. I have also been somewhat too driven at times. Pull or push – how do you deal with that? I have received feedback like, ‘Do you realize how hard those people are already working for you, and now you are asking even more?’ I was not realizing it at the time. It is also inherent to my role – I sometimes experience the same thing from the managers who oversee me. It is important to keep reflecting, especially as your leadership role develops. You quickly fall into the trap of putting out fires. But if you cannot take a step back, it becomes difficult to determine the direction with your team.’

Where does your drive come from?
‘Aerospace engineers – I am an engineer myself – explained to me that there are two types of rocket engines: solid state and liquid. Liquid can be adjusted to an extent, but solid state is either on or off. I turn on in the morning and keep going until the fuel runs out, and then I stop. When I am awake, I want to keep going. But in my role, it is crucial that I make the right assessment of the speed of the organization.’

What advice would you give your younger self?
‘When I found out I had dyslexia, I chose to work three times as hard to get my high school diploma – with French and German included. I could have said: I will just do HAVO or MAVO. We will never know where I would have ended up, probably somewhere good too. But I wanted to go to university. That decision represents a certain conformism, adaptation to the system. Real entrepreneurs have a goal and then figure out what is needed to achieve it, but there are always ways outside of the usual routes. For me, the lesson is that I should be careful not to aim only for high grades or a good evaluation from my manager, but to keep my eyes on my true goals, which are delivering results for the business. And lo and behold, I have always received good evaluations. This award confirms that my way can also work.’

What do you consider the biggest challenges for the future of the Netherlands?
‘Look at the Draghi report on our excessive regulations. In the US, you can scale up much faster. Is there sufficient focus in Europe on simplifying rules? Instead, we keep re-interpreting the rules from Brussels, with consequences for our trade with other countries. And in the Netherlands we are extremely dependent on other countries. Sustainable entrepreneurs face too many regulations that hamper them from realizing their ideas.’

This interview was published in Management Scope 02 2025.