Karen de Lathouder: ‘I bring parallel thinking, a kind of sidetrack’

You have been a supervisory board member of NS (Dutch Railways) since March 2025. For many aspiring supervisory board members, it is a pressing question: how do you get that first position? How did it work for you?
‘I was approached. I have to say that I was open to a supervisory board role at this point in my career, but I was not actively looking for one. I received a phone call following an interview with me in Het Financieele Dagblad. It was a very personal conversation about my outlook on life, and NS had read it. They thought I would be a good fit for their supervisory board. Of course, the interview did not immediately give me the position, it was merely the reason for them to start talking to me. After that, I went through the regular process. We quickly hit it off. I really feel like it was meant to be.’

What made this the right time for you to take on this role at NS?
‘I do not think there ever really is the perfect moment. I thought about it for a long time and also discussed it within Eneco. Can I do this? Will I compromise Eneco? Will I compromise myself? It is a large and complex supervisory board. But I felt it was a good fit.
I had a very clear idea of ​​the type of organization I wanted to work for. I had been asked to take on other roles, but I turned them down. NS immediately appealed to me: a large, complex organization, important for the Netherlands, socially engaged, with a clear purpose. An organization that also has a political side, with a lot of involvement from The Hague. That also seemed interesting to me. On top of that, I enjoy traveling by train.’

The prejudice persists that the process leading to the appointment of a supervisory board member is still based on the old boys' network. And that it not always is a transparent process. Can you say a little more about the transparency of the process as you experienced it?
‘I think it was an extremely transparent process, both for me and for the Ministry of Finance, which assessed the candidates as a shareholder. There are many steps involved in an appointment such as this. I spoke to a lot of people, including members of the supervisory board and the executive Board. There was a clearly defined profile with clear qualifications and well-defined competencies.
We went through it step by step. I am glad it went this way. It is good to be selected based on clearly defined competencies. If this is not so, then you yourself are not quite sure exactly why you have been appointed.’

What do you bring to the NS supervisory board?
‘Through my work at BP and Eneco in particular, I have gained extensive experience with large, expensive assets and very long investment horizons. It is all very capital-intensive—that is the similarity with NS. I come from a completely different industry, but with similar challenges. So, I bring parallel thinking with me, a kind of sidetrack, which can be refreshing. Furthermore, I am certainly not afraid to ask questions. Always with a drive to improve, to make better decisions, and reach better outcomes. That means I do not keep quiet and sometimes I ask an off-beat question. I think I also have a certain courage ingrained in my DNA. As with my diverse perspective on the world.’

What does the supervisory board position mean to you personally, also in terms of your role as an executive?
‘The roles are complementary, yet completely different. I started this supervisory board position also to improve myself as executive, to be able to look at myself with different eyes. I had that experience before when I worked as a consultant at AkzoNobel. There too, you are a relative outsider. You arrive at a location, and you see a plant manager operating in a certain way. Gosh, do I do that too? Yes, I do actually do that too. It is confronting and instructive. That is how I am experiencing it now. I often ask myself whether I do something particular as executive too. For example, do I provide enough information to my supervisory board? I think that is my most important lesson of the past few months: that from this other position you are more aware that you can miss certain information. In my role on the executive board, I am now more focused on eliminating the information gap. How do I ensure everyone gets the right information so we can make better decisions together, rather than, ‘I am here to tell you my story, everyone listen to me.’ My role as a supervisory board member helped me in my role on the executive board. I changed from a tennis player to a volleyball player. The team's interests have become more important.’

You often hear from new supervisory board members that the difference between their everyday executive function and that of supervisory board member is challenging, also to maintain role stability. How have you experienced that?
‘Yes, that takes some getting used to. It also depends on your nature. I am naturally very action-oriented. ‘Doing’ is my default setting. I am also a real problem-solver as a person. I had to learn to switch gears. As a supervisory board member, you have to take more distance. Sometimes that is quite difficult. You have to realize that you are not responsible, at least not for the day-to-day operations. As a supervisory board member, you have to focus on better results and better decisions. You have to learn to let go. That is sometimes difficult.
I can compare it a little to when I first became site manager at a chemical plant. It really kept me awake at night in the beginning. So many people doing such risky work, and I was responsible! But even there, I learned how it works and how to give shape to it. This is a similar experience. Being a supervisory board member teaches me not to immediately jump into solution mode. This is an important theme in my life, from doing to being.’

New supervisory board members find onboarding especially important. How did you experience your onboarding?
‘I had a fantastic onboarding, which is actually still ongoing. It takes a while to get to know a company like NS. I had many conversations with fellow supervisory board members, directors, the works council, and colleagues throughout the country. I am often asked to share something about operational effectiveness or the diversity network.
I am working on the substance, too. I enrolled in Insead's International Directors Program. I find the network I am building there particularly valuable. Of course, it is also about the content, but I can also learn or read about Porter's Five Forces in my own time. What makes it especially valuable is talking to colleagues about their experiences.
Another great thing about NS is that the supervisory and executive boards are quite close. We all have buddies. I am paired with COO Eelco van Asch. It is good to be able to call someone with questions. And of course, it is a two-way street: Eelco benefits from my experiences. The NS executive board is a relatively new team, and the supervisory board also has a number of new faces. So, we have to make sure we engage with each other properly, to ensure we make use of each other's knowledge and skills effectively. We have a very diverse group in terms of background and experience, so you want to make use of that without it becoming patronizing.’

What kinds of questions do you ask as supervisory board member?
‘I am always curious about the considerations. Or about the compromise. Compromises are always made in a large organization. As a supervisory board, it is interesting to know what you are missing out on as a result of that compromise. What did we not get? And I am very concerned with the long term versus the short term. Do you make a decision to remove complexity in the short term? And does that potentially create greater complexity in the long term? That can easily happen in large organizations such as these. As supervisory board, it is good to draw attention to the time horizon.’

Opinions among supervisory board members around the importance, usefulness, and necessity of ‘preliminary consultation’, that is, coordinating the topics before a regular supervisory board meeting, differ. How do you experience this in practice?
‘I find preliminary consultation incredibly important. I think it is important that everyone has the same relevant information. But it is also about how we behave. As a supervisory board or board of directors, you do not want to be playing out disputes in public. Preliminary consultation is absolutely essential for that – to reach good decisions. And, if you do not agree with each other, which of course also happens, you need to meet in a way that is acceptable to everyone. So, for me, these kinds of preliminary consultations are incredibly valuable. They improve the quality of decision-making. Also, because you discuss with each other what is still needed to move certain issues forward. It also ensures that you do not have to improvise during the meeting.’

The term ‘diverse perspective’ has been mentioned. You came out as queer. You have spoken about it publicly several times, for example in that aforementioned interview in the FD. I do not find it particularly relevant personally, but how important is that fact to you in your current roles?
‘It does not define me as a person. I do not think it says much about how I make decisions and how I do my work. But I do think it indicates some of my characteristics. I think my orientation has made me a bit more grounded. Because I have been on a personal journey in that regard. Diversity is ingrained in me. It is not a choice; it just happened naturally. I am a woman, I am queer. But I am also left-handed. It is all part of who I am. And I am proud of it.
I also try to take on the role of ambassador within NS, for example, within Trainbow, a network of colleagues from the LGBTQ+ community. I am happy to make myself available to anyone who wants to talk about it. Ultimately, it is about working together to create an organization where everyone can be their best self. If you cannot be yourself, if you do not feel safe, then you cannot function or perform. Psychological safety is therefore something I like to bring up in the boardroom. How do we ensure that it is safe to say something? Because I might be someone who is not afraid to say something, but what about my colleagues?’

For this role, do you need to put much aside?
‘Yes, I do put aside quite a bit. I do not get around to everything in my private life anymore; I really leave things aside. But that is, of course, a conscious choice. At the same time, I keep a close eye on my work-life balance. And I also do things in my private life that benefit my work. For example, I am currently involved in stand-up comedy and improvisational theater. That actually came from my training at Insead. That is where I got the tip. And it is so much fun. You stand there on a stage, acting a bit ridiculously. Or you have to perform an improvised scene between an astronaut and his brother in two minutes. It is hugely enriching, also for my professional roles. It helps me improvise. And it helps to occasionally say ‘Yes, and?’ instead of: ‘Judge, no!’ ‘Yes, and?’ is a good starting point, especially for a supervisory board member.’

This interview was published in Management Scope 02 2026.