CFO Linde Jansen: Doing the math and making a difference
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Linde Jansen began her very first role as CFO in 2025. ‘A leap of faith,’ she said in an interview with this magazine. In it, she recounts an anecdote about an old St. Nicholas surprise she once made herself, in which she revealed her ambition: she wanted to ‘do the numbers and make a difference for people.’ ‘That almost sounds like a CFO’s motto, don’t you think?’
When Jansen took office as CFO of PostNL, the mail and package company wasn’t just bringing in a financial executive, but also a leader known for her people-oriented style. Upon her appointment, Supervisory Board Chair Jan Nooitgedagt praised her strategic knowledge, execution skills, and people-oriented approach. He called Jansen an ‘inspiring leader’ with a proven track record in transformation processes.
In the eighteen years prior to her move, she worked at beer brewer Heineken, where her responsibilities included financial reporting and ESG reporting. On her approach during her first days as CFO: ‘I wanted to understand this company. I come from a completely different industry. As CFO, I could just look at the numbers from a purely technical perspective, but I especially want to understand the story behind the numbers. I spent a lot of time looking into the operations.’
Jansen studied business economics in Maastricht and trained as a certified public accountant. She began her career, like many other CFOs, at one of the Big Four – in her case, as an auditor at PwC.
She learned an important leadership lesson not in the boardroom, but on the hockey field. There, she learned how to add value to a team. ‘My coach always said, ‘Linde, you are more important on the field without the ball than with it.’ I have always remembered that. Let someone else have the ball. And make sure you position yourself well. Without the ball, you can have a greater impact on the team.’