"I have experienced that I can listen to both my head and my heart, and get something out of that. "
Suzanne van Solinge was a participant in the Rebel Leadership program in August 2020. She shares her experience with the program below.
"Knowing what you stand for is one thing; acting on it and believing in it is another. A good leader does it all, according to Suzanne van Solinge. Through the Rebel Leadership program, she learned how to apply this again in her own life: ‘In some situations, I simply have the leadership role, and it works better to own it.’
Suzanne van Solinge is 31 years old and lives with her partner in Amsterdam. Six and a half years ago, she started working at Accenture right after her studies and grew into a managerial role within the Strategy & Consulting division. In August 2020, she joined the Rebel Leadership program.
"I admire leaders who inspire, who set an example by expressing their own opinions. Leaders who are clear and genuinely enthusiastic, so that everyone knows where we are headed and is eager to get to work themselves. That’s the kind of leader I want to be. That's why I was looking for a program that would challenge me to explore myself—I wanted to be ‘forced’ to reflect and think about what I stand for so I could embody that in my work. That’s how I found Rebel.
Knowing what you stand for is one thing; acting on it and believing in it is another. I often work in environments where I am the only relatively young person, and sometimes the only woman, where I need to build something with the team on-site in a short amount of time. Positioning myself well is therefore important—I want it to be clear that I have something valuable to offer. Although I am social and outspoken, I can also be quite modest and tend to present myself that way. At Rebel, I worked on how to truly establish myself without straying from who I am. Lian Ka and Arnout called this the ‘vertical connection’—the link between head, heart, and gut. Focusing on that balance between thinking and feeling has really helped me. I now listen to myself more, which makes me more powerful in my presence, and I express my vision more clearly. I take the floor, even when I’m not asked to. Previously, my focus was sometimes too much on collaboration. That’s important, but in some situations, I simply have the leadership role, and it works better to take it.
Everyone more or less knows what they find important, but during the Rebel program, we really dug deep, so now I can clearly articulate what I stand for. I loved how the individual coaching and group sessions complemented each other—making personal connections in one-on-one coaching and refining them in the group, where we could find recognition in each other’s experiences. We were truly in a bubble together. This started right away when, instead of a typical introduction round, we did a ‘lifeline’ exercise. In this exercise, you really start from the beginning: ‘I’m Suzanne, and I was born in Copenhagen,’ and you share the biggest events of your life so far—both positive and negative. The others respond to it, even though you don’t know each other at all yet. It was very personal and intense, allowing us to connect on a deeper level from the start. Because of that bond, the group feedback throughout the rest of the program was incredibly valuable and useful. That’s not something you experience daily at work."
Because of this, I now know that independence and meaningfulness are very important to me. I need them both for myself and to provide them to my team. I don’t want to be restricted in my independence, but I will also never be a controlling leader. I want to help people grow. That’s where meaningfulness comes in. I spent a long time searching for the right word, but meaningfulness encompasses it all—not necessarily improving the world, but contributing to every situation.
It’s about efficiency—not having fifteen people in a meeting when only three are needed—but also about substance. If the project I’m working on genuinely improves something for the company, I find that really exciting. That feeling is motivating and helps to get others on board as well. Now, I occasionally ask myself: why does this give me so much energy? Or, conversely, why does this not feel right? Am I too dependent? Is this meaningful? Once I identify the cause, I can address it more quickly.
Since becoming more aware of the vertical connection through the Rebel program, I am more myself in work situations and choose my own path. I clearly express my opinions and vision, showing that I am eager to go for it and contribute to things that last. I now know that I can listen to both my head and my feelings and extract value from them. This isn’t soft; it actually makes me stronger. I found this depth and personal growth in the Rebel program.