Glafki Schellekens

How did the Future Leaders Certificate benefit your career?

I think it's mostly understanding my role in a team environment because you work a lot in teams throughout your Masters, but you don't put it in more of a professional context. The Future Leader Certificate combined both. So I actually drew upon it a number of times during my interview for my jobs. It was very helpful in that sense.

It was great because firstly, there's such a diverse environment and you learn a lot about different cultures. I met so many people and had a lot of opportunities to work in a team, which is definitely very useful in a professional environment because the same teams you can have in a Master's project, you're going to have in the professional environment as well. Same conflict, same problems, same successes. I loved the opportunity to take what I was learning and put it into a real-life context.

What do you understand a responsible leader to be?

I think responsible leadership is having a vision that you're guiding, whether that's a professional vision or something else, but then being able to take that vision and inspire your followers, so the people you're guiding. If you're the CEO of a company, you take your vision and pass it on to your employees, your investors, your stakeholders, everyone, but always looking out that you're not harming the environment, your employees, or your people.

But for me, it's mostly about inspiring people, being able to take your vision and pass it on to your advocates, your employees, and everyone else.

How are you creating positive change in your current role?

The company I work for is a startup, which means that leadership and being a visionary, inspiring other people, is a very important part of the role. I've actually taken part in a lot of networking events throughout my one and a half years there. So I believe leading other people to follow the same vision and accept it is a key part of what I do. The company does maritime nuclear, which is an environmentally fair solution for maritime. So bringing all of that together and inspiring other people to join the journey is, I think, where I've used it most.

In terms of internal business operations, I helped create the company's social committee, which is about employee wellbeing, leading different events to ensure everyone is connected and works well as a team. Then when I notice there's a problem, I say it, whether that's to senior leadership, the CEO, or whoever I know can help fix the problem. I'm not going to sit and observe something. I think when something is wrong, you fix it. The way to fix it is by having a voice and speaking up, and that's the best way to do it.