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Steven P.M. de Waal PhD - author



Steven PM de Waal was born in 1955 in Waalwijk, a small town in the South of the Netherlands. He lived there some 18 years and went there to school, elementary and gymnasium Beta. He graduated in 1973 and went studying Andragology (the study of human development and the institutes, interventions and intentions that support it) (graduated cum laude, 1979) in the city of Utrecht.

Steven P.M. de Waal, PhD, has extensive experience in the boardroom, as strategic consultant, entrepreneur and chairman of an executive board and multiple non-executive boards. He combines this major aspect of his career with research and academic reflection which he shares with an executive audience during numerous lectures.

Books To systematize, substantiate and share his in-depth reflections, Dr. de Waal has written five (Dutch language) books. Additionally, he has published a multitude of articles and given numerous interviews and lectures. His writing focuses on strategic thinking, practical wisdom of executives and social entrepreneurship.

In 2014, Steven’s thesis “The Value(s) of Civil Leaders” (Eleven) earned him a doctorate degree from the University of Utrecht’s Department of Public Management and Governance. His dissertation conceptualized civil leadership and researched civil leaders’ value patterns in the different private contexts (for-profit, non-profit, active informal citizenship).

Dr. de Waal gained most of his extensive management experience while providing strategic consultancy to the leadership of numerous public sector organizations experiencing strategic challenges. His clients included many hospitals and other health care organizations, housing corporations, universities, municipalities, national departments and umbrella organizations.

In addition to this consultancy practice, Steven became an entrepreneur. He started out as co-owner and managing director, to later become chairman of the executive board of Amsterdam-based Boer & Croon Strategy and Management Group, a leading firm in a broad range of high-level management services.

Simultaneously he was, and still is, chairman of the non-executive boards of, to give a few examples, organizations focused on healthcare, housing, education, public broadcasting, cultural services and a professional soccer club. Most often Dr. de Waal is invited to chair these boards during strategically difficult periods in the organizations’ existence.

Politics During the turbulent political climate that surrounded the murder of Dutch right-wing populist politician Pim Fortuyn in 2002, Steven served for five years as member of the national party leadership of Holland’s PvdA (labor) party. In 2005, he served as chairman of the party commission tasked with the development of the party’s vision on the proposed new Dutch health care system.

First Think Tank in the Netherlands In 2001, Dr. de Waal launched one of the first Think Tanks in the Netherlands, Public SPACE (www.publicspace.eu). After the firm flourished under his leadership, he left Boer & Croon in 2004, to focus on Public SPACE and its mission to develop Strategies for Public and Civil Entrepreneurs (SPACE) and to promote social entrepreneurship and active citizenship. This enabled him to further develop his ideas by means of new articles, interviews, blogs, lectures and while chairing numerous debates, as well as to assess their value to the executive practitioners he so closely worked with.

In this context, Steven is a member of several international associations including the European Healthcare Management Association, Academy of Management, Network for Public and Political Leadership and International Leadership Association, with membership often a mix of scientists and practitioners.

Steven originally learned this attitude of combining practice and academic reflection during his study (Andragology, the study of human development and the institutes, interventions and intentions that support it) (graduated cum laude, 1979) that searched for a social science that fully matched the objective of this study and so aimed to contribute to a human and worthy existence.

Dr. de Waal is a popular and frequent speaker at national and international management conferences and seminars throughout The Netherlands and Europe.

Publications en essays https://www.publicspace.nl/publicaties/essays/