The Heidrick & Struggles Leadership Podcast

Stendert Krommendam is the chief people and sustainability officer at Ecotone, a leading private equity–backed company in Europe for organic, vegetarian, healthy and fair-trade food. Krommendam, who has built a dynamic career at the intersection of people, sustainability, and business, was formerly an HR leader in Unilever and Ahold Delhaize. In this interview, he discusses his new leadership model that embeds sustainability and systems thinking as core leadership qualities, describing what healthy leadership means in the context of Ecotone’s mission of biodiversity. He also shares the leadership qualities he believes are critical for balancing performance, purpose, and sustainability; how he fosters a purpose-driven culture; and his perspective on the balance between long-term sustainability commitments and the growth and profitability expectations that are typical in a PE environment.