‘Negotiating is not about winning or losing, but about bringing parties together’

On June 15, 2023, the Dutch Association of Professional Negotiators (NLBVO) awarded the National Negotiation Prize to Feike Sijbesma for the first time.

The jury, led by Marry de Gaay Fortman (partner and lawyer at Houthoff), praised Sijbesma for his style, which is characterized by active listening, also known as 'super listening'.

According to Tim Masselink, chairman of the NLBVO and co-founder of &FLUENCE, it is high time that the Netherlands sees negotiation as a real profession. "The Dutch often see negotiation as a debate and think we can handle it. But then we are full of assumptions and think we know what the people on the other side of the table want, but we don't check that. This often leads to serious misunderstandings. This is evident in many complex files at the moment. There is still a lot for the Netherlands to gain in order to make an international impact," said Masselink.

For more information, visit the NLBVO website.