Rens van Loon

Affiliate Advisor and Facilitator

The Netherlands

Dialogical Leadership

Personality Psychology

Team Development

Coaching

Dialogical Self Theory

Dr. Rens van Loon is a globally respected expert in dialogical leadership and dialogical self theory. He has over 30 years of experience in designing and facilitating impactful programs for leaders across industries and continents. He has served a great variety of Dutch and global clients as an advisor, executive coach, and faculty member. As a former Partner and Director Leadership at Deloitte, Right Management and ADC, he brings clear insights into the intersection of business, science (personality psychology), and personal & leadership development.

About

In his work, Rens van Loon guides individuals, leaders, and their teams and organizations in developing and implementing ambitions in the field of leadership and change in (international) projects. He approaches leading (and following) as a phenomenon that can be explored through dialogue from multiple perspectives: philosophy, psychology, organizational theory. In addition to other instruments, he uses dialogue as the primary research and intervention methodology. His interest lies in the dynamic interplay of rational thinking, intuitive understanding, and physical presencing in the development of leaders in their multiple identities, both in their work and private lives. He is inspired by both Western and Eastern philosophy and psychology. In addition to his work as a scientist and consultant, Rens is a husband, father, and grandfather. He enjoys writing poetry and practices tai chi meditation.

Van Loon is an emeritus professor of Dialogical Leadership at the Tilburg School of Humanities and Digital Sciences (TSHD) in the Department of Philosophy (Ethics of Profession and Organization). Currently he teaches in several courses at TIAS, the Tilburg University Business School. He was a Board Member of the International Leadership Association (ILA) from 2015-2019 (ila@ila-net.org ), he is a member of the Scientific Committee of the International Society of Dialogical Science (ISDS, https://dialogicalself.org/), and of the Scientific Advisory Board (WAR) of the Titus Brandsma Institute (TBI) at Radboud University (Nijmegen). He studied philosophy at Radboud University, earned his Ph.D. in social sciences at the same university with the dissertation “Symbols in the Self-Narrative.” He was a registered psychologist (NIP), a registered work and organizational psychologist, and is a certified ZKM-consultant®.

Until 1996, he was a teacher and supervisor in the Valuation Theory and Self Confrontation Method. After leaving Radboud University, he worked as a partner at the psychological consultancy Assessment & Development Consult (ADC), later Right Management. He served for 9 years as a director at Deloitte Consulting Netherlands as a Leadership Expert. He is an experienced teacher, teaching in many business and educational classes. Home-base for his current leadership courses is Tilburg Business University (TIAS) in Utrecht (NL).

Since 2018, he has been working from his consulting office &Dialogue. He has authored several books and articles, “The Future of Leadership: The Courage to be Both Leader and Follower”, and “Dialogical Leadership: Leading yourself across boundaries of self and culture” (with Angel Buster (both in 2019), “Creating Organizational Value through Dialogical Leadership. Boiling rice in Still Water.” (2017), “Dancing Leader” (with Kouwenhoven, 2016), “Dialogical leadership. Dialogue as Condition Zero” (with Van Dijk, 2015). His most recent book, co-authored with Angel Buster is Understanding Dialogical Leadership. Conscious Conversations for Navigating Complexity (2026).

If you feel the need to respond to “Dialogical Leadership” and/or share experiences with dialogue, dialogical self, dialogical leadership, or have questions about them, you can email Rens at: rens@8dialogue.com.