When Godelieve van Dooren moved from the Netherlands to the Caribbean island of Curaçao at the age of 15, she found herself confronted with a powerful early lesson in inclusion. “All of a sudden, you’re not the norm anymore,” she recalled. That shift in perspective, shaped by her teenage years spent navigating a new cultural environment, planted the seeds for a leadership style defined by empathy, reflection and intentionality.
Now based in Singapore, where she has lived for over 15 years, Van Dooren leads Marsh McLennan’s Southeast Asia operations. In this role, she oversees high-growth markets including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, guiding clients through the evolving expectations of a diverse and dynamic workforce. Before this, she spent years at Mercer, where she helped establish and grow its Employee Benefits Solutions across Asia Pacific.
A trained lawyer who never practised law, Van Dooren’s career has been firmly rooted in the professional services space, supporting business and workforce transformation across health, wealth, and careers. In this exclusive conversation with Collective for Equality she shares about how her leadership journey is as much about people as it is about performance.
Re-humanising the Hybrid Workplace
During the pandemic, Van Dooren introduced virtual huddles, morning workouts, and regular team check-ins to sustain morale and connection. But beyond these touchpoints, she became increasingly attuned to what she calls “PQ”— physical intelligence — and the importance of non-verbal communication in a virtual setting. “In a Zoom meeting, all I have is you and me on a screen. Your expression, your tone, they all matter,” she explained. Leaders, she said, must be intentional about how they present themselves, especially when human interaction is filtered through a screen.
Building Trust Across Cultures
Working across Southeast Asia means navigating a spectrum of cultures with varying degrees of hierarchy and communication styles. Van Dooren believes leaders must go beyond formal policies and actively engage with employees. “It’s not enough to say your door is open, you need to step out and meet people where they are,” she said.
Trust, whether in a co-located or remote team, is built through consistency. “Do what you say, and say what you do,” she explained. At Marsh McLennan, she uses a simple moral compass to guide decisions: Would you be proud to explain this to your mother? That principle — part of what the company calls The Greater Good — grounds leadership in authenticity and accountability.
Van Dooren also places a strong emphasis on reflection and intentionality. Drawing inspiration from a Chinese colleague who makes time to “reflect three times a day,” she encourages her team to pause and check their assumptions, especially when it comes to inclusion. She regularly hosts closed-door conversations with senior and mid-level managers to discuss what is and isn’t working. These sessions, she says, help create psychological safety and allow space for authenticity, doubt and vulnerability.
Embedding Inclusion in Everyday Decisions
For Van Dooren, diversity, equity and inclusion are not just about headline commitments but about the “daily little actions” that shape culture. One of the most common pitfalls, she noted, is defaulting to familiar thinking under pressure. “When there’s a tight deadline, we pick the people who think like us. That’s where inclusion breaks down,” she said.
She challenges managers to pause and consider: Have I really included a different voice? Whether it’s assembling a project team, conducting a hiring round, or identifying future leaders, the way these decisions are made often reveals whether DEI principles are truly being practised.
The Mental Load and Shared Responsibility
At home, Van Dooren brings the same intentionality. She and her husband openly address the “mental load”— the often invisible emotional and logistical labour that disproportionately falls on women. When they notice it shifting unevenly, they call it out and rebalance. It’s a practice she believes all dual-career couples should adopt.
On the question of gender quotas, Van Dooren offers a qualified yes. “They’re a blunt instrument, but useful when progress is too slow. They force a conversation,” she said. Her advice to younger women is refreshingly honest: “Stop balancing. Make choices, and stop feeling guilty. You can’t have it all, all the time.”
She also emphasises the importance of engaging men — husbands, sons, colleagues — as allies. “Gender equality is not just a women’s issue. Men need to be part of the solution,” she said.
Keeping the Conversation Alive
As some global companies back away from DEI discourse in response to political pressure, Van Dooren remains firmly committed. “Once we stop talking, that’s when the real risk begins,” she warned. For her, meaningful inclusion is not a phase — it’s a continuous process rooted in reflection, trust, and deliberate action.