Former Port of Rotterdam CEO Allard Castelein: Looking at Disruptions As Opportunities

The Port of Rotterdam is a model for ports worldwide in terms of automation, digitalization, and decarbonization. Behind these achievements is Allard Castelein, the former CEO of the Port of Rotterdam, who has been a key figure in driving the port’s business strategy and approach to leadership. In this exclusive interview, he speaks about his career highlights and shares valuable insights with business leaders who want to drive change and sustainability in their organizations. 

*This article is a recap of the session, Walking the Walk in Transformational Leadership During Disruptions with Allard Castelein, President and CEO of Port of Rotterdam.  

   

How would you describe the concept of change and transformation?

I look at it as an assessment of what the future holds and where I can best participate in that future. I am somewhat trying to become the master of my own destiny. However, this doesn’t mean I look into a crystal ball to predict that future. I believe it’s much more important to ensure that you’re resilient and versatile, but also dare to embrace the changes related to that future as opportunities rather than threats.  

So, I do not sit back, I do not hold back, and I do not seek environments that happen to be financially attractive or appealing as a marketing proposition. I’m always aware that the external environment is continuously changing, developing, and disruptive.  

I look at disruptions from the perspective of the opportunity that they may present, and how we as an organization and I as an individual can play into those disruptions and opportunities. 

I’d much rather be on the pitch playing a game where the rules may still be developed and co-creating the rules that I aspire to have. I have embraced the notion of co-creation, dealing with uncertainty, and acknowledging that if you put your mind, heart, soul, and energy into it, you should feel confident that a positive outcome can be achieved. 

 

Has transformation been a crucial part of your career so far?

I suppose to a certain extent it has been. I’ve been blessed with different opportunities offering different challenges, specifically work-related, but also from a culture and language perspective. Change is something that has come back over the years. 

 

When it comes to transformation, you’re always looking for the “coalition of the willing”, instead of the “mother of all coalitions”. can you elaborate on that?

If you are spending a significant amount of time behind your spreadsheets designing outcomes without embracing ongoing insights and developments, you are losing valuable time.  

I’d much rather work with a “coalition of the willing” parties that have similar beliefs and aspirational goals to share with the rest of the community. It’s not wanting to claim exclusivity, far from it. I believe you can make progress much more efficiently with those that have a similar challenge at hand and thoughts about the opportunity. 

Let’s say I’m working on a transition related to an energy system or society. While I welcome input from different perspectives, trying to co-create those rules with all the stakeholders involved becomes unmanageable. You might have a football stadium full of folks who have some input to offer. 

 

What were your first actions when you became the Port of Rotterdam CEO?

One of the first things I did in the new role was go out to customers. I visited a lot of customers and talked to them. They are a fabulously energized and engaged community to its fullest, from pilots to tugboats to terminal operators to inland barges to manufacturing plants. The community in this port is tremendously proud of its achievements and is passionate about delivering high-quality service. They have a very positive mindset and are critical about things that need improving but are not cynical.  

I was also aware of the climate challenges that we were faced with and the energy transition I felt that we ought to embark upon. I knew that if we didn’t pursue that transition, we might be looking at a dinosaur environment because businesses may fade away over time or may not be accepted by society, stakeholders, NGOs, and the like. The element of transition from the beginning was clearly in my mind as a path forward that I wanted to pursue and test out. 

 

Did you have to overcome the challenge of getting people on board when it comes to sustainability?

Anything related to the performance of the ongoing business was embraced and welcomed. Anything related to the transition, because we might not be relevant in the future, was frowned upon. At first, it was considered to be outrageous and out of touch. We’ve had to do a lot of communicating, sharing, informing, and engaging to get traction on those topics. 

 

Can you give us an example of a challenge you faced at the time?

It’s difficult to mention one here because this is a very versatile port. We have so many different types of businesses. The port generates up to 65,000 jobs in the country and contributes €63 billion to the economy. There are so many activities and at any given point in time, there’s always an element in the port that doesn’t function well or operate accordingly. I think the most difficult part in the bigger storyline was to ensure that I could position the Port of Rotterdam and the company as an enterprise that helps our customers be successful in the transition. Through our support, those companies will become successful, which would be a justification to continue to invest in the port and choose Rotterdam as the preferred location for future endeavors.  

When I started 10 years ago, it was clearly on the horizon that refineries might close, that some of the container operators and shipping lines were considering other locations, or that the offshore industry was wondering what our future would hold. We didn’t have these efforts to build wind farms, we didn’t have an awareness of how much CO2 we would need to reduce, and we didn’t know the role of hydrogen. Identifying the way forward in that uncertain domain of disruption has been the biggest challenge.  

I described very early on in my tenure, there are two big disruptions approaching our business value chain. One is based on digitization, and the other one is based on energy transition.  

And we in Rotterdam are going to embrace those two as opportunities rather than threats. I have the privilege of leading those developments and ensuring we serve our customers in the best possible way. 

We now have such a proven track record, not only with ideas and projects, but with initiatives, investment decisions, and functioning activities. The story is not being challenged or debated anymore, and credibility is not an issue. There’s a huge amount of leverage and a huge amount of appetite to be part of the journey. The issues haven’t changed but the positioning I have in the port has changed dramatically over these years. 

 

How do you measure success in the transformation journey you have started?

What I consider to be a success is that we have such a rich portfolio of initiatives that we didn’t have when we started nine years ago. We also have a rich portfolio of investment decisions and a promising outlook for the businesses that are still here and wish to be part of that journey.  

One of those businesses is Shell. They are fully rationalizing their refinery portfolio globally and have acknowledged that the Rotterdam refinery is here to stay for many decades to come. This is because of the many features available for refineries to begin operating in a decarbonized world, from using residual heat to building a carbon capture and storage facility to facilitating a sustainable aviation fuel uptake.  

The number of topics is phenomenal. I take a huge amount of satisfaction from the businesses that have acknowledged the environment we’ve created. 

 

How did you deal with uncertainties in the energy transition?

There are various trains of thought which stipulate that transitions are only successful if you say goodbye to the old and you focus on innovation, new entrepreneurship, and new business activities. There are professors at universities that claim that the only way transitions will ultimately be successful is through maximum disruption. I’ve taken a different stance. I’ve continued to welcome innovation, entrepreneurship, and new entrants, but also to create an environment for the existing businesses to be part of that journey.  

I did not say goodbye to import terminals, refineries, and petrochemical facilities. An example I often use is if the government sets a target that zero-emission is the standard, you’re not saying that Tesla should be the only producer of vehicles. You’re telling Ford, Hyundai, and GM to make vehicles that have zero emissions. So, I’m encouraging BP, Exxon, but also huge container terminal operators to become zero-emission. I’ve not said to these entities and organizations, “You were part of the old establishment, so I’m only going to focus on the new establishment.” 

I think some of the believers of these huge disruptions are now also acknowledging that there’s a role for these enterprises, provided they support and endorse the targets that are set. Take a coal-fired power plant. My language has always been “If you’re not part of the journey we’re on then you will not be welcomed in the port anymore.” But if that coal-fired power plant is now developing initiatives that will help them transition from coal to hydrogen and have a zero-emission energy power plant, then I’m very pleased with their presence and their activities. Those are the kinds of opportunities I seek to pursue. 

 

As a CEO, who do you reach out to bounce ideas off or pick their brain?

I have a strong management team. We have proper, good, and necessary discussions on particular choices and decisions we make. I have a lot of trust in my management team. From a personal perspective, there are a couple of folks who I consider exceedingly experienced and who also happen to know me, but those are my inner circle of friends and family, not so much business leaders.  

The other thing that helps is that I’m extremely curious. I hate reinventing the wheel. What I continually do is identify the sources of information that I believe are valuable and related to the predicament I may be in. That may be a report, seminar, dinner conversation, or a storytelling situation. I look for sweet spots in the types of information that I believe are relevant. I’m fortunate to have a network of people that can support that particular issue, who can do some of the hard work and subsequently have discussions on the pros and the cons.  

 

What advice do you have for business leaders who want to drive transformation and change?

Making an impact is more important than running your business.  

I’ve also had the privilege on two occasions to give the commencement speech at Erasmus University. One of the things I’ve said to the graduates is that they should want to take on the responsibility to contribute to society as a whole and not only look at their own personal interests. So, I’ve been motivated to work along those lines. I enjoy doing my job as best as I possibly can, and every day I contemplate what I did wrong and what I could do better. What I want to do is based on wanting to make an impact. 

*The interview answers have been edited for length and clarity.