Rens van Loon is a philosopher and personality psychologist who has been a professor of Dialogical Leadership at Tilburg University, within the Humanities and Digital Sciences faculty, since 2014. He supervises PhD students and teaches Dialogical Leadership and Dialogical Self Theory at institutions including TIAS, VU, and in the Comenius program. From 2015 to 2019, he served as a board member of the International Leadership Association (ILA), and for several years, he has been a member of the Scientific Advisory Board (WAR) of the Titus Brandsma Institute (TBI) (Radboud University). He is one of the authors of the frequently cited first article on Dialogical Self Theory in the American Psychologist in 1992. His work as a scientist, educator, and teacher primarily involves developing and applying this theory in the practice of leadership and organizational development.
Van Loon began his PhD research as a philosopher in 1987 at the University of Nijmegen under the supervision of Professor Hubert Hermans, the founder of Dialogical Self Theory and the International Society for Dialogical Science. His doctoral research focused on the application of interpreting images and symbols in self-narratives. The book "Symbols in the Self-Narrative. An Interpretation Model Using the Self-Confrontation Method" (1996) marked the beginning of applying narrative psychology, Valuation Theory, and the Self-Confrontation Method in the field of leadership and leadership development. Since the early 1990s, as a reflective practitioner, he has combined theoretical research and reflection with the application of theory and method in organizations, working with individual leaders, executives, and supervisors, as well as with teams and across organizations. From 2009 to 2018, Van Loon worked as Director of Human Capital at Deloitte Consulting as a leadership expert. Besides client work, his focus was also on internal guidance and training within Deloitte University and Deloitte Academy.
As an emeritus professor, lecturer, and independent advisor, he teaches the theory and practice of Dialogical Leadership. Through his consultancy firm &Dialogue, he approaches leading & following as a phenomenon that can be explored through dialogue from multiple perspectives: philosophy, psychology, and organizational studies. He uses dialogue as the primary research and intervention method. Over the past thirty-five years, his approach has evolved into a dynamic interplay of intuitive knowing, rational thinking and analysis, and being alert and present in the development of people in their multiple identities, both professional and personal. He draws inspiration from Western and Eastern philosophy, psychology, and literature.
In his main work, "Creating Organizational Value through Dialogical Leadership. Boiling Rice in Still Water" (2017), he extensively describes the theory and method, including a case study of Canon-Océ, where Dialogical Leadership, team, and organizational development were combined. In the book "Dialogical Leadership. When the I Steps Aside" (2019), he further elaborates on this for the Dutch-speaking audience. Illustrating the power of symbols and metaphors, he published a poetry collection "The Green Horse. Tale from a Temple Book" (2020), where language, symbolism, meditation, and prayer converge.