Lot van der Wal
"No wind is favourable for a ship that does not know where it wants to go."
Robert Don

Experience with

Business and financial team transformation, divestments (including sale preparation, due diligence and management presentations), acquisitions and integration management, value creation, translating strategy into clear and measurable milestones, talent coaching, boardroom dynamics and supervisory board roles.

What shaped Lot?

Lot built her career on a solid strategic, commercial and financial foundation. After studying commercial economics and marketing, she began her career as Plant Controller at a factory in Germany while simultaneously completing her master’s degree in business economics and strategy. She then finished her Registered Controller qualification and went on to hold a range of roles at the intersection of business, strategy and finance: operational audit, head of the dealing room treasury, JV dispute management, acquisitions, and the transformation of manufacturing businesses. In that last role, she harmonised the operations of approximately 18 factories, merged financial teams, steered multiple CAPEX management, ROS, EBITDA and OWC improvement programmes, and acted as change agent for the transformation of finance teams across around 30 countries.

As CFO and Board Member of the Stork Group, her focus from day one was on cash management, as the situation was under severe pressure following the COVID lockdowns. From there, she led all aspects related to the sale of the Stork Group and the transformation of the finance and procurement teams across five business units, while simultaneously improving operational performance.

The common thread throughout her career is solving complex problems that reach well beyond the boundaries of finance. She excels at unravelling business, organisational and strategic challenges, with a sharp eye for the interests of all stakeholders and the long-term health of the organisation. Lot has also led Procurement, Legal and M&A. In addition, she holds supervisory board positions.

In 2026, Lot joined CFO Netwerk.

Clear Priorities Focused on Sustainable Value Creation

When Lot approaches the transformation of a business or financial team, or works to bring a strategy to life, she starts with a sharp and honest analysis grounded in facts and, crucially, in the perspectives of all relevant stakeholders. Once the problem is clearly defined, she helps management break complex challenges into manageable parts, set the right priorities, and formulate concrete and achievable solutions together with the relevant owners of each issue.

Throughout the transformation process, she also ensures that the organisation’s core strengths are not lost. As an adviser or interim CFO, it is equally important that the organisation feels full ownership of the new situation after her departure. That is why she works closely with all stakeholders throughout the entire process. This extends well beyond the financial side of the organisation: results are achieved by the whole, including commercial, production, procurement, HR, boardroom culture and company values. Lot ensures that all disciplines are aligned at the level of processes and management information. She also looks for improvements in the underlying non-financial leading and lagging KPIs, because that is where the key to sustainable value creation lies.

Character

Lot is a determined professional with a positive mindset who brings direction and calm during dynamic periods. Every problem can be tackled, and what it takes is a thorough analysis not only of the data, but also of processes, and more importantly, the dynamics between all team members. Working together with a team to unravel complex situations into their component parts, openly naming the elephant in the room, breaking solutions into manageable steps and helping to implement them: this is where Lot is at her strongest. This approach creates the space for real and lasting change.

She has experience leading both small and large teams, ranging from 5 to 500 people, and is often described as a demanding but caring leader. She sets high professional standards while combining them with genuine involvement and attention to the person behind the role. Lot draws great energy from coaching young talent and strengthening leadership within organisations. She encourages people to step into the interfaces between disciplines and to look at the challenges of the business from multiple angles.

Outside of work, Lot is a skipper of sailing yachts up to approximately 50 feet in Greece and Croatia. Her energy and open leadership style show up there too: safety and enjoyment are always the priority, with constant attention to a strong team atmosphere on board and after anchoring. In many ways, navigating a sailing yacht to its next destination, with a well-functioning crew, is not so different from navigating an organisation through a period of transition.

My publications

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