How can a highly gifted expat achieve success in the Netherlands?

How can a highly gifted expat achieve success in the Netherlands?

Recently, I was invited by Katya Mitskevich, founder of SocioCircles, with a simple yet intriguing question: could I, as a coach for highly gifted professionals, share something about the culture of giftedness in the Netherlands?

Katya herself graduated with distinction from Oxford in Financial Economics. Each month, she brings together international professionals to better understand — and sometimes gently unravel — Dutch culture.

For many, highly gifted expat Netherlands success is not just about performance, but about understanding a very different cultural system.

In her introduction, she captured the essence of the challenge perfectly:

“For anyone who grew up in a culture where only excellent marks were good enough, where you ran every single minute not to fall behind, the Netherlands is a puzzle.”

And more personally:

“I spent years thinking I was my job. A Dutch therapist once told me that was a personality disorder. My Russian friends and my partner Vasily Yurenkov laughed. It took moving into a truly Dutch company to start seeing myself as a person, not a sum of talents.”

Many participants recognized that same puzzle. Even before my session began, Katya shared the questions that were already circulating. The most pressing one:

How do you become rich in the Netherlands?

It is precisely this tension — between identity and achievement, between speed and restraint — that many expats experience when they arrive here.

By Petra Hiemstra, April 20, 2026

Highly gifted expat Netherlands success: just act normal

In many countries, intelligence acts as an accelerator. Those who think faster, work harder and see more sharply tend to rise more quickly — and earn more.

In the Netherlands, things work differently.

Intelligence is appreciated, but rarely amplified. Those who stand out too visibly may encounter a subtle form of resistance. Not through direct rejection, but through something typically Dutch: normalization.  You will probably hear someone say:

“High trees catch a lot of wind” or “Just act normal, that’s already crazy enough.”

For highly gifted professionals — fast thinkers, pattern recognizers, system improvers — this can be confusing. Not because they are underperforming, but because their pace and intensity fall outside the social norm.

You are allowed to be brilliant here.
As long as you shine… modestly.

Expats in the Netherlands: ambition meets fog

The expats in the group recognized a recurring pattern.

In their home countries, the logic was often clear: more responsibility leads to more reward. Ambition provided direction. The system responded.

In the Netherlands, they experience something different:

• calm
• safety
• a healthier work-life balance

But also:

• less explicit recognition
• smaller differences in compensation
• a more diffuse playing field

For those aiming at highly gifted expat Netherlands success, this shift can feel disorienting.

Beneath the surface, a quiet question emerges:

How much should I actually give here to be successful?

A country below sea level thinks horizontally

The answer lies partly in history. The Netherlands was built on cooperation. Quite literally. For centuries, survival meant building dikes together, managing water together, sharing responsibility.

This legacy lives on in the so-called “polder model”: consensus over conflict.

Underlying this is the influence of Calvinism: modesty, sobriety, and restraint in displaying success.

Wealth is fine. But preferably without too much fanfare.

Equality as strength — and as a subtle brake

According to Geert Hofstede, the Netherlands has a low power distance. Organizations are relatively flat. Leaders are approachable. Everyone has a voice.

That sounds ideal — and often it is.

But there is a paradox:

• decision-making takes time
• responsibilities are shared
• recognition remains implicit

In other words: everyone gets to speak — but no one automatically gets the final say.

For expats and highly gifted professionals, this can feel like operating in a light fog.
Or, more gently put: more drizzle than thunderstorm.

The invisible norm: the Dutch “seven checkmarks”

Journalist Joris Luyendijk showed that equality in the Netherlands is not as neutral as it seems.

He described an informal standard of privilege, known as the “seven checkmarks”:

• male
• white
• heterosexual
• highly educated
• born in the Netherlands
• at least one highly educated parent
• raised without financial hardship

Those who tick these boxes tend to move more easily through systems.

Those who don’t — such as many expats, women, and even highly gifted individuals with atypical profiles — may find that “equality” in practice means adapting to an implicit norm.

Difference is rarely rejected outright.
But it is… smoothed over.

The paradox of speed: from 130 (or more) to 50 km/h

There is another important factor: speed.

As an individual, you may think quickly, connect ideas, and make decisions rapidly.
You are, metaphorically speaking, driving at 130 km/h.

Organizations, however, move differently.

Heidi and Alvin Toffler described how systems slow down as they grow larger. More stakeholders, more alignment and interests to balance.

In the Netherlands, this is amplified by structures such as works councils and consensus-driven decision-making.

The result:

• individual: 100–130 km/h
• team: 70–90 km/h
• organization: 30–50 km/h

For highly gifted professionals, this creates a fundamental paradox.

You can move faster — but the system requires something else.

Push too hard, and you create resistance.
Learn to adjust, and you create movement.

Why your promotion doesn’t wake up your paycheck

One participant, working at FedEx, put it bluntly:

“I’m in level 15. My manager is in 16. He has much more responsibility, more complexity, more pressure — but barely earns more.”

His conclusion was simple:

“Why would I take the next step?”

The Dutch system intentionally dampens differences. Large financial or hierarchical gaps do not fit well within the ideal of equality.

This creates stability.
But sometimes also … modest ambition.

Work-life balance: a quieter form of wealth

And yet.

There was also appreciation in the room. For calm. Space. And life beyond work.

Where success in other countries is often tied to constant pressure, the Netherlands offers a different form of wealth — one that can take time to recognize.

Less extreme highs.
Less dramatic lows.
More balance.

A reflection I received later on LinkedIn, from Olga Talanova, captured this beautifully. She noted that many high achievers do not operate under constant pressure at all. Instead, they thrive when there is a natural fit between their strengths, environment, and motivation.

Not pushing to perform.
But moving where things flow.

She also highlighted the downside of relentless pressure: discipline, yes — but often anxiety, and a deep entanglement between self-worth and achievement.

The real key, she suggested, lies in creating conditions where people can grow without having to suffer to prove their value.

“Climb your own trees.”

For highly gifted professionals, this strikes at the core. Not everything you can do needs to be done. Not every peak is yours to climb.

Perhaps this is what the Netherlands — sometimes unintentionally — makes possible:
not climbing the highest or fastest, but finding the path that truly fits.

Highly gifted expat success in the Netherlands -> deep listening as a strategy

Success here requires a different combination of skills.

Ultimately, highly gifted expat Netherlands success depends less on speed — and more on alignment. My tips during te session?

• invest in relationships and trust
• translate speed into manageable steps
• work with allies
• use humor and lightness where sharpness alone doesn’t land
• respect the system’s pace

In my work with highly gifted professionals, I encounter this pattern frequently.

Or, in my own work: practice deep listening.

Listen to what is being said. Acknowledge it.
Listen for the telos — the highest potential — of the other person, the team, the organization, even the system as a whole.

Ask questions that help others bring their intelligence forward.

Learn to enjoy not only your own brilliance, but that of many.

Dimming to shine

During the session, a metaphor emerged that stayed with us.

Highly gifted people often see more. Faster than others. And they love to share their insights and wisdom.

But…

No one enjoys staring straight into headlights.

Sometimes it helps to dim your light — or to direct it upward.

So others can gradually adjust to it and are naturally drawn toward it.

Finally: what kind of wealth do you choose?

Perhaps this shifts the core question.

Not: how can I maximize my success here?
But: what do I define as success — and at what cost?

The Netherlands offers less external pressure.
But requires more internal clarity.

For some, that feels like slowing down.
For others, like freedom.

Because success here is less imposed — and more chosen.

Which tree will you climb?

Acknowledgment & invitation

Special thanks to Vasily Yurenkov for the warm hosting and technical support — a quiet force behind a vibrant conversation.

More about these gatherings and the expat community can be found via SocioCircles:
https://www.linkedin.com/company/sociocircles/posts/?feedView=all

Do you recognize yourself in this tension as a highly gifted professional or expat in the Netherlands?

What works for you — and what doesn’t?

Share your experience. This conversation grows richer with your perspective.

Contact: Petra.hiemstra@haagsehoogvliegers.nl | +31 6 33803867