The circle lords: a testament to Willem Maris’ leadership at ASML

Willem Maris was known for his loose management style. He liked to be among people and had little to do with hierarchy. You don’t hear much about his mischief, but some former employees, particularly former members of ASML’s works council, say that he could also be arrogant and elitist at times. Bottom line is, he was a team player, someone who recognized the power in people and motivated them to use that energy for ASML.

In 1993, Maris prevented current top executive and ASML’s technological brains, Martin van den Brink, from moving to American machine builder Varian. When the ASML CEO got wind of Van den Brink’s imminent departure through a phone call from a contact in the US, he told his wife, “If Martin leaves, it’s over and done with.” On his return from that infamous US trip, Van den Brink found his boss waiting for him – “Brink, you’re not going to do anything weird” – and, thus, Maris stopped his most important technician from leaving. It’s probably his most important contribution to ASML.