Rudy Maertens is CEO of AZ Alma, a merged hospital where collaboration, change, and complex decision-making are part of everyday reality. As a hospital leader, he operates at the intersection of healthcare, organization, people, and interests. Within that context, he has developed a strong affinity for negotiation as a leadership capability, centered on insight into human behavior, thorough preparation, and long-term value creation.
Rudy is ambassador of the New Negotiation Narrative.
From insight to reflex
For Rudy Maertens, negotiation is not a separate task. It is embedded in his role as CEO and daily executive leader of AZ Alma. Whether he speaks with physicians, healthcare professionals, partners, board members, or external stakeholders, every conversation carries expectations, interests, and tensions that require careful judgment.
In a merged hospital, you are always negotiating.
That reality led him and the entire executive team to embark on an intensive learning journey around the NQ® model. Not to become tougher dealmakers, but to negotiate with greater awareness, humanity, and effectiveness.
Awareness as the first gain
The biggest shift for Maertens was awareness. Insight into his own strengths and blind spots as a negotiator, and a clearer understanding of the team dynamics within the executive board.
The NQ® model made visible which capabilities were present, where development was needed, and how team members could reinforce one another. It also provided a structured lens to understand negotiations in all their layers, human, psychological, and technical, even when those dynamics remain unspoken.
Science that works in practice
What sets this approach apart for Maertens is the combination of scientific rigor and practical relevance. No abstract theory, but insights that translate directly into the daily complexity of healthcare leadership.
As a result, the NQ® model has increasingly become part of the internal language at AZ Alma. Those who take the time to prepare thoroughly and apply the principles consciously notice something striking: outcomes are often more positive than expected.
The Ambition of an NQ® reflex
Maertens speaks openly about his ambition, to develop a spontaneous NQ® reflex. A way of negotiating that becomes so natural it no longer requires deliberate thought, like breathing or a steady heartbeat.
Whether that endpoint can ever be fully reached remains open. But the direction is clear. With the NQ® model as a compass and growing experience in practice, he and his team feel supported by a steady internal guide, what he calls an “NQ® guardian angel”, helping them remain sharp, human, and thoughtful.
In a sector defined by pressure, scarcity, and complexity, his story shows how negotiation can evolve into a defining leadership capability, not to win, but to make sustainable care and meaningful collaboration possible.
Curious what the NQ® model could mean for your team or organization? Discover how negotiation can become a conscious and powerful leadership capability.
