Stefan Kirmse

Today I read a very interesting article in the German Handelsblatt about the topic of transformation and what you can do wrong and right as a top manager. In general, the message is: Courage to be courageous! Reading through the article, I was able to take a few things away with me: Problem 1: waiting for the perfect information. Problem 2: Powerless middle management. Decisions are delegated to the top. Problem 3: The scapegoat culture. Problem 4: Whitewashing. The theater of success. Problem 5: Risk aversion and discouragement. Problem 6: Clinging to the status quo. Problem 7: Managers select employees based on similarity. Safe pair of hands instead of out of the box. Problem 8: Lack of communication between managers and their employees. I will remind this list every day for the next few weeks and check and improve myself. It's not just for me, my team deserves the best manager, too.

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🌱 Our sustainability report is now available 📈 Under the motto "Enabling Sustainable Progress", we present our contribution to more sustainability - in our own production and through innovative products that help our customers save energy and therefore CO₂ in their processes. 🌳 Environment: Through more efficient processes, green energy, more sustainable materials and innovations, we are gradually reducing our direct and indirect emissions. 👫 Social: We value fair and trusting cooperation and focus on the health and safety of our employees. 🌍 Governance: We use our methodical supplier management to ensure the best possible social and environmental standards at our suppliers and aim to create sustainable processes worldwide with innovative solutions. In the coming weeks, we will be talking about sustainability issues that are particularly close to our hearts. What are your ideas for a more sustainable future? Interested in more details? Read the full report here: http://spkl.io/60414AWUd #WIKAgroup #Sustainability #Innovation #Climatechange #CorporateSocialResponsibility

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👂PODCAST: THE TRANSFORMATION OF CONRAD FROM B2C TO B2B 👂 In this exciting digital kompakt podcast episode, our CEO Ralf Buehler Bühler talks about how Conrad Electronic Group switched from B2C to B2B without losing sales and why open communication during a transformation process is a key factor for success. (Of course, the latter makes my Communication & Brand Team particularly happy😊👏) digital kompakt is a leading business podcast for digital entrepreneurs in which Joel Kaczmarek interviews the most important executives and experts in the digital economy on strategies, trends, best practices and success principles. You will find out...  ...how Ralf Bühler and Conrad Electronic have kept their sales stable despite advancing digitalization.  ...the importance of open communication during the transformation process. ...how smaller companies can also shop on B2C platforms. ...how Conrad Electronic sees growth prospects in the area of digital procurement. ...in which areas Conrad Electronic uses artificial intelligence. ...more about the transformation of Conrad Electronic. ...about Ralf Bühler's personal goals, leadership approaches and professional hacks. ...how Conrad Electronic was able to maintain its flexibility and delivery capability by using digital processes. I really enjoyed it – as always. Have fun listening! 💙 #digitalkompakt #transformation #leadership #allpartsofsuccess

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Please meet my wonderful colleague & #successor Berfu Yöneyman. After several weeks of virtual #handover sessions, Berfu and I had the great pleasure of spending a full week together in Ludwighafen for final handover. It was great and a lot of fun!   ❓ When was the last time you handed over a role to your successor? Or when did you take over from someone else ❓   I think that #handovers are really undervalued in business. In many cases there is no overlap at all, or the whole handover is squeezed into 1 or 2 meetings. I strongly believe that a good handover can make the start of a new role - which is a challenge by itself - much smoother for the person taking over and for everyone working with the new colleague. I also have a personal ambition to leave as much of a legacy as possible, as I have put a lot of heart into each role and want to give my successor at least the chance to build on that from the very start on.       As the experience of handing over is still very fresh in my mind, I would like to share with you my personal top 5 on handovers:   1️⃣ Time: No matter how good a handover is, what is definitely needed is time together. Time for the pure exchange of knowledge, but also time for all the questions that come up later. So please - if you are about to fill a position - leave some time for overlap.   2️⃣ Structure & in writing: I am personally a big fan of collecting and structuring all topics for pure knowledge transfer and putting them into one document (I personally prefer One Note) where notes, links to documents as well asopen topics can be collected and revisited later.   3️⃣ Personal development: Leadership and personal development topics are key topics of every handover from my perspective. Make sure that everything such as objectives, development reviews and next steps are well documented in the respective systems, but also make sure that the more hidden topics (such as ambitions, special arrangements, etc.) are properly handed over.     4️⃣ Deep dives: There is no need for one person to do all the onboarding topics him/herself. I usually provide a list of people for potential deep dives on specific topics and prioritize according to my experience.   5️⃣ Soft factors: Yes, facts, figures and pure knowledge are important when handing over a position. However, I think it is important to leave enough space for the HOW as well. What was the purpose? What has been the challenges? Why was the process set up the way it was? What would I have done different with today's knowlege?   ❓ What has been your experience of handovers in the past? What am I missing here? Which tips can you share❓   Dear Berfu Yöneyman, I wish you all the best in your new role! I am sure you will rock the polyamide world! 🤘  

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Interesting read. 🔝 https://lnkd.in/eiih4A6B ALTANA CEO Marting Babilas about the future of the business location Germany and our strengths as a leading German chemical company.

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🌟 Excited to Lead YouGov DACH into the Future 🌟 I’m honored to take on the role of CEO DACH at YouGov—a significant milestone for me and a pivotal moment for our organization. In today’s world of synthetic data and AI-driven recommendations, YouGov stands apart by delivering real insights from real people, interpreted by real experts. This commitment empowers businesses to make confident, authentic decisions. 💡 With the integration of the Consumer Panel business into YouGov’s existing portfolio, we’ve amplified our ability to deliver unmatched value. By uniting high-quality data and deep expertise, we help clients navigate complexity and uncover opportunities for meaningful growth. Looking ahead, we’re focused on investing in our people, expanding our industry expertise, and fostering collaboration to remain your trusted partner in decision-making. 📌 I’m particularly excited for our upcoming Kronberg Unternehmergespräche, where we’ll showcase how we live these values every day. Here’s to shaping the future together! 🚀 #Reality #ResearchReality #Quality #YouGov #RealPeople #RealInsights #RealImpact #Leadership #DataDrivenDecisions #Innovation

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what sparked your 'lightbulb moment' about sustainability? #GreenerTogether #LinkedInNewsEurope It was not "sustainability" but "sustainability at a timely scale" that was a trigger for me. Timelines for when CO2 can be saved now already (many programs can do it 5-10-15 years down the road - while the CO2 we can reduce now already, we don't need to clean up later). The scale factor forces considerations of adoption. Adoption increases if there pure upsides. So if sustainability products / services will have immediate cost & health benefits, companies get sustainability "for free". This drives adoption and adoptions drives scale and scale is essential for meaningful sustainability. #EnOcean

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Sustainability meets business! 🌱 We often talk about all kinds of occasions, events and reasons to celebrate on LinkedIn. But what we often miss out on are real encounters and day-to-day business. In our new format #SustainabilityMeetsBusiness, I would therefore like to talk more with colleagues who are close to our customers, who are in contact with them on a daily basis and who represent the real day-to-day business - and get to know their wishes and expectations with regard to sustainability. Our journey started at Telekom stores. ✨ The stores are the face of Telekom in front of customers and therefore one of the main points of contact for customers with sustainable products. As part of our new format, I had the pleasure of talking to Bijan Esfahani, Head of Telekom Shops Germany. Together with Eva-Juliane Sartory, Head of ESG at Telekom Deutschland GmbH, and other experts, we met at our flagship store in Cologne's Schildergasse, a real showcase store in terms of sustainability. My key findings: 💡 - We have already achieved a good level of sustainability in our stores, for example by offering to take back and buy back cell phones, as well as through our sustainable landline devices. The shop design embraces many sustainability criteria from floor to lighting to furniture and not to forget the clothing of our employees.  - Nevertheless, sustainability is a complex topic that we need to make more accessible to our customers. - Our employees in the stores need more individualized information and training in the area of sustainability. Therefore, this dialog will continue in order to create even more transparency for our customers. So, my question to you: what would you expect from a shop in terms of sustainability? What are we missing out on? What are positive surprises?  Big thanks to Bijan Esfahani, Eva-Juliane Sartory, Michael Werner, Peter Finkl, Abdul-Haseeb Shah, Jagpreet Mander, Büsra Zengin, Myriam Quiskamp and Marie Austermann for the great and insightful exchange and organization. The next session will take me to Frankfurt, I’m looking already forward to meeting our colleagues from the Service Center. 

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Considering the fact that hygiene paper is completely eliminated here, as well as some speciality papers or graphic papers that are kept for archives, a recycling rate of 86,4% is an outstanding achievement. In comparison, Europe in average is at 70.5% - we are truly European champions in Austria and remarkably excellent in this respect, achieving the recycling rate required by the EU by 2030 seven years earlier. #recycling #circulareconomy #europeangreendeal

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Business can develop faster with people like Dr. Florian Ullrich. That's why FLEXOO is growing fast and delivering solutions to companies and institutions like Volkswagen Group NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration Marquardt Group RECARO Automotive Logitech and more.

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My head is still spinning from all the insights and information I gathered over the past two days at the #B2BMarketingDays in Würzburg. 🤯🙃 Here are my top takeaways: 1. People buy from people: The customer is at the heart of everything. We need to be more emotional and human in our messaging to truly connect with our customers and gain their trust. 🤗 2. The Customer Journey doesn’t end with selling the product: Retaining and nurturing existing customers during the service and loyalty phases is just as important as acquiring new ones. Happy customers are loyal customers! ☺️ 3. Don’t be afraid of AI: AI is already superior to humans in certain areas – for example, 95% of AI-generated headlines are more effective than those written by people. But the results are just as good as the prompts given. "Sh** in Sh** out! 😉 It’s clear that the future of B2B marketing is more customer-centric and tech-empowered than ever. Thanks to marconomy for this great event! #b2bmarketing #customerexperience #ai

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Get to know our CEO, Gregoire Poux-Guillaume, by watching this fascinating interview filmed in front of a live audience at the Technical University of Munich Technical University of Munich. Part of its CEO Leadership Series, he talks about everything from his worst subject at school and his various mentors, to his career path and joining AkzoNobel. In this clip, he answers one of many questions from students at the Heilbronn campus. You can watch the full session here: https://lnkd.in/e3QkJPHg #AkzoNobel #PaintTheFuture

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BEYOND the hardware It’s about the service to our consumer, customer and society. Appliance-as-a-Service has been discussed in the German press. Among others, Frankfurter Neue Presse, Rhein Zeitung and welt.de discussed the reasons when leasing a home appliance may be the choice you have been looking for. Why? Well, it makes high quality and efficient appliances and services: 💰affordable 👜 flexible 🔧convenient 🍀 sustainable Staying close to our consumer and customers, it makes me proud that we at BSH and BlueMovement rise to these needs. Yet, we don’t rest on our laurels but continuously adapt ourselves and our products and services to meet the ever changing consumer needs and today’s global challenges, whether economic or resource scarcity. We boldly pursue our innovative circular model to reach more consumers in line with our purpose to improve quality of life at home and ensure that our products stay longer in good use. My sincere thanks, Yann Toutant, for exploring with me how more of us can be part of this As-a-Service paradigm shift. Help us increase awareness and spread the word! ❤️ #circularEconomy #innovation #sustainability #consumercentricity #PaaS #serviceEconomy #ux #teamBSH #likeaBosch #leadership #purpose #PowerofPartnership

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Actions speak louder than words....

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𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 - 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝗿𝘁 & 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. Egon Zehnder and dentsu welcomed CMOs, Marketing leaders and CEOs/MDs for an event in Hamburg as many of us started into a week dedicated to the OMR festival. Marketing is a mix of science and art. 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 - 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗮𝘀 𝗔𝗜. 𝗔𝗿𝘁 - 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆. Every day we hear: Technology is impacting everything. Also in marketing and media. But what is hype, what is trend and what creates sustainable added value? 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗮𝗿𝘁? 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀? And what tools, processes and, above all, leadership approaches are needed for this? We investigated these questions with the help of: ⭐ Aline Santos Farhat, who inspired with insights into her marketing philosophy, her approach to AI adoption and eye-opening background information on some of the most iconic campaigns of the past decades. ⭐ Sabine Zantis talked about the AI roadmap at Deichmann and shared specific examples of AI usage from process optimisation to content creation. ⭐ Thomas Walter showed us live on stage how to set up AI-based Marketing assistance. Thank you to our speakers for their inspiring contributions and to all guests for the engaged discussions. Thank you to our partner dentsu, particularly to Karin Zimmermann - Georg Berzbach - Judith Weiand - Christian Liedgens - Miriam Duma. Thank you to my colleagues who helped to develop this event: Eva Tholen - Meike Rosenfeld - Stefanie Julia Meisch - Lene Rabeler - Dr. Gesa-Kristina Petersen. #MarketingFuture #AIinMarketing #LeadershipDevelopment #OMR

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It was a great pleasure attending this yearly FutureCongress.digital in #Wolfsburg, meanwhile a recurring must-go event for all active in Digitalization, Mobility and city transformation processes. One of the many take-aways was the request speakers on stage and participants had alike to stop creating new initiatives, new "Lighthouse Projects" and "Lighthouse Programmes", but to simply do the things and become operational. There was a common understanding that Germany and Europe require real implementations and sustainable business models. This was just music in my ears. With Dynamo | The European Cloud Alternative, we are exactly doing this: implementing on a European level a federated cloud and business model leveraging on many of Europe's initiatives and existing Cloud Service Providers (#CSP). This model allows European providers to build on top of their collective capabilities while retaining their independence, ultimately fostering #DigitalSovereignty and ensuring European businesses to have access to comprehensive #cloud solutions that respect and address local needs.  It looks like we just need to grap the solutions already in front of our feet... Thanks to Dalibor Dreznjak, Anatoli Seliwanow and the whole team for the interesting talks and networking opportunties throughout the two days.

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