Bonding - More than materials | Herrmann Ultraschall

There is no “boss” within the lead- ership circles; the circle itself is the boss. “Important decisions require a clear vote by all participants,” explains O’Beirne. All strategies at the Karls- bad company are developed by the leadership circles. “After all, in addition to inspiring the customers, we also need our employees to be enthusias- tic about what we are doing.” “That’s why we set up these circles and broke away from ‘top and bottom’ mentality – which, admittedly, sometimes cannot be completely avoided,” adds Thomas Herrmann. Though that is the excep- tion, he says. Setting up the leadership circles was necessary for the company to continue to grow. “We experienced incredible growth, so the culture jour- ney was hugely import- ant in order to accom- modate it,” describes Thomas Herrmann. Since he has been leading the company, 200 employees have become nearly 600 in 20 countries. The newest circle is the employee council. It, too, is a consequence of the culture journey and has become necessary due to the rising number of employees. “This circle gives us direct feedback from the employees, as every one of us has a ‘blind spot’ and does not always have an eye on everything. With the employ- The SLC – Collaboration, co-decision, and co-responsibility for the global corporate philosophy and strategy as well as their implementation. Strategic Leadership Circle. I am grateful for this important body and the dialog at eye level.” Dialog on an equal footing is key for the two managing directors, who work closely together like two co-pilots. “Apprecia- tion of others is one of our four values we have defined for good coopera- tion. With the leadership circles, we delegate responsibility, and this brings us huge steps forward as a company,” says O’Beirne. Thomas Herrmann adds: “Even though, in the beginning, it was not always easy for me to let go straight away. However, when I see what we have achieved together in the last few years, it was a very good and important decision.” Managing Directors, shareholders, and advisory board. ee council, we have introduced a reg- ular form of exchange in all directions,” says Carsten O’Beirne, explaining the function of this leadership circle. “This creates greater transparency. Addition- ally, we receive important and valuable impulses. Even though the colleagues were not used to it at first, they now know that their concerns and wishes are taken up and directed to the right contact persons!” There is another, subtle circle that is also important to Herrmann and O‘Beirne: the advisory board. A volun- tary body launched by the family many years ago. Its tasks are to advise the managing directors strategically and to approve larger decisions on a majority basis. The five-member advisory board is made up of high-ranking technical and commercial managing directors who actively support the CEO and the COO with industry experience and in- sights on human nature. “Our reporting structure to the advisory board gives us security,” says Thomas Herrmann, “and the input we get is extremely valuable, especially when setting the structural course and making import- ant HR decisions. The TLC – Continuous, superordinate, and proactive impulse provider and adviser for cross-area decisions on organiza- tional development. DR. SEBASTIAN RESCHKE IS AN EXTERNAL MANAGE- MENT CONSULTANT AND COACH; HE AD- VISES THE GENERAL MANAGEMENT ON CORPORATE DEVEL- OPMENT, AS WELL AS ON THE CULTURE JOURNEY. 67 66