“Responsibility without decision-making authority is a farce.”
Many companies want to see more initiative, entrepreneurship, and customer focus. But in practice, centralized directives, control, and rigid target systems often dominate. How much freedom can an organization tolerate? And how can leadership succeed when decisions are supposed to be made where customer contact actually takes place?
“These apparent contradictions create a creative tension that generates momentum.”
Christoph Werner, CEO of dm-drogerie markt, relies on precisely this tension. For him, leaders need the ability to navigate ambiguity: the capacity to view centralization and decentralization, efficiency and individualization, or hierarchy and personal responsibility not as opposites. What’s crucial is a corporate culture that empowers people to make their own decisions and views leadership as a framework within which self-efficacy can flourish. Werner also speaks with Georgiy Michailov about intrinsic motivation, compensation, and the role of corporate culture in times of conflict.
*Video only in German
SMP LeaderTalks
