E. Describe the most outstanding leader you have worked with. Indicate some aspects of the way you work that are similar to the way this leader works and others that are different.

1. Question E
Describe the most outstanding leader you have worked with. Indicate
some aspects of the way you work that are similar to the way this leader
works and others that are different.

2. Who is it?
The most outstanding leader I worked with, was my former IT Director during my time at
Johnson & Johnson. Until now I can see his influence in my working style.

3. His leadership characteristics
• Strongly observing and asking a lot of questions
He would never show openly how he felt on a topic but let you first present your points and ask a lot of questions to
understand what is driving your view.
• Keen on making decisions
He would be keen on making decisions – even if they afterwards turn out to be wrong. He once stated that making wrong
decisions is always better than not making any at all.
• Clear viewpoint with strong arguments
He usually had a clear viewpoint on a topic which he would not be afraid to defend by strong arguments - even if some others
or some superiors did not like his view.
• Avoids politics
He hated the way some areas in our company worked - namely mainly through politics and personal relationships. His
viewpoint was that politics are usually ruining any kind of structured approach. He clearly avoided them, would be still friendly
with other leaders but also push them to be in line with standard processes and not to try to get their interests by stretching
their hierarchical muscles.
• Gives a strategic direction with admitting that he's not the expert and delegates things
He would usually admit that he is not the expert in the topics - if so he would not need his direct reports, however he would
always own the high-level picture and show the direction.

4. His aspects I adapted
• Try to understand your counterpart
I’m usually trying to understand where my counterpart is coming from – what drives her/him and what is the background of their
decisions.
• Decision making
I'm usually trying to make a decision. Nothing is worse for me than someone afraid to make up his mind. I might be wrong, but this I can
only find out after I tried it.
• Try to impress by work and not by political maneuvers
I usually try to be nice and fair, but I don’t do politics or special treatment to colleagues and also stay out of tactical games. Besides I’m
more the person who wants to get things done than to endlessly discuss a certain topic to get aligned with all parties.
• Gain the overview but don't try to know everything
I know that I don't need to know everything – in certain topics, I would rather try to focus more on the big picture than the details.
Another important aspect which I try to live as best as possible is to delegate – not only work, but also responsibility and accountability.

5. The difference between him and me
• Openness
I am trying to be open for new topics, changes and also different viewpoints. I might revert my opinion and also let people still teach me
if I have a wrong perception about something.
• Go new ways
I'm not afraid not to think outside the box and from time to time go unusual ways - if this leads to the result, it is always worth a try even
if I get weird looks for that.
• Global focus and cultural awareness
My director was working truly globally but he was not really living this – you could easily see that he tried to impose the ‘German way’ of
working on his delegates. I on the opposite, truly believe that different people from different places in the world need to be approached
differently. Until now, this actually led to a higher success rate than, pushing them to a certain working style. Cultural awareness is an
important topic in my everyday working life and this might be the most important aspect which differs between myself and my former
director.