Authentic makes you likable? At home with the Karstadt boss
// By Reiner Neumann
Perceived closeness can be increased by - of course, specifically controlled - insights into private life. Because we love the real, authentic types. Managers have also recognized this.
The man behind the mask
Not only show stars, but also managers now reveal a lot about their private lives to the public. Private stories let people peek out from under the mask, turn tough business types into authentic people. Board members report anecdotes from their childhood or tell of formative experiences in previous jobs.
They let us participate in their sporting activities and share their interest in modern art with all. That's what the public loves. Cleverly selected and professionally placed, the right dose of private even contributes to the image of the company.
Heads as a substitute for content
Chefs are the face of the company, especially large and thus actually faceless companies are connected with the person at the top. Siemens is Joe Kaeser and Bayer is Marijn Dekkers. The Chairman of the Board of the local savings bank is also responsible for the entire institute, and the chief physician represents the station he directs.
Perhaps that's why the Karstadt boss and former IKEA manager Eva-Lotta Sjöstedt staged herself privately, for example in Brigitte. Under the title Alone among Men, she reveals to the - mainly - readers how she will make Karstadt successful: "I want to mobilize the concentrated energy of the 20.000 employees", says the CEO. It is not just empty phrases, she even tells us her recipe for success: "I develop my leadership style from my personality. It's Eva Lotta style. " Brilliant!
At home with the Karstadt boss
You should remember that. Then it also works at home, because "the mother of three approaches her private life in a similar way to running a group: involve everyone in responsibility, and then the shop will run". Numbers, dates and facts take a back seat. If people offer a good story, advance laurels are gladly distributed.
We would like to wish Ms. Sjöstedt that things would go better privately than at Karstadt, because the Eva Lotta style had ended just a little later: After only five months in office, Sjöstedt quit her job at Karstadt. Her reasoning: She had found "that the conditions for the restructuring of the company that she was aiming for no longer existed". So much for Mrs. Sjöstedt in the Handelsblatt.
Do not bend at all costs?
At all, we like authentic people the most. So pretty, real guys. Being too authentic, however, can also create problems. That's what Peer Steinbrück once again showed us in the last Bundestag election campaign.
In cooperation with the media, Steinbrück provided a precisely fitting copy of the former SPD chairman Kurt Beck. Peer Steinbrück also did not want to be left as he was.
Press on the lacrimal gland
This included tears as a (of course not staged) response to the question of whether someone can credibly stand up for the concerns of the socially disadvantaged if at the same time they hardly notice their mandate in the Bundestag and collect more than one million euros for lectures. This also includes the stink finger on the title of the SZ magazine.
Good effect is rare chance, but mostly the result of hard work and good preparation. Kurt Beck and Peer Steinbrück wanted more, for themselves and for the country, but at the same time they did not want to be bend. Not only politicians, but also managers and well-known representatives of institutions are always subject to the error of being able to be authentic or even to have to.
The error Authenzität
Also not everyone realizes that authenticity in different fields of action means different. A politician who is perceived as an authentic politician should show different behaviors than a rock star. Hannelore Kraft is perceived as a consistently authentic person. The same applies to Daniela Katzenberger. And yet it would be strange if the two behaviors were too much overlapping.
Our search for authenticity displaces the fact that every situation in life always means fulfilling - multi-layered - role expectations. In companies in particular, it is about achieving a fit with the corporate culture that goes beyond the functional role. If that is true, you are one of us and thus again meet the requirements that are prerequisites for sympathy and closeness. Your true self has to grow into this role.
Master role-playing games perfectly
The FAZ shows us how better the example of the parliamentary deputy Michael Billen from Rhineland-Palatinate. Billen was the CDU man in the Nürburgring Investigation Committee, who obtained illegal access to sensitive information about the flimsy investors. He was right, but the road was wrong.
The CDU leadership then tried to force him out of the state parliament. Vain. In his constituency, he was re-elected directly to the district in 2011 and enjoys a high degree of independence.
Who is acting like?
Timo Frasch describes everyday situations:
"[.] He would have given himself differently than he is - would he have put the blood sausage on the table in a Tupper box at breakfast the next morning? Would he have left the bathroom door wide open when showering? And would he have appeared later at Bitburg-Ehrdorf station with a short-sleeved black shirt, dark sunglasses and a neon orange tie for some symbolic groundbreaking? "
However, he also pays a price: "He will become nothing. He is aware of that, but he doesn't care either. "
Perceived closeness can be increased by - of course, specifically controlled - insights into private life. Because we love the real, authentic types. Managers have also recognized this.
The man behind the mask
Not only show stars, but also managers now reveal a lot about their private lives to the public. Private stories let people peek out from under the mask, turn tough business types into authentic people. Board members report anecdotes from their childhood or tell of formative experiences in previous jobs.
They let us participate in their sporting activities and share their interest in modern art with all. That's what the public loves. Cleverly selected and professionally placed, the right dose of private even contributes to the image of the company.
Heads as a substitute for content
Chefs are the face of the company, especially large and thus actually faceless companies are connected with the person at the top. Siemens is Joe Kaeser and Bayer is Marijn Dekkers. The Chairman of the Board of the local savings bank is also responsible for the entire institute, and the chief physician represents the station he directs.
Perhaps that's why the Karstadt boss and former IKEA manager Eva-Lotta Sjöstedt staged herself privately, for example in Brigitte. Under the title Alone among Men, she reveals to the - mainly - readers how she will make Karstadt successful: "I want to mobilize the concentrated energy of the 20.000 employees", says the CEO. It is not just empty phrases, she even tells us her recipe for success: "I develop my leadership style from my personality. It's Eva Lotta style. " Brilliant!
At home with the Karstadt boss
You should remember that. Then it also works at home, because "the mother of three approaches her private life in a similar way to running a group: involve everyone in responsibility, and then the shop will run". Numbers, dates and facts take a back seat. If people offer a good story, advance laurels are gladly distributed.
We would like to wish Ms. Sjöstedt that things would go better privately than at Karstadt, because the Eva Lotta style had ended just a little later: After only five months in office, Sjöstedt quit her job at Karstadt. Her reasoning: She had found "that the conditions for the restructuring of the company that she was aiming for no longer existed". So much for Mrs. Sjöstedt in the Handelsblatt.
Do not bend at all costs?
At all, we like authentic people the most. So pretty, real guys. Being too authentic, however, can also create problems. That's what Peer Steinbrück once again showed us in the last Bundestag election campaign.
In cooperation with the media, Steinbrück provided a precisely fitting copy of the former SPD chairman Kurt Beck. Peer Steinbrück also did not want to be left as he was.
Press on the lacrimal gland
This included tears as a (of course not staged) response to the question of whether someone can credibly stand up for the concerns of the socially disadvantaged if at the same time they hardly notice their mandate in the Bundestag and collect more than one million euros for lectures. This also includes the stink finger on the title of the SZ magazine.
Good effect is rare chance, but mostly the result of hard work and good preparation. Kurt Beck and Peer Steinbrück wanted more, for themselves and for the country, but at the same time they did not want to be bend. Not only politicians, but also managers and well-known representatives of institutions are always subject to the error of being able to be authentic or even to have to.
The error Authenzität
Also not everyone realizes that authenticity in different fields of action means different. A politician who is perceived as an authentic politician should show different behaviors than a rock star. Hannelore Kraft is perceived as a consistently authentic person. The same applies to Daniela Katzenberger. And yet it would be strange if the two behaviors were too much overlapping.
Our search for authenticity displaces the fact that every...
