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Article By Thomas Köttner
What do people say about me?
Hello Thomas,
It was a wonderful time we had discussing all the aspects that make us human beings beyond being managers in an ever faster and more complex world.
The sessions with you, in which we usually started in some immediate point and went on to some general understanding have thoroughly changed the way I look at multiple things.As I also mentioned already during our last call: THANK YOU FOR HAVING BEEN MY COACH!
It means the world to me that you deemed me worthy of spending your time with me and that you took it upon yourself to challenge my views and understandings. Your insights have forever enriched my personal and professional life and I sincerely hope that our paths will cross again in the future.
With all the best wishes for the future and warm thank you
Regional Head, Technical Devices, Global Medical Business. Central Europe
A meaningful meeting with Thomas that has had tangible results with regards to the marketplace.
I was frustrated that having arranged the meetings with a key strategic brand to discuss the marketplace, the head of the marketplace did not attend. This frustration stemmed from a desire to secure the business and also to be visible in these meetings with senior stakeholders.
Thomas encouraged me to re-think this view of the situation. Instead of viewing it as a dereliction of duty by the head of the marketplace, view it as a show of trust, in me, to secure the business. This resulted in me taking greater ownership of the process and driving the negotiation.
The outcome: we secured the business and one of our top 10 fashions brands will now be present on the marketplace for the second half of 2020. In the email to announce this to the owners/board the head of the marketplace thanked me for my part in securing this new business.
I was given a bonus at the of the first quarter despite significantly missing my personal and team targets. Of course, I was happy to receive this but also felt it was somewhat underserved. Thomas believed that in spite of missing targets the company valued my contribution and this was in fact deserved. I have had time to reflect on this and while I do understand this I still feel I can contribute more. In my previous job, as a buyer for a department store, I looked after 150 different brands - I currently manage 6. Obviously the level of work and attention is totally different but I have a desire to do more. I have since been give 5 additional brands to prospect but these are all brands where we have made no progress in the last 3 years.
Country Head, Fashion Retail Business, Europe and Americas
