My guest today, Charles Bahr, is quite a character. He started his professional journey at 14 founding his own agency, just to found another one before joining TikTok and the Serviceplan Bubble afterwards. What a journey.

Charles shares some of his experiences consulting big brands on social media, but also shares his views on what he and his generations expect from workplaces today. A perfect set up to drink and learn.

Some things I have learned in our session:

➡️ Companies need to build environments where the right idea can come from anyone in the team.

➡️ Younger generations don’t get the concept of hierarchy. They look for fast pace learning and growing, direct and honest feedback in both ways and to make a difference early on.

➡️ GenZs do not think in devices, but in formats they are interested in.

✍️ Enjoy todays episode, subscribe us, rate us and make sure to drink and learn with people around you.

PS: I know I got confused - it of course is Episode 23. :)

PPS: More infos on Serviceplan:
https://www.serviceplan.com

How about being a global fashion retailer and introducing a four day work week in the middle of the Pandemic? Not the first thing you would do? Well, check out the story of Desigual who just did this bold move.
In todays episode I had the chance to reconnect with Guillem Gallego, CMO of Desigual. Guillem has many stories to share, from introducing the NFL to an European audience, to rocking at Nike and to become the Marketing leader of one of the most recognised Spanish brands. We talked about the transformation of a brand, of products and the culture of an organisation, which for Desigual even ended up in a four day work week.

Some things I have learned in our session:
➡️ If you want to become a leading brand - you have to lead.
➡️ Change hurts. Transformation comes with difficult decisions like killing profitable products which are not on brand or moving to a four day week.
➡️ Having a bold visionary in a company helps a lot - especially if it is the owner.

✍️ Enjoy todays episode, subscribe us, rate us and make sure to drink and learn with people around you.

More infos about Desigual:
http://desigual.com

Show notes:
3:25 Drink of the day.
5:50 How Guillem became Guillem.
12:01 Finding my way to Desigual.
20:30 Transforming a brand.
25:40 Brand is not just a marketing conversation.
29:00 The next step: 4 day week.
42:25 Thinking sustainability.
45:44 The network question.

Everyone of us wants the best talent in their teams. People who can drive change, grow the business, make a difference, bring energy and solve the biggest challenges within the organisation. We call them unicorns - everyone is looking for them, but they are pretty hard to find.

My guest today knows how to attract these talents, but more important she also knows how organizations need to change to keep them. Carolin Stokes is the author and TedTalk Speaker of „Elephants before Unicorns“, spent years in the tech industry at PlayStation, Virgin and Nokia, build a humanistic headhunting and consulting company and is supporting big organisations to become emotionally intelligent. Most importantly - she is a fun and inspiring talk partner.

Some things I have learned in our session:
➡️ Never underestimate Empathy as a game changer for personal development.
➡️ Always be honest and transparent to potential new hires about the challenges within the company. It’s the only way not to loose them in the first three months.
➡️ Make sure you find the „elephants“ in your organization. What is keeping people to bring up challenges and solving them? Start to tackle them from top to bottom.
➡️ Start now to assess where your Org stands in terms of emotional intelligence: Workplace EQ Diagnostic

More information on Caroline Stokes:
https://www.theforward.co

✍️ Enjoy todays episode, subscribe us, rate us and make sure to drink and learn with people around you.

Show notes:
3:07 Drinks of the day.
5:15 How Caroline became Caroline.
13:40 The power of unicorns.
20:10 What is an elephant?
35:17 Measuring EQ.
45:00 Onboarding Talent.
54:00 The network question.

During a career you go through a lot of trainings, some good and inspiring, others a waste of time and energy.

One of the most impactful trainings in my career has been about negotiation with the GAP Partnership. Even after many years I still think about it. As I know that many people have difficulties with this topic, I have invited Jon Speichinger, a negotiation expert at the GAP.
Jon shared his life story, but also a lot of insights about negotiations.
Another one in German I’m afraid. :)

Some things I have learned in our session:

➡️ Take preparation seriously. Know exactly what you want and what your no gos are. Learn about the other site, see the world out of their shoes, play „what if“ games.

➡️ Listen carefully. You might learn things which are important to the other site and easy wins for you.

➡️ Success is not just measured through numbers - especially in a long term partnership it is important that both parties leave the table with a good feeling.

✍️ Enjoy todays episode, subscribe us, rate us and make sure to drink and learn with people around you.

Website:
https://www.thegappartnership.com

Show notes:
4:22 Drink of the day.
7:20 How Jon became Jon.
13:40 Negotiation in different Cultures.
19:00 My life at the GAP PARTNERSHIP.
26:00 Negotiations are nothing bad…
38:00 Training and preparation is everything.
49:00 Take controle.
55:40 The network question.

Many of us grew up and built our careers in the corporate world with countless ups and downs on our way.

My guest today from Hong Kong is definitely one of us - Andy Chiu.

Andy experienced the culture of L'Oréal and Mercedes Benz before he learned that wearing a suit is not the definition of being successful. He followed his true passion and landed in the sports and lifestyle industry, worked at Adidas and Puma and Adidas again leading Originals in Japan. Andy is a true expert in building cultural relevance for brands, became an entrepreneur, started a business and is today consulting brands and corporations. I consider myself lucky to know him and to have the chance to chat in my podcast. 🎙️

Some things I have learned in our session:

➡️ Wearing a suit is not equal being successful. 👔

➡️ Find and follow your passion as this is the base for success in your profession.

➡️ Sometimes all the answers to challenges in a corporation are already there, but it needs an external person to come and speak them out loud.

➡️ Substance in product and communication will always win on a long term.

✍️ Enjoy todays episode, subscribe us, rate us and make sure to drink and learn with people around you.

Show notes:
2:20 Drink of the day.
5:30 How Andy became Andy.
12:30 Wearing a suit = Being successful?
31:00 Finding myself as a base for success.
38:00 Judging my experience in the corporate world.
43:00 The importance of substance.
50:00 Getting cultural relevant.
56:30 The network question.

Todays guest is one of the leading trend researchers Peter Wippermann.
Peter tells the story how he became a researcher who's job it is to model the future and shares a lot of findings out of his studies. I personally liked his view not focussing on single fast paced trends, but building baselines on five dimensions to measure developments over time and predict changes in our society. His five focus dimensions are:
- social change
- ageing demographics
- technological developments
- economical change
- cultural change

Check out the Trendbüro website:
https://trendbuero.com/de

I apologise for the mediocre sound quality on this episode.

✍️ Enjoy todays episode, subscribe us, rate us and make sure to drink and learn with people around you.

Show notes:
2:03 Drink of the day.
4:15How Peter became Peter.
9:40 Anticipating trends.
32:00Scary trends.
40:10Creating the ICH AG.
42:10The network question.

Everyone slowly starts coming back from their summer breaks and I hope that all of you had some quality time with your loved ones and enough time to spend for things you enjoy, like your hobbies - which is also the topic of todays podcast. My guest is Jon Rissik, CEO of Dovetail games. He and his team craft hobbies as a business and deliver world class digital fishing and train experiences to their customers.

Jon will share some insights about his career, leadership style and talk about Dovetails seven pillars describing how to craft a monetisable hobby:

1. Collecting: Can I build and display my unique collection?
2. Customising: Can I shape existing content or build new content?
3. Mastering: Do I have everything I need to go from novice to expert?
4. Doing: Is there a realistic, beautiful world for me to enjoy?
5. Sharing: Can I share content and discuss my hobby with others like me?
6. Viewing: Can I watch and read the experience of others?
7. Shopping: Is there an engaging, personalised shopping experience.

✍️ Enjoy todays episode, subscribe us, rate us and make sure to drink and learn with people around you.

Show notes:

4:15 Drink of the day.

8:20How Jon became Jon.

20:30 What Dovetails does…

28:28 The hobby wheel - crafting hobbies.

42:30A different way to develop games.

1:02:10 The network question.

How bold and disruptive should I be in my job?
And what if I am more the introvert than an extrovert - how can I stand out?

Tough questions for a lot of change drivers out there and I had the perfect thought partner for these question: Lisa Hogg from Brave Amsterdam.

Lisa has worked for Nike, Converse, Asics, Vans and Toms, is a brand and marketing expert with her own agency. She focusses on Strategy, Storytelling and has seen all the different angles in leadership. In her projects she often helps brands to differentiate, find their core and the right strategy. And for that you sometimes have to be bold and brave to go new directions.

Some things I have learned in our session:

➡️ Strategy first: Where are you heading? Then decide the level of braveness needed to get there.
➡️ Failure is one of the best sources of information. Learn from it, talk about it, but never repeat it.
➡️ Fear is not a good partner. Never fear of getting fired - always do the right thing and you will grow.

✍️ Enjoy todays episode, subscribe us, rate us and make sure to drink and learn with people around you.

Website:
https://www.brave.amsterdam

Show notes:
3:05 Drink of the day.
7:05The Road of my life.
18:26Being brave. Pros and Cons.
29:45Failing as part of the Journey.
36:05The wolf in me.
49:05The bravest decision in my life.
58:05Braveness in family life.
1:02:05The network question.