For good leadership, it is not enough to be technically excellent

In a management training course for current and future managers, the Münsterland-based service companies Cathalog and Cathamed made a statement for participation and active further development in their organisation. Together with the consultants from noventum consulting, the participants, who also included friendly business partners, worked intensively and very personally on their role and expectations as managers in a workshop lasting several days. Managing Director Kai Eickelpasch talks about the "Cathalog and Friends" workshop in an nc360° interview.

Work culture and organisation are under strong pressure to adapt in a dynamic economy

The company Cathalog GmbH is a service provider specialising in IT, IT process consulting and payroll and financial accounting. With 25 locations, Cathamed Pflege GmbH is one of the largest private care services in Münsterland. Both companies are managed by Kai Eickelpasch, who also provided the impetus for the management seminar with noventum. Like many other companies, the two companies are not only in economic competition, but also in the daily struggle for committed and satisfied employees. This is a particular challenge for managers, as it is not least the quality of their work that determines how satisfied and motivated their employees are.

noventum concepts for dynamic management development

Modern management methods such as agile management are changing traditional role models in companies. The motivation and knowledge of all employees, especially specialists and managers, are more in focus today, and the shortage of skilled labour is supporting this trend. The tasks and self-image of managers are on the agenda.

In their projects, noventum change consultants rely on their competence- and development-orientated executive development model. Together with their clients' managers, they determine individual and group-based development needs on the basis of established FC competency models. This joint approach creates a high level of identification with the seminar results, which strengthens their subsequent implementation and effectiveness within the company.

Kai Eickelpasch, Managing Director of the companies Cathalog and Cathamed, invited employees of his companies and business friends to this seminar, which explored questions about their future self-image as a manager in five thematic blocks over nine days. Business psychologist and management coach Jan Patrick Helmchen from noventum consulting moderated the seminar series.

"Especially in turbulent times, openness and transparency are an important tool for the cohesion and resilience of the company." Kai Eickelpasch

nc360°: What were the starting conditions for your management workshop?

Kai Eickelpasch: The starting points of the individual workshop participants were very different. Some of us already have years of management experience, while others are still facing this task. We also came from different companies and specialist departments. What brought us together was our interest in reflecting on our respective situations and future prospects as managers and bringing them up to date.

nc360°: This can also be a challenge for a workshop.

Kai Eickelpasch: In order to put this into a conceptual framework, Jan Helmchen from noventum first conducted individual interviews and then we came together as a group. That worked very well.

nc360°: What experiences have you personally had with these different backgrounds in the workshop?

Kai Eickelpasch: Very positive! We have different professional profiles and we also brought different corporate cultures with us. I found it particularly enriching to be a sparring partner in the group. In some of the partner projects, people sat opposite each other who, despite their differences, were always able to discover similarities between their professional situations. This view from the outside was very enlightening and instructive in individual cases.

nc360°: What did  you take away from the workshop as your personal highlight?

Kai Eickelpasch: A good example: We did an exercise in the workshop that involved guiding a blindfolded partner with and without speech. Today, when I ask myself "why doesn't the other person understand me", I think of this exercise. It sounds so simple: sometimes you just have to explain where you want to go. Others in our circle have also had this experience and we relate this to our workshop.

nc360°: Have you and your managers already been able to integrate ideas from the workshop into your day-to-day work? What training content has become established in your day-to-day work?

Kai Eickelpasch: We have introduced a new format for transparency and information. In future, all managers will be called together on a quarterly basis and not only the management will present the most important facts, but also the managers from the specialist departments will report on what is currently on the agenda. Especially in turbulent times, this seems to me to be an important instrument for the cohesion and resilience of the company.

nc360°: Are there any other successes to report from the theory/practice transfer?

Kai Eickelpasch: I could mention the work with agile methods here. In our group of participants, at least we from Cathalog and the noventum seminar organisers were already very familiar with them and this also had an impact on the seminar. The fact that the seminar was very procedural and structured meant that the other participants initially found this approach somewhat difficult. Now, however, the others are also supporting this as a good influence or learning process.

nc360°: What does that mean in concrete terms?

Kai Eickelpasch: We work consistently throughout the company with agile process rhythms, planners and all the other agile tools. Above all, we are working on greater commitment through this process view. To summarise, there are two main approaches that have helped us move forward:

• Strengthen common understanding, create transparency
• Create commitment, write things down, complete tasks

nc360°: How have your employees accepted the offer?

Kai Eickelpasch: Very different, just as the tasks of the individuals are very different. Through the commonality of our leadership roles, we were able to discover how much our jobs have in common. The workshop brought us together very well in our company, which we realise today. We are closer together as a management team.

nc360°: What is your personal balance sheet?

Kai Eickelpasch: Much of it was already familiar to me beforehand. Interestingly, however, I keep having aha experiences after the workshop and I realise how intensively we got to the bottom of some topics. We are now implementing parts of what we discussed six months ago.

nc360°: How will your management development continue in the future, are further workshops planned?

Kai Eickelpasch: We will definitely continue with the content. First of all, however, we need to keep looking at what we have worked on together and how we can transfer it into our everyday lives.