Post by Verena Cordes

𝗕𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻, 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 — 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.   “Bold Moves” was the title of this year’s #MMK conference — a very fitting one, because it captures exactly what MMK creates.   It is one of the spaces where hierarchies blur: when DAX supervisory board members become curious students of the Mittelstand — and when university students challenge a CEO’s marketing pitch.   When these conversations unfold, many themes rise to the surface. One of them was the evolving role of supervisory boards: With rising complexity, many agendas are dominated by compliance and risk mitigation. All essential — but often at the cost of strategic momentum. The stronger signal is this: 𝗴𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸𝘀 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆. From my own experience, this mindset already exists quite naturally in Mittelstand boards. And yet, one diagnosis on stage was hard to ignore: “𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗠𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗹𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝘂𝗹𝘀𝗲.” If the backbone of the German economy is to regain momentum, a broader mindset shift is needed — not only in boardrooms but also in politics. Also there we need to 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸-𝗮𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗲𝘁 — creating the conditions that allow companies to seize opportunities and scale sustainable innovation. As this was another takeaway: 𝘀𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 — 𝗶𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴. Less signalling. More execution, resilience and long-term value creation and a catalyst for bold moves in its own. At a recent futurist event it hit me that 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵 𝗻𝘂𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲. 𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘧𝘵 𝘪𝘧 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘺, 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘔𝘔𝘒 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦? I’m leaving MMK with optimism — and the conviction that 𝗯𝗼𝗹𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗱𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲. 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪? Ricarda Engelmeier, Franziska Deecke, Linda Becker, Elvire Meier-Comte, Dr., Dr. Sonja Fleischer, Angie Gifford, 👽 Eden Chabanet, Johannes Mohren, Florian Hoffmann, Dr. Ulrike Tagscherer, Tobias Engelmeier, Valentina Stadler, Begonia Vazquez Merayo, Dr. Norman Goldberg, Johannes Schroeten, Rachel Empey, Sascha Gerland, Prof. Dr. Robert Mayr, Christian Kopf