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we_magazine: What does corporate culture mean to you, Mr. Spilker?
we_magazine: Yes, but haven’t we now moved away from corporate culture? Is leadership for you synonymous with corporate culture?
Martin Spilker: There are many different definitions of what corporate culture means! We have a norma-
Martin Spilker: I think that leadership is a key factor in
tive understanding of corporate culture with its roots
determining corporate culture – and vice versa. Yet it
in the work of Reinhard Mohn after the war. It’s based
seems to me that the new directions taken by leader-
on principles which were important to him as an
ship are even more important. Professor Stephan
entrepreneur, and it foresees that motivation and crea-
Jansen of Zeppelin University recently described it as
tivity mainly arise when people are given the free rein
the transformation of “leadership from the top down”
and opportunity to act as entrepreneurs. On the other
to “leadership from the outside to the inside”! This
hand, this also means that they bear the responsibi-
will increasingly involve a shifting of skills towards
lity for their actions. Responsibility of employees and
what I call the six c’s – skills and abilities in communi-
managers was a central issue for him. Freedom and
cation, cooperation, criticism, conflict-resolution, crea-
economic success are not possible without responsi-
tivity and tackling complexity.
bility. This idea also covers delegation of tasks and assignments. And obviously this means that employees
we_magazine:
should share in the company’s business success. In the
How is Web 2.0 changing your understanding of leadership?
s, Reinhard Mohn was one of the first German entrepreneurs to develop a model of employee partici-
Martin Spilker: I was very impressed by Jeff Jarvis’s
pation in profits.
book “What Would Google Do?” From the very first
we_magazine:
mechanisms can arise for managers, employees, cus-
How would you define leadership?
tomers and suppliers when new technologies enter
Martin Spilker: First and foremost leading people
Greater transparency and possibilities for participation
means serving people, as Reinhard Mohn remarks in
are bound to change what we mean by leadership. I
his book “Success through Partnership”. The manager
think that authoritarian or patriarchal leadership has
has to define the agenda, but he also makes sure that
had its day. The advent of new technologies means
employees have free space to bring in their own ideas
that employees are now much more closely involved
and participate. This means that a cooperation-based
in processes, that it's easier to delegate responsibility
pages it was clear what shifts in power and control
the management process. I deliberately say “can arise”.
dialog is inititated between employees and managers
and that you have many more opportunities to gene-
to achieve a joint understanding on the common
rate participation. It's much easier to have your say. In
goals. I believe that’s one of the most important
such a setting the basis is a joint understanding of cer-
things – that this identification with the goals of a
tain parameters – costs, quality and deadlines – in
company but also with the tasks and duties of the in-
which entrepreneurship can emerge. For me, these
dividual employee really does take place and that a
are the parameters within which self-responsible teams
basis of shared understanding about them is created.
act. we_magazine: What do Web 2.0 tools mean for company employees? Martin Spilker: Company employees must be put in a position where they can actually use these new possibilities for participation. This is why I also sometimes use a new concept of diversity which doesn’t just escribe the relations between man, woman, young person, old person, national or foreigner, even when there are still a lot of open questions here. The new concept