Curriculum vitae Dr. Caroline von Kretschmann

“We love what we do” – this is not just a phrase, but the management credo we live by in our family business. Our aim is to offer every person in the company exactly the place where he or she can love what they do. When this succeeds, joy, enthusiasm, ease and success usually follow as if by themselves. Potential begins to unfold in a way that is deeply moving. I consider it a great privilege to have found my own place of power here at the Europäischer Hof Heidelberg. Based on a Buddhist quote: “Those who are in their place grow wings.”

We have a corporate and management philosophy that we describe as value-oriented and emphatic. Our employees, whom we deliberately call colleagues, come first, our guests second and the company third, because we are convinced that the guest experience can never be better than the employee experience. We also follow the servant leadership approach. This management style focuses on the employees and their needs and creates a framework that allows them to unleash their abilities and develop holistically. In our view, trust, an appreciative attitude, a high degree of empathy and a genuine interest in the other person are crucial.

A leader should be empathetic, fair and self-reflective. They should also be able to inspire people to pursue a common dream, convey and exemplify values, communicate well and make decisions. Integrity and the ability to build trust are essential for me. Trust is the basis for any resilient interpersonal relationship and a powerful force. Above all, a manager should like people and be interested in them and their development.

Just like the well-known quote “You don’t need to educate children, they’ll copy you anyway”: my parents

I believe that the ability to reflect, and especially the ability to self-reflect, will be one of the key leadership skills that we should have in the future. It is also about recognizing your own perception filters, tendencies and preferred points of view, being able to engage with different levels of perception and opinions, judging your own point of view as just one of many and appreciating different points of view and valuing them as a resource. I am constantly working on this.

For our family business, corona was the biggest crisis since the Second World War, an existential challenge and, looking back, an incredible opportunity for development. The European farm has had to overcome many crises in its 155-year history. I believe that a certain resilience has developed in both the company and the family system as a result. Our family is characterized by a fundamentally positive attitude to life. But also a fighting spirit to actively face challenges. After all, we have the ability to accept things that cannot be changed. And we don’t focus on possible causes and culprits, but try to mobilize our resources. Humor is also part of this.

Success is always a team effort and it’s amazing what you can achieve when you don’t care who gets the credit. In this sense, my greatest success has always been having people around me with whom I could grow.

As with everything in life, I believe it’s about balance and both/and. Addressing controversial issues can help to enliven important discussions, bring new perspectives and develop a transformative power. Taking neutral positions can be useful in certain contexts to avoid dysfunctional arguments. Basically, it is about the ability to open up meaningful tensions, end useless ones and elegantly regulate the rest.

I write quite a lot of texts, e.g. for our newsletter, for our and my social channels, for book contributions or lectures. I tend to lose track of time or fall into “rabbit holes”, so I keep digging myself in and taking the long way round.

Happy breeder of a new-born rough-haired dachshund litter.