"The ASW is agile and brash".
Managing Director Karl Heinrich von Grote on industry associations and philosophy
Managing Director Karl Heinrich von Grote on industry associations and philosophyAfter many years of service to the industry association, ASW Managing Director Erik Sörensen is stepping down at the upcoming AGM. His successor is Karl Heinrich von Grote, who holds a doctorate in physics and is a qualified PR consultant. He prevailed against around 70 (!) competitors and wants to take the ASW further forward.Mr. von Grote, do you intend to change the policy of your predecessor, Erik Sörensen, in essential points?
Karl Heinrich von Grote: After four months on board, I cannot say I know the ASW in all its essential aspects. My view of things has been shaped by Erik Sörensen's introduction. Over time, it will gain in independence. In the process, the focus will certainly shift compared to previous years. However, the basic structure of ASW management will still be to recognize and satisfy member needs, to cultivate relationships with friendly trade associations, and to highlight ASW's own identity and strengths.
What made you apply for the job of ASW managing director?
from Grote: In the change of management trends in large companies, the research department, of which I was the PR man, was once again dissolved. Early retirement was the verdict. At the same time, the ASW was looking for a person with experience, drive and realistic demands for its management. The first meeting with the Executive Board revealed a challenging task that I could and wanted to identify with: raising my profile through personal commitment and consistent action. Now that I know the tasks here better, I see that it's true: I have a fantastic opportunity and challenging task here. And the people in the surrounding area are great. The chemistry is right and there are purposeful expectations in the room.
So you have joined forces with the vocal leaders of the ASW - but hopefully not in order to enjoy a comfortable retirement as a silent functionary at someone else's expense....
from Grote: Well, when riding the tiger, you can't fall down. This pleasure is not for the comfortable. The end of life is a deliberate shaping, a new departure from old constraints, creative vision of where life is happening, being exposed to the uncomfortable and the new. That's what I find in ocean sailing and in the ASW.
Where do you see the role of an industry association like ASW, i.e. an association of SMEs, alongside BSW, SDV, SWA, IGMA, Sawi, IGEM, SUISA, but also within SW? Can you decipher all these abbreviations without thinking?
from Grote: No, not all of them yet! Memory needs anchor points, i.e. experiences, networks, affects. I know Sawi as the host of the SPRI PR training in Biel. At the BSW, the SW and the SWA, I already know the managing director and the managing director, respectively, and I am beginning to recognize the similarities and the differences. Regarding the role of the ASW: It does not want to be a classic industry association, but rather an alliance. The differentiation from the BSW is not done with "small and medium". The ranking of the agency sizes of BSW and ASW shows a wide overlap. The ASW focuses on the specific commitment of the agencies managed by their owners themselves. This is what makes SME quality and, in turn, makes ASW agencies particularly attractive to SMEs. The ASW does not have the arduousness of dignity, but is agile, brisk, willing to take risks and very attentive internally and externally. It has a part in the concert of the associations, but not that of the kettledrum.
What could ASW move through its activities, in the Swiss advertising business or in politics?
von Grote: Why the conditional in your question? The ASW is already moving a lot. Many joint working papers of the BSW, SWA and the ASW bear the signature of the ASW. ASW is pushing the Internet presences of associations by setting an example. ASW has joined in the campaigns against unnecessary advertising restrictions. The ASW is involved in training institutions of the industry, namely in Sawi.
Your curriculum lists a career in industrial and high-tech operations. Hopefully you had nothing to do with genetic engineering or related applications?
von Grote: I see it in a differentiated way: Now genetic engineering is the epitome of evil. Before that, it was nuclear technology, and even earlier it was Galileo's findings. Let's wait and see what will come of it. In any case, man is his own project, in education, in personal development, in philosophy, sociology and politics, in science and technical application. If it is no longer about man and the nature that produces him, then evil is not far away. My career: Electron and laser beams for material processing and lasers for ophthalmology were my subject before I reoriented myself and changed to telecommunications.
At what age did you train as a PR consultant? What prompted you to do this after you already had a doctorate in physics?
von Grote: Erik Herzog was just about to take over the SPRI when I did the PR consultant. I was around my mid-50s, ten years older than the next oldest person in the class and almost a generation older than the average participant. I was by no means the only one in the class with a degree and a doctorate. Now Erik Herzog is a colleague in the SPRI-ASW office partnership. About my motivation: Life is learning, and the half-life of the actuality of my physics knowledge had long since passed.
Give me an example of how you want your slogan "culture means nurturing as opposed to power and violence" to be implemented.
von Grote: "Culture is nurturing" is a tautology. Only today the word culture has a different connotation. I want to point to the original meaning by the demarcation from power and violence. Culture is not always nice and empathetic. It should be determined. An example: To cherish a market with its diversity and competition means not to monopolize and standardize it with millions of advertising dollars or mergers. Or not letting business locations with their quality of life become desolate by reducing purchasing power, career opportunities, educational and cultural offerings. Interview: Beat Fritsch
Karl Heinrich von Grote: After four months on board, I cannot say I know the ASW in all its essential aspects. My view of things has been shaped by Erik Sörensen's introduction. Over time, it will gain in independence. In the process, the focus will certainly shift compared to previous years. However, the basic structure of ASW management will still be to recognize and satisfy member needs, to cultivate relationships with friendly trade associations, and to highlight ASW's own identity and strengths.
What made you apply for the job of ASW managing director?
from Grote: In the change of management trends in large companies, the research department, of which I was the PR man, was once again dissolved. Early retirement was the verdict. At the same time, the ASW was looking for a person with experience, drive and realistic demands for its management. The first meeting with the Executive Board revealed a challenging task that I could and wanted to identify with: raising my profile through personal commitment and consistent action. Now that I know the tasks here better, I see that it's true: I have a fantastic opportunity and challenging task here. And the people in the surrounding area are great. The chemistry is right and there are purposeful expectations in the room.
So you have joined forces with the vocal leaders of the ASW - but hopefully not in order to enjoy a comfortable retirement as a silent functionary at someone else's expense....
from Grote: Well, when riding the tiger, you can't fall down. This pleasure is not for the comfortable. The end of life is a deliberate shaping, a new departure from old constraints, creative vision of where life is happening, being exposed to the uncomfortable and the new. That's what I find in ocean sailing and in the ASW.
Where do you see the role of an industry association like ASW, i.e. an association of SMEs, alongside BSW, SDV, SWA, IGMA, Sawi, IGEM, SUISA, but also within SW? Can you decipher all these abbreviations without thinking?
from Grote: No, not all of them yet! Memory needs anchor points, i.e. experiences, networks, affects. I know Sawi as the host of the SPRI PR training in Biel. At the BSW, the SW and the SWA, I already know the managing director and the managing director, respectively, and I am beginning to recognize the similarities and the differences. Regarding the role of the ASW: It does not want to be a classic industry association, but rather an alliance. The differentiation from the BSW is not done with "small and medium". The ranking of the agency sizes of BSW and ASW shows a wide overlap. The ASW focuses on the specific commitment of the agencies managed by their owners themselves. This is what makes SME quality and, in turn, makes ASW agencies particularly attractive to SMEs. The ASW does not have the arduousness of dignity, but is agile, brisk, willing to take risks and very attentive internally and externally. It has a part in the concert of the associations, but not that of the kettledrum.
What could ASW move through its activities, in the Swiss advertising business or in politics?
von Grote: Why the conditional in your question? The ASW is already moving a lot. Many joint working papers of the BSW, SWA and the ASW bear the signature of the ASW. ASW is pushing the Internet presences of associations by setting an example. ASW has joined in the campaigns against unnecessary advertising restrictions. The ASW is involved in training institutions of the industry, namely in Sawi.
Your curriculum lists a career in industrial and high-tech operations. Hopefully you had nothing to do with genetic engineering or related applications?
von Grote: I see it in a differentiated way: Now genetic engineering is the epitome of evil. Before that, it was nuclear technology, and even earlier it was Galileo's findings. Let's wait and see what will come of it. In any case, man is his own project, in education, in personal development, in philosophy, sociology and politics, in science and technical application. If it is no longer about man and the nature that produces him, then evil is not far away. My career: Electron and laser beams for material processing and lasers for ophthalmology were my subject before I reoriented myself and changed to telecommunications.
At what age did you train as a PR consultant? What prompted you to do this after you already had a doctorate in physics?
von Grote: Erik Herzog was just about to take over the SPRI when I did the PR consultant. I was around my mid-50s, ten years older than the next oldest person in the class and almost a generation older than the average participant. I was by no means the only one in the class with a degree and a doctorate. Now Erik Herzog is a colleague in the SPRI-ASW office partnership. About my motivation: Life is learning, and the half-life of the actuality of my physics knowledge had long since passed.
Give me an example of how you want your slogan "culture means nurturing as opposed to power and violence" to be implemented.
von Grote: "Culture is nurturing" is a tautology. Only today the word culture has a different connotation. I want to point to the original meaning by the demarcation from power and violence. Culture is not always nice and empathetic. It should be determined. An example: To cherish a market with its diversity and competition means not to monopolize and standardize it with millions of advertising dollars or mergers. Or not letting business locations with their quality of life become desolate by reducing purchasing power, career opportunities, educational and cultural offerings. Interview: Beat Fritsch
