CEO MONTHLY / ISSUE 7 2023 14 Leading Inspiring Brands to Success Munich-based company nonplusultra’s team of experts enable success for commercial enterprises across all channels, turning clients’ visions into measurable results. The company has been awarded the title of Most Influential CEO 2023 – Germany (Retail Acceleration), in the light of which we decided to take a closer look. he German company nonplusultra exists primarily to enable tech-brands to scale up to European retail levels. It operates within a proven framework of growth and cutting-edge technology, building the right strategy to address the vital retail touchpoints of tomorrow. Its high-flying team secure executional excellence to turn clients’ company visions into measurable, results-driven successes. Its services include market entry; strategic growth management; retail activation; business intelligence; marketplaces and eTail. The company’s 2 founders and co-CEOs, Benjamin Gehring and Florian Hutterer, act as key team members and drivers of nonplusultra’s core values. These are services it bears in mind when recruiting new team members, and hiring/firing staff. It lives by the following values, kicking off with taking the lead - as it is a proactive company that owns its business. It also believes that data builds opinion – by which it means its arguments are based on observations, not assumptions. The third value is go where the pain is – by which it means it actively faces challenges in order to keep growing. Next up is the assertion that trust forms loyalty – as it believes acting with care helps to build long-lasting partnerships. The final value is to spread good vibes – because the company thinks it is important that each individual does not take him / herself too seriously. Benjamin explained to us that aside from an internship, he has never worked for a company other than nonplusultra. This means that he has very much relied on creating his own leadership style, often by observing and acting on the best practices of customers, suppliers, business partners and well-known authors. In Benjamin’s opinion, there are infinite ways to adapt and learn leadership skills. For instance, the company was requiring of very different leadership when there were only 3 people, as opposed to 15. Currently nonplusultra has over 50 persons working, but Benjamin is under no illusions that his leadership style might have to change on the way to growing to 100 people. Benjamin and Florian recently wrote down their personal leadership principles so that they might share this useful information with senior management. The points they wanted to impart were as follows: leaders eat last; a juncture inspired by British-born American author Simon Sinek. It means that it is essential to listen to everyone in the room and let them fully share their opinions without jumping in. It is better not to jump ahead, but to speak last. The second point Benjamin and Florian emphasize is to deliver immediate feedback. This was inspired by another best-selling author, Kim Scott, and follows her counsel not to wait until the next quarterly review, or yearly feedback meeting to give either positive or negative feedback. Do it straight away. The next guidance Benjamin and Florian felt it was important to impart was to walk the talk. By this they mean be the change you want to see. This time, they were influenced by entrepreneur and CEO Frank Slootman, and clarify by explaining that if you want your team to perform, you need to show how performance is done. This does not mean that you need to be the best salesperson in the sales team, but you need to show how it is done, create the right strategies and ensure that everyone is in the right position and enabled to be their best. It is the same May23295 T with football coaches, the best football coaches have not always been the best football players themselves, but they can walk the talk. A further important goal for nonplusultra is to become THE one-stop-shop for tech-brands to unlock European omnichannel retail. It offers services such as market entry, business development, outsourced key account management, e Tail management, channel marketing, field sales and marketing, merchandising, promotion, retail analytics and retail as a service. And the unique part of this service portfolio is that there is currently no one in Europe who offers everything under one roof. This is the aim for nonplusultra. Clients mostly arrive at We want our leaders to be coaches, not problem solvers. “ “
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