Are you proud of what you do?

The German national soccer team got the European Championship off to a great start with last night's match. The team can be proud of its performance. It is important and motivating to be aware of these special moments from time to time: What am I proud of? What have I achieved together with others? Why am I proud of it?

As an engineer, I was always as happy as a little boy when our team was able to solve a customer problem with our hydraulics for a wheel loader or excavator model that I could spot in real use on a construction site later. As a speaker, there are sometimes special moments when people from the audience approach you after the presentation, and thank you for being able to take away a precious thought or a touching moment. As a mentor, I had a special moment this month that made me proud. What happened?

For over 4 years, I have been mentoring the generational transition at a medium-sized family business. STW (=Stainless Tube Welding) GmbH manufactures stainless steel food, beverage and pharmaceutical process systems in the small Bavarian town of N?rdlingen. They are a technolgy leader in this segment. Whether you are enjoying a (European Championship) beer, eating yogurt or taking medication: STW systems were probably involved. The junior boss has recently successfully taken over the lead, together with a highly motivated mixed age management team. As if that wasn't enough to make me proud to be part as a mentor in this enterprise success story. It got even better.

Katharina Thoms from the Deutschlandfunk, a radio station with nationwide coverage, became aware of our work and made the successful generational change at STW GmbH part of a radio broadcast: "The challenges of company succession in family businesses in Germany". Sitting in the meeting room in N?rdlingen for a joint interview with a radio correspondent and the senior entrepreneur, and then having the entrepreneur mirror the appreciation for the joint work...that was great cinema for me. ?I think many family business owners do not recognize the value a professional mentor can bring to the succession process“, he said ... and smiled at me. What did I feel? Pride. And honored. Honored for being given such trust and being allowed to be part of this wonderful and intimate family journey.

@My German readers: please find the link to the radio broadcast of Katherina Thoms in my comment below the article. Enjoy listening!

STW's journey continues. The next generation management team is currently working on further developing the value proposition. Here is an invitation to you: If you have ideas in which segments such an expert team on high-quality stainless-steel welding and processing could could provide value, please feel free to leave a comment here or send me a personal message.

And yes, one more thing: What are you really proud of?

Think about it…and cherish that moment!