"Forget everything
you have learned
about leadership"

We sat down with our Global Director of People and Organization and asked him some questions about leadership and communication in times of crisis and how to stay positive when the going gets tough.

CATch up
The global economy is facing an unprecedented crisis because of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. With many of our stores closed around the world, PUMA is also impacted. How do you think leadership has changed in the current situation?

Dietmar
Forget about everything you ever learned about leadership, because this crisis is a great example of how you have to improvise, if suddenly whatever you have learned about leadership is not applicable. You need to admit that you simply don’t know what’s going on and what is going to happen in the next 24 hours. This is the worst thing which can happen to you as a leader. People are expecting answers from you and, you have a 50/50 chance of being wrong. But I think it’s quite important that you make decisions in these difficult times and explain to your stakeholders why you made these decisions. Then people are more understanding if you have to revise some decisions after the fact-base has changed.

CATch up
You began to send out regular email updates at the very start of the crisis. Why did you decide to do this?

Dietmar
I want to achieve as much transparency as possible. I think these days where people don’t know what to believe it’s quite important that you provide them with facts – facts on which they can make their own decision; they can form their own opinion about a certain situation. And that we share our PUMA point of view. I got a lot of feedback from people from different countries, because sometimes local access to facts is restricted or there’s a lot of bias happening which overshadows the facts.

CATch up
Is that also the reason behind the regular live webcasts?  

Dietmar
Most people work from home, and a good portion of our retail staff is currently not working. It’s important to constantly communicate with them and email is just one way of communicating. I think showing a certain presence and to give them an opportunity to ask questions is key at a moment. That’s why video streams and virtual townhalls are important instruments to communicate these days. People want to see what the management team has to say by being able to look into their eyes. And yes, leadership starts from the very top, and it’s good that people like to see me on a video screen. But it’s even more important that they see Bjørn and potentially other board members.

CATch up
Another example of how P&O has started to reach out to people working from home is through PUMA’s Home Academy. Can you tell us more?

Dietmar
Well, we were thinking about how we can support our employees whilst working remote. Working from home has certain set challenges. People across the globe are restricted, and many are not allowed to leave the house with the exception of grocery-shopping. As far as retail staff is concerned, they have certain courses, trainings and initiatives in place. But we considered what else could be done to better support and engage the employees on the corporate side. And that’s how the idea of the Home Academy came up. We asked ourselves, “How can we make their lives better?” and came to the conclusion that we could provide them access to all the Workday Learning Programs we have, as well as to Good Habitz. And we decided to share important nutrition facts, cooking recipes for healthy dishes and live-stream sports and yoga sessions. We also connected our PUMATRAC training programs with our Home Academy. And there’s more stuff to come. We want to keep people activated and connected with the PUMA universe. Exceptional times help us to come up with new ideas and we thought it’s a good way to build a bridge to our people working mainly from home.

CATch up
Your P&O Teams are scattered across the globe. How do they stay in touch with one another?

Dietmar
Oh, yes, it’s very important. I speak to my colleagues in Asia in the mornings, I speak to my colleagues in the U.S. in the evenings. From that point of view, we try to exchange as much as we can. There’s a lot of communication going on. There’s also best practice sharing taking place across the P&O functions. We know for example from our colleagues in Asia, who went through the crisis first, how they dealt with the situation, especially how they went back to normality.

CATch up
Do you have any advice for people going through especially challenging times?

Dietmar
Humans have a tendency to look at the negative things and sometimes forget to look at what we have and what (still) works well. A good thing in times like these is, that you really understand what really matters in life. You also understand who your friends are, who are the people looking after you. Those crises actually help you to learn a lot about yourself, a lot about your friends, your neighbors, your work environment. I think it’s a great learning expedition. I think we are all in a good shape, especially in the PUMA universe. We look at the positive sides and not tend to look at what are the threats ahead of us, because I’m sure will master all the threats. And in one year from now, when we look back, we’ll be proud of what we’ve achieved.

CATch up
You’re always very, very positive. How do you stay positive in these challenging times? What’s your secret?

Dietmar
Well, the good thing is that I’ve always been positive before. So why should I change? And maybe it’s also given my age, or in better words, my experience. I went through a couple of difficult situations in my life and I know that whatever happens, life will go on. From that point of view, I know there will be a (good) life, after this crisis. Life will go on for sure.

CATch up
Many thanks for this interview!