Lesson on management and leadership from business leader with international experience

On Jan 31 Dr. Florian Reiter, president of International Community Association of Nizhny Novgorod region (ICANN), Plant Manager of “Volkswagen Group RUS”, met with students of HSE - Nizhny Novgorod and shared with them his vision on managers’ functions in the constantly changing business environment. He spoke about the leadership role in the contemporary world as well as his international work experience in Germany, China, and Russia.

Some statements surprised the audience. Dr. Reiter is sure that managers are paid to play a role like an actor (!), and in order to become a good actor and to manage the different roles of expectation, one needs to know oneself.

The speaker explained that a good manager should trust his partners, colleagues, and subordinates and at the same time prove his leadership on a regular basis.

 Dr. Reiter compared his working experience in China, where the staff expected him to know where to go and never questioned his authority, with Western  participatory style of management.

He loves being in Russia and prefers Nizhny Novgorod to Moscow and St Petersburg, but does not like the fact that Russian people with their “unpredictable past and future” do not develop business step by step but are impatient in their wishes, expecting high profits as soon as possible.

Florian Reiter thinks that a good manager should find time not only for doing business, but also for his family and friends. He answered a lot of questions and did not avoid unpleasant themes like Dieselgate crisis which was, in his opinion, a result of managers’ fear to tell the truth to themselves and their bosses.

Dr. Reiter wished students to study well and hoped to see the best ones as interns at “Volkswagen Group RUS”.