How many times,
when you first meet someone, do you know that there is some kind of
connection? Whether is it professional
or personal, there is just something that makes you want to know this other
person on a deeper level. This is the
kind of person one meets in Harald Miebs (https://www.linkedin.com/in/harald-miebs-a9367aa/). Harald is the IT Manager at RICHTER
Chemie-Technik GmbH (http://www.richter-inc.com/) in Germany.
Harald is one of
those rare individuals who is truly a dual citizen. He was born in Pennsylvania to parents who
left Germany in 1951. When he was about
5 ½ years old, his parents went back to Germany. By United States (US) law, if someone is born
in a state or territory of the US they are automatically a US citizen. By German law, if one is born to at least 1
parent who has German citizenship, you are a citizen of Germany regardless,
where in the world you are born. With
Harald, he is more than just a dual citizen by law. He understands business culture in the US as
well as Germany. He makes connections
with people from both nations and cultures.
He relates on a personal and professional level, which makes it easy to
have a conversation about many things.
Harald describes
success as defining and completing his own goals and tasks, in the pursuit of
happiness. He sees success as part of
his job. It is a daily pursuit of
understanding what is needed and how to get it done. If there is an impediment to achieving the
goals set before you, it is incumbent upon you to either redefine the goal or
continue pursuit to completion. Giving
up is not an option.
The primary tool
that Harald uses in driving towards success in the workplace is simply writing
things down. Having a pen or pencil and
notepad at meetings is critical for Harald.
However, this is more than just writing the key word and phrases that
will help him remember critical information from meetings. Harald will add simple drawings to his notes,
as it is true that many times a picture can be worth a thousand words. After these meetings, he will take these
notes and add key elements to established documents (such as project charters)
that are helping him define the goals and tasks set before him.
There have been
two key mentors in Harald’s life. First,
Harald mentions his father who was a Technical Director at Eberhard Faber, (http://www.eberhardfaber.com/). Harald’s
dad taught him that it is important to know what it is that you are planning
for, have a “Plan B”, and that people are a key factor in success. Harald understands the importance of showing
respect and care for others as each individual has some unique strength that
they bring to an organization. The
second key mentor was a project manager at JD Edwards, Vicki Hess. Vicki was leading a multi-site ERP
implementation when Harald made this connection. Even after the engagement, Vicki stayed in
contact with Harald being a source for tips, pointers, and providing direction.
There is an old German
philosopher (E.R. Hauschka) whose
quote, Harald has paraphrased for himself.
Harald’s paraphrase is, “When you always do what the time demands from
you, then the time will always be ahead of you and you will never catch-up with
it.” The essence that Harald takes from
this quote is that it is important to think ahead of what is the immediate need
and consider ideas that are outside of normal patterns.
The ability to
plan for the future, expect that those plans will need a back-up strategy (plan
B), and understand the value in people and their contribution are all
attributes that make it easy to connect with Harald. He is able to connect with people from a
variety of cultures, back-grounds, and personalities. As such he is an asset to his company and to
those who are privileged to know him.
Footnote:
For more information on the GSI where Todd is a Sr.
Client Success Manager - https://www.getgsi.com/
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