A Conversation with Dr. Werner Krings: From LinkedIn’s EMEA Award to Global Strategy

An accomplished multilingual communicator, closing deals at C-level, securing high-value accounts with clients including Automotive, Aerospace, Executive Education and Software industries. Dr Krings is as a business consultant and educator, he has advised clients including a leading Strategy Consulting Firm, German Federal and State Institution among many others.

Sovereign team invited Dr Werner to share his grand vision with our readers in an exclusive interview for the Expat-Expo Edition.

“I remembered my childhood dream was to embark on the journey to a better world which was symbolised by the longing to become American. My vision became global instead of local, today I would change it to ‘glocal’.

Since my childhood I developed a passion for connecting the right people at the right time. Currently, I leverage the power of Social Networks to accelerate my clients’ business and improve their branding by providing access whether in B2B/B2C or D2B. Secondly, my company, Digital Business Intelligence, accelerates Business Development opportunities by matching suitable stakeholders and providing access to key decision-makers. By leveraging Social Media, which was evidenced by my doctoral studies at Henley Business School, I regularly exceeded the outcome of traditionally working executives in B2B Business Development, Marketing and Sales whether it was in the USA or the DACH region.

Since Business Relationships are very much like personal relationships, they are built on credibility and trust and involve more than a mere business conversation, it requires, besides of gathering and applying relevant information, in-depth knowledge of various cultural, regional and industrial spheres to establish rapport and create a unique differentiator. My company offers B2B training of excellence for Expatriates with effective strategies and tools in Cultural Adjustment, Sales, Relationship-building, branding and digital strategies. Fourthly, the executive coaching combines various coaching methodologies with solid business knowledge to understand the various facets of C-Level and Mid-Management level.

This also involves reaching personal objectives like extending their philanthropic or academic impact by connecting to relevant institutions or mentoring them to be admitted to Business Schools of their choice. By applying the approach of ExcellenceTM, we enable and empower our clients to reach their objectives. This is done by focusing on the outcome rather than temporary challenges”

The Next Generation of Academics in Digital Excellence

“Growing up in an entrepreneurial family with one of the largest companies in the beverage market, I originally prepared to take over the family business after my graduate school (University of Passau). After an internship with a leading German Bank in Düsseldorf and New York, I supported my father on the Management Board and early on applied corporate law and some of the models which were relevant in the US at the time. Though the imminent generation conflict was quite painful for me, I realized that this route was obsolete and that my purpose was far greater than this. Having mapped out everything, I lost my plan overnight, sort of preparation for the agile VUCA world we face nowadays. So, I decided instead to go into wealth management and consulting with cross-sector experiences at boutique and two of the Big Four Companies.

Since I like to consult various industries and several subject matters from business, interactive design, social media and coaching, I was able to relate to a variety of C-Level contacts since I understand their language, their challenges, and know what is relevant to them. Of course, my family background and the experiences whether for good or bad helped me to be empathetic and gave me the motivation to develop a focus on excellence rather mediocrity.

Providing access to the best of two worlds, the business and academic, involves multiple other layers. Especially, in the Anglo-American culture, top academics are characterized by applying their research in the business arena as well. For example, I teach Entrepreneurship, Digitalization and Business Development for Master of Science Students in FinTech at the oldest French School of Management at their Oxford campus in England. I accepted this invitation because I have gained academic research and solid practitioner experiences in these areas. My teaching approach is very practitioner-oriented, and my vision is to create the next generation of entrepreneurs using my solid academic background and leveraging my experiences to deal with various cultures as a former Expatriate in the US and collaborating with people from all major regions. At the same time I pursue academic rigour with the energy and enthusiasm to impart encouragement to the younger generation to take off any limitations hindering them to become the best in life.

Our consultants are known as trusted advisers having gained rich experienced in boutique advisory firms and various Big Three firms mainly in the DACH, Western European and North American region in both management and leadership roles. If you just want to tweak your business processes go to the big consulting firms, if you aim for sustainable results collaborate with us!

Our portfolio includes cross-sector industry projects with reputed Fortune-500/DAX-100 companies.

When I look at companies in consulting and training or at individuals in coaching or mentoring, my focus is on their strengths and performance rather than their weaknesses. I am not providing services by creating confusion and fear in organisations, there are lots of companies out there which do this. I don’t believe in the approach that many companies pursue to eliminate in order to gain, this is a lack mentality creating a negative atmosphere. I consider a company like a doctor considers a patient, meaning that I adjust so that enhancement and healing is reached without killing the patient, i.e. the career of successful employees within the company. It is not difficult to just cut costs; the big consulting firms are known for this.

In contrast, we seek to develop the approach of excellence throughout my clients’ organisation. Today the most critical benchmark is customer experience, and this starts with impacting the mind-set and mentality of each employee of various generations of the organisation. I suggest ‘selective digitalisation’ by placing the human being in the centre instead of giving into the temptation to just radically change the entire organisation by eliminating jobs. Research has shown that even the millennials are not just digitising every function, with the exception of highly operative ones, but that personal relationships still remain key. Consequently, I suggest combining the best of traditional and digital methods. At the end, human ingenuity remains preferable over any interactions via robots exclusively.