German CEO Excellence Awards 2024

7. Automation Solutions CEO of the Year 2024: Ralf Matthews around the team effort involved in recognising the triumph of an individual. Ralf details a grand orchestra, explaining that people who complement each other feed into a wider collective that is ultimately bigger than themselves. Take a trombone, for example. On its own, a trombone sounds rather dull, but when it is combined with four others, it sounds much better and creates a melody. These trombones can thus be read as a team or department, and when the trombones are united with the rest of an orchestra, in this case the wider organisation, a symphony is heard, with the results being an overarching sense of enthusiasm. It is the job of the conductor to bring all this together, and although he may stand at the front, he is nothing without the fantastic instruments that produce these wonderful sounds. Ralf states, “success is achieved through the interaction of everyone involved, [with this] resulting in a successful conductor.” Ralf’s acknowledgement of the importance of this united approach alone speaks volumes about how he views himself and his team as being on an even playing field and part of something bigger, and he is more than happy to play this role of conductor. Steve Jobs famously referred to himself as leading the orchestra, a favourable comparison that ELCO Industrie Automation GmbH’s Ralf Matthews is happy to entertain. Contact: Ralf Matthews Company: ELCO Industrie Automation GmbH Web Address: www.elco-automation.de

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