International and multicultural, Christoph is French/Austrian, married to a Greek, born in Switzerland, and speaks English at home. His father was a diplomat, and he has moved between countries 18 times. After his studies in Bologna in Italy and in Washington D.C. in the US, accomplishing a double master’s in economy and international affairs, he chose a career as a diplomat based in Austria and Zambia, before going into the corporate world. At the beginning, it wasn’t clear that he would become a diplomat, but he was advised to take on this career path, and was also influenced by his father.
Why did you choose to leave your career as a diplomat and go to the corporate world?
“I was not satisfied in my role as diplomat, it was not as challenging as I had thought. It turned out that, today, diplomacy is more about booking hotels for visiting ministers than actually shaping international affairs. The role was not evolving in the right direction, so I wanted to try something else. When I was in the US, I discovered the lure with the corporate world and wanted to be a part of making a company succeed. I joined Procter & Gamble and after 15 years in various roles in Austria, in the Arabian Peninsula, in Greece, at the European HQs in Brussels, and then in the Balkans, I went to Danone, first in Romania, then Greece, then Austria. I have always liked to move between countries, it is exciting and enriching, both professionally and personally. I later joined Carlsberg Group in Myanmar and the thought of working independently got more and more appealing to me. Being able to support companies in challenging situations for a time-limited period of time and in different countries suits me well. I got in contact with Bohuslav Lipovsky and Michaela Lipovska at CE Interim | Cross-cultural Executive Interim Management in Eastern Europe and joined their advisory board. We meet regularly and discuss strategies, new business opportunities, and ideas. It is pretty unstructured, but that gives us the opportunity to brainstorm and think outside of the box. For a short while I worked for a headhunter in the United Arab Emirates, but it was not the right role for me. I then moved back to my family.”
You have a deep knowledge of Executive Interim Management, when should a company consider engaging an Interim Manager?
“When three things come together: in times of urgency, when the company has a critical leadership vacancy and doesn’t have the luxury of waiting for a permanent recruitment; when the company has a time-limited project or initiative and doesn’t need the competence permanently; and when you lack the right internal resources or don’t want to use your employees who will then have a double role.”
Why is Executive Interim Management a good investment?
“Interim Managers are overqualified and therefore can start delivering from the first day. He/she has a long experience of similar challenges, is flexible, adaptable, has very good communication skills, and does not require onboarding. An Executive Interim Manager is parachuted into a company and a complex situation. Beyond having the right industry knowledge, the interim is flexible and able to handle different corporate and country cultures and leverage earlier experiences and competencies. A good interim has an entrepreneurial spirit and thrives from engaging on an operational level, from delivering both quick and sustainable results, with long-term success in mind – his/her legacy net – the interim will deliver as opposed to only consulting. He/she will do this at short notice, fast, reliable and at lower cost than a new and permanent full-time hire.”