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CHAPTER 1

We ask:

Why?

Values and visions

as the basis for success

He’s got the stuff!

Walter Stuber about his partner Dirk Eckart

Loyal, honest, inquisitive, a safety nut and a neat freak, friendly, humorous, fun to work with; those are the deciding factors for an ideal employee in my company. I was searching for a competent foreman, and then Dirk Eckart showed up, and he could offer all of that. I had to have him on my team! A wise choice, he quickly brought forth an above-average level of performance and I liked how he managed the scaffolders.

Then he became ill, and because of his illness, he was gone for months at a time. When he told me that he could no longer work as a foreman, it became clear to me that I did not want to lose such a motivated employee. For this reason, I offered him a job as a site manager. At that time, some people could not understand why I would do such a thing, but I remained steadfast in my decision. I had no doubt that Dirk was the right person for the job!

I had to have him on my team!

Growing to accomplish new tasks

He, however, had to get used to his new field of activities. Office work and all revolving around this position were are all new to him. He patiently allowed me to explain everything to him; he educated himself further and was a quick learner. Back when he held the position of site manager for a large construction site at Potsdam Square in Berlin from 1998 to 2000, I knew I could count on him 150%.

I had the impression he wanted to prove to everyone that he had what it takes. He commuted to Brunswick, was building a house in Rosswein and cared for his family. He wanted to be on top of things, and he was. And, I admired him for that.

When the construction crisis struck and the owner considered selling the Rosswein branch, Dirk was one of the first to signal his willingness to be part of a takeover. And that, even though bookkeeping, controlling and marketing were all foreign languages to him!

I greatly appreciate his honesty

Successful with honesty, a thirst for knowledge and humor

In the beginning, we were five associate partners in the newly founded Gemeinhardt Geruestbau Service GmbH. However, Dirk Eckart and I quickly realized that only we had the same goals in mind for the company. That was the essentiel foundation for successfully working together. And, that is also why only the two of us “remained” as associate partners and managing directors.

Again, Dirk tackled his new tasks with great diligence and gained new knowledge through tirelessly educating himself further as well as through additional training.

I appreciate his honesty, and when I throw crazy ideas around, he is right there with me. And, even when we colufd not realize the disired effect, he takes it all with humor and responsible composure! Just another reason why I am so happy to work with him!

Innovative, impatient, future-oriented

Dirk Eckart about his partner Walter Stuber

Describing Walter Stuber on just two pages? An almost impossible feat! I could fill novels with all he and I have experienced. But I will try to limit myself to the essentials.

We first met back in 1994. I applied for a position with him as a scaffolding foreman. Back then, he greeted me with the words: “Eckart, I have been waiting for you for a long time.” At that time, I did not understand what he was trying to tell me.

Time and energy invested

Just two years later, I had a severely herniated disc, and because of this, I could no longer climb up scaffolding. Walter was hell-bent on keeping me. He offered me a position as a site manager and a tempting 500 DM higher salary which, by the way, he took directly from his executive pay. That’s Walter Stuber!

“Walter had faith in me and my abilities!”

Walter had faith in me and my abilities, even then when I was not used to office work at all and crippled the computer plus the printer! He became my teacher, not just with software and hardware! He invested much of his time and explained to me the complex relationships in the business world and taught me how to act economically. In 2001, he even made me his business partner!

An original with a mind of his own

We have been working together for 23 years now and 16 of those as business partners. I appreciate Walter Stuber as an innovative, constantly driven, ever-changing, visionary, future-oriented, never resentful, cellphone crazed, network enthusiastic, nature-loving individual. Some of his characteristics cannot be seen at first glance. For this, you have to get to know him better and thus will learn to like him more.

However, this is also Walter Stuber: He is impatient and demands a lot from his employees, family members, business partners, clients, and so on.

In return, however, he will give you everything he has: time, energy, money or words and knowledge. What he (and sometimes even more than that!) has, he enjoys passing on. Privately, he does not demand a lot. His only passion are books. He loves to buy them and he buys a lot; so it goes without saying that he has quite a few.

Once he has set his sight on something, there is no turning back.

The “promoter”

Walter has my utmost admiration for the fact that he was able to consequently and radically reduce his weight due to health reasons. For this, you need an iron will and stamina. Again, you can see his mentality: Once he has set his sight on something, there is no turning back!

“Eckart, I have been waiting for you for a long time.” I asked myself for many years what Walter Stuber meant with that statement when we first met. Now I know! This man has a “sixth sense,” a “gut feeling” as to whether or not the person standing in front of him has potential worth promoting! For me it is clear, without him, I would not be who I am today!

Why?

The definitive question for success

by Walter Stuber

“We know what we want, and we have got some fantastic ideas!” It is with this mentality that the five of us young entrepreneurs started out in 2001 and wanted to conquer the market with our Gemeinhardt Geruestbau Service GmbH! Unfortunately, the reality was quite different. In the end, three managing Directors left. Of course, Dirk Eckart and I asked ourselves why our original plan did not work out.

Only after we read John Strelecky’s “The Big Five For Life” and booked a corresponding seminar did we find an answer. It became clear to us that we had already committed the biggest mistake right from the start! The original five of us never asked ourselves the question WHY. Why did we found the company, and what was it’s purpose?

What do we want to achieve?

The three partners who left the company’s management had other goals in terms of company size, strategy and the long-term perspective of the company. Earning money was vital to us two remaining shareholders, but we wanted immediately to reinvest what we had earned in the company. After all, at some point, we wanted to hand over a stable, profitable company to our children.

If the goals are not the same, then there is no future in a joint business!

It is all about the reason!

In his book “Start with why”, management consultant Simon Sinek describes, among other things Apple’s success story. It is closely linked to the “why” question. Right from the start, the company had an answer and communicated it to customers: “For us, everything we do is about questioning what already exists. We believe that you have to think differently.” Their philosophy hasn’t changed to this day, and that’s a big part of Apple’s success.

The author continously emphasizes: When the question of “Why” has been answered for a business, making decisions gets easier, employee loyalty is higher and trust becomes “the common currency”. If people in management positions were more aware of asking the question “why” first, they “would spark optimism and innovation would be abundant.”

When the “why” has been clarified, there is nothing to stop effective, successful work!

A common goal inspires

We have found that the question “why” must not only be clarified before a company is founded but also stay in the back of our minds as managing directors! If you want to inspire your employees and motivate them to perform at their best, you must always make your common goal is clear!

J. F. Kennedy, the moon and the power of a vision

by Hermann Scherer, lecturer, and author

Hardly any term is used more by captains of industry than “values” or “visions”. At least the latter was highly controversial, after former Chancellor Helmut Schmidt once said: “If you have a vision, you should go to the doctor.” Only later did he correct in a newspaper interview: “It was an impudent answer to a stupid question.”

Many years earlier, humanity became aware of the power of a vision: When John F. Kennedy gave the “Moon Speech” in Houston on September 12, 1962: “We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.(…) even though I realize that this is in some measure an act of faith and vision, for we do not now know what benefits await us.”

No values, no goal

Powerful words to the Americans, the Russians and the whole world. Thus, Kennedy became one of the most charismatic presidents of the USA. It shows once more what studies prove: The best way to develop charisma is to have a vision! But what use is the best vision without the values that support it? A person without values is like an astronaut in the weightlessness of space; he cannot hold on anywhere. Thus, a life without values often leads to a life without expectations. At some point, we expect nothing more from ourselves and nothing more from life, or vice versa. We have left ourselves standing by the roadside on the journey of our lives and perceive our goals as accidental remnants of a life plan, like washed up flotsam. We have given up without noticing it.

What good is the best vision without values that support that vision?

The individual matters

Therefore we need people who do not doubt that a person or a small group of people can change the world. It is the only thing that has worked so far. It was always individuals who changed the world. Like Winston Churchill who showed the English who they are and what they stand for, or what Nelson Mandela did for South Africa. People who act. People who produce ideas, strategies, projects and companies, and thus have a positive influence on the world and economy as pioneers and inspirers. Or like Walter Stuber, who with Gemeinhardt Geruestbau Service GmbH brought about people, ideas, strategies and projects in an innovative and networked way and thus has a positive influence on the economy as a charismatic pioneer and inspirer. He has increased the standards and has become a role model, milestone, and benchmark for the entire industry.

It was always individuals who changed the world.

Goal-oriented living leads to success!

Knowing where things are going

by Walter Stuber

Marry at the age of 23. Build a house at 28. Have a child at 29! That was my plan for life. I had already arranged it for myself at an early age. But everything changed completely. Nevertheless, I did not give up on setting goals. But they where quickly forgotten again because I didn’t take them seriously, like the resolutions many people make on New Year’s Eve an already forget at the beginning of January.

That should change. Therefore I attended a seminar at the age of 35 about professional goals and strategies. In retrospect, I know that I took the second step before the first! First, I should ha dealt with myself and answered these questions: What do I want to achieve in my life and, how can that work? How much commitment is possible and necessary? Who has a place in my life? Wife - children - dog - cat? Or do I prefer to stay alone? At that time, I did not face them. Today it is too late, because many things have come up over the years, or maybe not?

What do I want to achieve?

No, that train hasn’t yet left the station for me! I can also pause and reflect even in the middle of my life: What else do I want to achieve? What are my priorities? Certainly, some things are settled. The question of being single, for example, I am married, and I like that! But there are still plenty of opportunities for change!

Today I set myself goals that I really want to achieve: personal goals, goals for the company in terms of my financial investments, goals for my free time with my wife and my family, goals for my Christian faith, etc. I record everything in writing. In November, every year, I formulate anew: What do I want to have achieved in one, three, five and ten years? I look at the lists twice a month so I can keep the goals in mind.

There are ample opportunities for change!

What do I dream of?

Besides, every entrepreneur needs a vision! By this, I mean a dream for the future which is so big that others say: “He is crazy! That will never work! He’s insane!” On the following pages, I will tell you my ideas for the future! None of them are a secret that people should not know! On the contrary: My business partner must know them so that he knows how I see our common future. My employees must also be informed so that they know what the future holds.

Every entrepreneur needs room for the future!

Take the time to formulate your ideas, wishes and goals for the coming years and internalize them. By the way, a business vision is also an excellent investment for credit applications. The bankers will then immediately see that you have given some intensive thought to your company! Goal-oriented and visionary living and working: That is what brings about success in the long run!

My Vision

I expect a lot in the coming years!

by Walter Stuber

On a sunny day in July 2021, my business partner and I enter a hall in Fort Campus in Silicon Valley with 1,000 students and youths from poorer backgrounds. Here we will conduct a book reading. By then, technical development, thanks to our financial support, will be so far along that an app will immediately translate our statements into English. In conclusion, we will make it clear to our listeners that basically everyone has what it takes to become self-employed and successful, if you remain determined and believe in yourself.

Our book “Mutmacher – Das Praxishandbuch von zwei verrückten Unternehmern” (Encourager – A practical guide by two crazy entrepreneurs) will have been translated into several languages and will have sold over 100,000 copies. Every month I will be invited to TV talk shows, to interviews and to give lectures about our company, my life, my Christian beliefs and my family.

Turnover has doubled with just the same number of employees.

Doubling turnover due to the best employees!

My dream comes true: I am earning 500,000 Euro a year. Therefore, I can afford the necessary therapy for my severely disabled granddaughter so that she can a fully recover. I can already see her in 2030, speaking perfectly and walking without any aid!

A new wind is blowing through our company. Our turnover has doubled with just the same number of employees. Everyone on the team sees himself as co-entrepreneurs. Salary is not important because they believe in our vision. 100% are type-A employees! They are all encouragers and are always working for the customer.

Branch office in New York with a world-renowned brand

We have a number one address in New York, and we are currently building a new office in Rosswein with more than 200 m² of office space. We have more than 30 employees in the pipeline who are ready and raring to start in our offices and as scaffolders.

Advertisement is redundant. After all, 80% are regular customers, and the rest comes from word of mouth. Our clients are more than willing to wait eight weeks to get there hands on one of our specialized scaffoldings.

One strong brand

My son has almost taken over on his own in accordance to our common ideals. We are working with other companies to develop a robot that can erect scaffolding on basic facades.

My employees, clients, and I are ecstatic to have produced such a strong brand that my great-grandkids can read about it on Wikipedia.

Doing something good with the profits

Our profit is 1,000,000 Euro annually after taxes. That being said, the business partners and myself are not living it up. We pay 30 percent into a foundation which helps special-needs students and the disabled lead independent lives.

When I see the faces of the students we help, I get goosebumps and that alone is my recognition for what we do. The feeling to have been successful both in business and in private and that others can benefit from this success is, for me, extremely satisfying!

Does an entrepreneur need a vision? YES!

by Ingo Karsch, visions and referral marketing expert

The answers I get from established businesses in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Italy to the following questions are nearly the same everywhere.

For question 1: “Who of you has a vision?”, 90% of those present raise their hands. For question 2: “Who has written down that vision?”, the tables turn, and only about 10% of them have done this. For question 3: “Who regularly rereads the written down vision and reflects about where he or she currently stands?”, now only 20% of that previous 10% have their hands up. Now do the math, if only 100 participants are sitting there in the lecture hall …

Before every “act”: collect inspiring and positively formulated thoughts

In my opinion, having a clear vision and continuously re-evaluating it is the be-all an2d end-all for a business! Yes, it is more important than anything else! Every person must create their vision before they start anything. I would even say there would be fewer bankruptcies, disappointments, and social cases if banks required for a credit to start one’s business a vision along with the necessary documents.

By the way: I used to be like the 10% of those people who did not raise their hand to question 1! Yes, I never put any inspiring, positively formulated thoughts into where I see myself three or five years from now. I never put any real thoughts into which direction I wanted to grow! I also did not have a clue of what my business should stand for in the future, what results I wanted to achieve and how all of this should make me feel.

Visions need to be big!

Now I know that a vision is something that is indispensable for the setting of goals and as for planning those goals. Yes, it is a catalyst for making dreams a reality! I pay particular attention when I work out my vision that I feel good about what I am doing I also try to imagine what reaching that goal would mean to me and what would change for me when I reach it. Today, I frequently share my vision with other people because they always go far beyond the boundaries of what I can imagine. Clearly I need people that feel inspired by my vision and help me to achieve it.

The be-all and end-all for an entrepreneur is a clear vision!

Visions are catalysts for making dreams a reality!

Just copy Walter Stuber: Try creating a vision and make sure to write it in the present form when and, if possible, with explicit imagery. If some people smirk or even laugh at your vision, then you can be sure your vision is large enough! In doing so, you also develop the basis for the creation of your mission. By the way: The correct answer to that little bit of math at the beginning is two!

Know how!

Practical tips

• Be clear, WHY you have your business!

• What are your visions, do they coincide with those of the other business partners and/or do they complement each other?

• Set the WHY (goals, missions, visions) in writing => possibly in a mind map with pictures.

• Communicate your WHY (goals, missions, visions) also to your employees.

• What goals do I want to achieve?

In 1 to 2 years:

In 5 years:

In 10 years:

By the age of 60:

How do I get off at 60+?

• Sit down once a year (at the end of the year/at the beginning of the year) and check whether visions/goals have changed or whether the goals have been achieved! Let the last year pass in review! Learn from mistakes! Be proud of what you have achieved so far!