Oliver Blume
Situational Background
Oliver Blume, Volkswagen Group’s CEO (and—until an expected transition—Porsche’s CEO), is a product-minded unifier who leads with craftsmanship, humility, and direct speech. He balances ambition with restraint, invites diverse perspectives, and decides on time. Distinctive for steady hands under scrutiny, he models respectful candour and focus on essentials—useful in any large, federated organisation. (Volkswagen Group)
Practical Leadership Principles
1) Craft with care.
Quality is a leadership choice, not a luxury.
Behaviours to model:
- Start reviews with the customer experience, not the org chart.
- Remove two non-essential steps from a key process.
- Celebrate teams who fix small defects quickly.
2) Inclusive, timely decisions.
Invite input; commit on schedule.
Behaviours to model:
- Share an options memo (A/B/C with trade-offs).
- Time-box debate; name the decision rule.
- Publish a short TL;DR the same day.
3) Humility with backbone.
Listen fully, then hold the line on standards.
Behaviours to model:
- Paraphrase objections before deciding.
- State one red line you won’t cross.
- Credit others; own misses.
Call to action
Before your next decision, circulate an options memo, keep the discussion to time, decide, and post the rationale and first step.
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