#450 CHRO-Talk mit BIRGIT BOHLE von der DEUTSCHEN TELEKOM - SAATKORN

Thank you for the invitation. I'm very glad that this worked out.

Yes, I've been at Telekom for six years. There were many reasons to join. One was that I felt this company is incredibly successful, transforming and developing itself, and I wanted to be part of that story and contribute. Another reason was the international dimension; I had been mostly national at Deutsche Bahn, and I was very interested in internationality. But also what sets us apart as a company: we connect people. 'Connect your world' we say. That's the red thread through my professional life. At the railway it was physical connectivity; here it's through digital connectivity, also enabling connectivity for goods in B2B. That's what attracted me, and I joined Telekom with great engagement and enthusiasm.

I would fundamentally say that for companies, especially large ones with societal importance, the question of values today plays a more important role than before. Formerly, there was the saying 'the business of business is business' — the company's role ended at the factory gate. But looking at our society today, with the polarization and the danger to democracy, the question of how clearly we position ourselves on values like diversity, equality, inclusion should play a bigger role. For us at Telekom, it's clear. You're right, in our mission 'Connecting your world' that is inherent. I always say we stand for connection, not division; for inclusion, not polarization. That's why we engage with it perhaps especially intensely.

Maybe I'll step back a bit. That post was from our leadership event in November of this year, last year 2024. We started the journey into the year with the theme of values and went to Krakow with the top 200, and also visited Auschwitz in that context. That's certainly special for a leadership event. We took three days to talk about values in society and our role, and how we interact internally. Out of that came a very intensive discourse. We continued that thread at the leadership event. When I think about the headline 'act instead of easy courage', it became clearer to me over the past year that it's easy to write something on LinkedIn or be photographed at a demonstration and believe we've changed something. But we only change through actual action. I made an example of a company that publicly positioned itself against a certain political party, received applause on LinkedIn, but when it became difficult locally, they backed down because they couldn't sustain it. We say let's stay in action. For example, we discussed why young people vote the way they do. We don't know how our young employees vote, but we can assume they are a representative cross-section. Instead of dismissing those who vote for extreme parties as idiots, which ends the discourse and changes nothing, we choose to understand the reasons. Our head of training asks what worries young people and how we can help. Topics like financial security, health, fake news. We can offer educational programs on retirement savings, for instance. We as a company are trusted, and we can make a small contribution to reduce worries and build confidence. That has more impact than slogans. That was my first point. Regarding red lines: I observe that through the way we talk and what we allow, boundaries shift. It's a concern that with the renewed presidency of Donald Trump, things appear okay that obviously are not. When I see that in the wake of the election results, companies are rowing back on their diversity and inclusion efforts, I say: hello, attention. That's why I formulated that red lines must be red lines. It takes courage to say in a meeting that something was not respectful. Boundaries shift when a values violation goes uncommented. So we need to speak up and defend the lines.

We have a set of values we call our guiding principles. They are generally valid for us as a company and are not just on paper; they are brought to life. In 2019 we began to develop them further, and since 2020 we have had six guiding principles: from delighting customers to handling with respect and integrity, I am Telekom, you can rely on me. That was a mix of long-standing values like reliability and new elements like be curious and grow. We try to recharge these values regularly. For example, every year we have a Living Culture Day where we take a day to get together as teams and talk about our values. That is now international. We also have Telekom Team Awards where the best teams are evaluated based on our six guiding principles, and there is a large ceremony with Tim Höttges and me awarding prizes, with voting by the people. Each year we also give impulses to the organization, often through the leadership. This year's theme might be strengthening our values or radical transparency. For example, we had the motto of stepping out of the comfort zone. At the same time, we are a very international company, and national cultures are different. That is entirely okay. I think in the future we need to talk more about cultures of cultures, preserving the common core while embracing diversity as enriching. The individual areas set their own impulses. For example, our guiding principle 'stay curious and grow' was translated by the service area into 'Day One mentality' — approach each day as if it were your first. That's a perfect translation, and as headquarters I would never insist on the exact wording. That's where culture of cultures becomes a real strength.

That's funny because you chose the topic instinctively — we hadn't discussed it. Actually, what inspired me last year, 2024, was the entire journey around values, attitude, and democracy. A sequence includes the Auschwitz Krakow visit and the opportunity to have a wonderful conversation with Margot Friedländer, who left a lasting impression on me with her simple message: be a human. That also inspired me to bring 'handle with respect and integrity' back to the origin. That whole thing stayed with me all year. Currently, I'm on the last pages of Madeleine Albright's book 'Fascism: A Warning', again about how democracies come under pressure. With concern that democracies tend to abolish themselves. That is also an incentive and responsibility in my role to make a contribution, albeit small, to prevent that. So that has really inspired me last year, and I think it will carry into this year.

Yes, hopefully with good togetherness. Thank you, and I wish the same for you and your company as well.