Chairman of the Management Board (CEO), SCHOTT AG
A Warm Welcome to Torsten Derr, CEO of SGL Carbon
Introducing our new CEO: Torsten Derr. #sglcarbon #ceo.
About Torsten Derr
Torsten Derr, Chairman of the Management Board (CEO) at Schott, was introduced as the new CEO of SGL Carbon in May 2020. In an interview, Derr stated that he had not hesitated to join the company, describing SGL as "a good company" and associating it with "smart solutions." He noted that his background includes work in glass fibers, which he described as a small step to carbon fibers. Derr said that his initial impression was that the company needed to "bring profitability up" and that he would "tackle the cost" and "reduce complexity" by reviewing the company's processes and levers. He described his leadership style as giving employees freedom while expecting promises to be kept, and said he planned to spend his first weeks meeting people and listening.
Transcript (31 segments)
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Interviewer0:00
A warm welcome, Mr. Derr. They're very proud and happy to be here. Mr. Derr, many of our colleagues are of course now eager to get to know you as soon as possible in an ideal world. So of course, difficult in the current situation with the corona limitations. Could you ever have imagined to start in such unusual circumstances?
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Torsten Derr0:31
No, not at all. Of course I made a plan for what to do in the first two weeks, and my intention was to visit at least four sites and to meet the people. Unfortunately, this has to wait now.
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Interviewer0:43
To bring you a little bit closer to the people, we would ask you a little bit more about your basic habits for a Q&A session. Sure. How would you describe yourself? Are you rather a morning person or not?
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Torsten Derr0:58
I'm an early bird when it comes to sports.
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Interviewer1:02
Would you rather prefer to do sports yourself or watch sports?
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Torsten Derr1:04
I'm very disciplined to run, and so usually I do sports in the morning. I start running at 6 a.m. usually. And when it comes to music...
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Interviewer1:14
Would you prefer rock music, for example?
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Torsten Derr1:16
I love jazz, and my most favorite singer is Gregory Porter. So look it up on YouTube, it's quite nice.
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Interviewer1:22
Okay, thanks. What about cinema? Cinema? Netflix?
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Torsten Derr1:28
I prefer Netflix, and my most favorite TV series is Breaking Bad.
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Interviewer1:35
Jeans or suit?
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Torsten Derr1:38
When I'm talking to banks or to customers, I usually wear a suit, but on Fridays you will see me in jeans.
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Interviewer1:43
Ooh, not coming to that later time. In general, many countries now lift the restrictions, the corona restrictions, step by step. What are you enjoying most now or in future?
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Torsten Derr1:58
So I'm strongly looking forward to making use of a gift voucher I got from my 50th birthday in January. It's a voucher for a restaurant in Inborn. Everything is possible again, and I hope to go to exactly this restaurant in Inborn together with my wife and two friends.
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Interviewer2:19
You like? I can also show you the building a little bit.
Can you also tell us a little bit more about your origin? Where did you grow up and what's your background?
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Torsten Derr2:33
I'm from northern Germany, city called Bremen. I'm born and raised in Bremen, went to school in Bremen, and started my education as a chemist in Bremen. Later on I moved to Aarhus in Denmark, where I did my doctoral thesis.
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Interviewer2:52
And what influenced you most during your professional career so far?
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Torsten Derr2:57
After my doctoral thesis I started in industry and worked for Bayer, which is in Leverkusen, very close to the city of Cologne. I'm living there with my wife for 23 years now. I started at Bayer, worked there for 10 years, and moved on to Lenses. For 4 years I was CEO of a small chemical company, like Agil. I did all kinds of jobs, from laboratory to head of site in Belgium, and I even was responsible for glass fibers. And from glass fibers it's a very small step to carbon fibers. And, of course, I know Schott.
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Interviewer3:40
And what brought you actually to Schott?
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Torsten Derr3:43
The reputation of Schott is so good. And Schott is for me smart solutions. And as I was asked if I could imagine to join the company, I have not hesitated and said yes. Schott is a good company.
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Interviewer3:58
Okay, then let's go into your office.
That's good. Well, I like the garden view.
Whether you see a need for action?
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Torsten Derr4:17
Of course, I only gathered first impressions, but one thing is clear: we have to bring profitability up and we will tackle the cost. We will reduce complexity, and within the next weeks we will walk through the big processes and levers of the company and then decide what to do next.
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Interviewer4:35
Talking about action, how would you describe your leadership style?
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Torsten Derr4:38
Of course I'm influenced by my parents, and they always said: be humble, keep your promises, and walk the extra mile. And this is exactly what I expect from my employees. So I usually give a lot of freedoms but promises have to be kept.
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Interviewer4:54
What will the next days and weeks look like at work for you?
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Torsten Derr5:00
I will continue what I did in the last weeks: I will meet a lot of people and listen, listen.
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Interviewer5:09
Thank you very much for the interview. I have a little gift for you, our common polo shirt. Have a good start.
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Torsten Derr5:15
Thanks a lot. Now I'm a real Schottler and I'm going to wear it with pride on casual Fridays. Thanks a lot.