Stephan Kretschmer

Stephan Dietrich Kretschmer (born July 5, 1949 in Calw ) is a German officer in the Bundeswehr ( retired Brigadier General ) and former military attaché . From 1999 to 2004 he was in command of the Center for Inner Leadership . In the media and science he is a recognized expert on military leadership philosophy and is a proponent of close exchange between business and the military.

Life

Military background

Kretschmer comes from the Württemberg region . After graduating from high school in Mannheim, he joined the Bundeswehr as an officer candidate and trained from 1969 to 1972. He studied electronics at the Bundeswehr University of Applied Sciences in Neubiberg near Munich, and from 1974 to 1979 cybernetics and communications engineering at the Technical University of Munich ( graduate engineer ).

1979/80 he was lecture director at the telecommunications school of the army (FmS) in Feldafing and company commander in telecommunications battalion 330 in Koblenz. From 1982 to 1984 he completed the general staff course (H) at the command academy of the Bundeswehr (FüAkBw) in Hamburg. In 1986/87 he also attended the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) of the US Army in Fort Leavenworth , Kansas and in 1992/93 as a lieutenant colonel at the United States Army War College (USAWC) in Carlisle, Pennsylvania.

From 1987 to 1989, Kretschmer was a consultant in staff department VI (planning) in the command staff of the army (Fü H) and press officer in the Federal Ministry of Defense (BMVg) in Bonn. From 1989 to 1992 he was in command of Defense District 451 in Landau in the Palatinate and from 1993 to 1996 as Colonel i. G. and Army Attaché at the German Embassy in Washington, DC From 1996 to 1999 he was commander of the 7th Panzer Grenadier Brigade in Hamburg Fischbek. For three months he was posted to Rajlovac in Bosnia as the commander of a multinational brigade with German and French shares .

From 1999 to 2004 he was head of the Inner Guidance Center (ZInFü) in Koblenz. During his term of office u. a. the opening of a “learning workshop” for political education and the exhibition “Römer am Rhein”, of which he was the patron. In addition, he addressed minorities and women in the Bundeswehr as well as the reintegration of soldiers from missions abroad .

In 2004 he became deputy head of department and chief of staff at the German military representative at the military committee ("Military Committee") of NATO , WEU and EU in Brussels, first under Lieutenant General Klaus Olshausen and then Vice Admiral Frank Ropers . In mid-2007 he retired with the rank of Brigadier General (since 1998).

Civil professional activity

Together with his wife he runs the LIFO Institute for life, family and marriage counseling in Hamburg-Othmarschen . He works as a coach and trainer for German-speaking executives. His professional focus is leadership and strategy.

He was also a lecturer at the private universities of Witten / Herdecke in Witten and the Center for Responsible corporate management of WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management in Vallendar near Koblenz. As part of the general studies there, within the undergraduate degree in business administration, he works as a guest lecturer.

Kretschmer is married and has two children.

Leadership philosophy

Kretschmer considers an intensive exchange between military, economic and political elites to be desirable. For example, he sees in the hierarchical structures and in the self-image of “ command and obedience ” commonalities between business and the military. Both actors could also learn from each other, so he attested the economy on the one hand competence in the " 360-degree assessment " and on the other hand he emphasized care and camaraderie in the military . Kretschmer is at the same time a proponent of the conception of inner leadership , which has proven itself to this day. He drew attention to the fact that in today's soldier profession one has to be prepared to make responsible decisions in explosive situations , despite uncertainty (a situation of incomplete information) and to take responsibility for the consequences .

Under his rule, the ZInFü opened up with further training programs for managers from the private sector. In addition, he initiated multi-day leadership seminars for business administration students at WHU Vallendar. As a result, he was also a lecturer on the topic of military leadership philosophy at associations, foundations and at congresses. National newspapers and magazines such as the Handelsblatt , Die Welt am Sonntag and Capital consulted him as an expert.

Publications

• Germany's Reunification and Its Implications for US Strategy . In: Parameters 23 (Herbst 1993) 3, pp. 24-38.
• The internal leadership of the Bundeswehr, a model for the economy too? WHU , Vallendar 2002. (= WHU Forum No. 7)
• Aims and tasks of the inner guidance . In: Hans W. Odenthal, Dieter E. Bangert (Ed.): Democratic control of armed forces . Federal Academy for Security Policy , Bonn 2003, pp. 99–106.

interview

• Ove Jensen : Less bonuses and more leadership in sales: Learning from the military (interview). In: Sales Management Review , edition 07/2013, pp. 36–41.

literature

• Dermot Bradley , Heinz-Peter Würzenthal , Hansgeorg Model : The generals and admirals of the Bundeswehr. 1955 - 1999. the military careers (= Germany's generals and admirals; part VIb). Volume 2, 2: Hoffmann - Kusserow . Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 2000, ISBN 978-3-7648-2370-2 , pp. 762-763.

Web links

• Stephan Kretschmer's curriculum vitae (PDF; 32 kB) at WHU Vallendar
• Stephan Kretschmer at the LIFE Institute

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Gudrun Tribukait: Inner leadership with a new commander . In: Rhein-Zeitung , August 16, 1999.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Curriculum Vitae by Stephan Kretschmer ( Memento of the original from November 9, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at the Swiss Management School Baltic, accessed on November 3, 2014. 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Nikos Späth : Military virtues for the office. Motivate, organize, improvise: How the Bundeswehr gets managers on their toes and trains the next generation of leaders . In: Welt am Sonntag , vol. 57, January 4, 2004, No. 1, p. 26.
4. ↑ Ira von Mellenthin : A new man takes over the watch . In: Hamburger Abendblatt , vol. 52, August 27, 1999, No. 199, p. 17.
5. ↑ BArch . BH 9-7 ( online ), accessed November 3, 2014.
6. ↑ Inner leadership has a new boss . In: Rhein-Zeitung , March 20, 2004.
7. ↑ Gudrun Tribukait: Illustrative: The Bundeswehr . In: Rhein-Zeitung , November 16, 2000.
8. ↑ Herbert Günther: Seeing history - and smelling military and everyday things . In: Rhein-Zeitung , December 13, 2003.
9. ↑ Gudrun Tribukait: minorities in the armed forces . In: Rhein-Zeitung , January 11, 2000.
10. ↑ Gisela Staerk: How do I lead in a crisis? In: Südkurier , September 11, 2009.
11. ↑ Our guests ( Memento of the original from November 3, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , University of Witten / Herdecke , accessed on November 3, 2014. 
12. ^ Team at the Center for Responsible Business Management , WHU Vallendar , accessed on May 29, 2014.
13. ^ ^{A b} Klaus-Peter Gushurst, Gregor Vogelsang: The new elite. Germany's way back to the top . Wiley, Weinheim 2006, ISBN 978-3-527-50201-1 , p. 117.
14. ↑ ^{a b} Bert Fröndhoff: Between hierarchy and freedom. In companies, things are often no different than in the military. Can managers learn something from the leadership principles of the Bundeswehr? In: Handelsblatt , No. 235, December 5, 2006, p. 18.
15. ↑ Dietmar Brück: Bundeswehr defends basic values . In: Rhein-Zeitung , December 1, 2006.
16. ↑ Gudrun Tribukait: The citizen at the center . In: Rhein-Zeitung , November 7, 2011.
17. ↑ Cf. Angelika Dörfler-Dierken : Orders - Obedience - Humanity . In: Ulrich von Hagen (ed.): Army in democracy. On the relationship between civil and military principles (= series of publications by the Social Science Institute of the Bundeswehr . Volume 3). VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 3-531-14926-1 , p. 165.
18. ↑ Thomas Stölzel: Bundeswehr offers a unique consulting program for companies in matters of personnel management . In: Leipziger Volkszeitung , September 21, 2002, p. 8.
19. ↑ Arnd Westerdorf: Sit still! The Bundeswehr blows managers on the march. The Barras still disguises it, but it offers management training for medium-sized managers. Stand up to military virtues! . In: VDI nachrichten , No. 42, October 18, 2002, p. 25.
20. ↑ Social skills can be learned . In: Rhein-Zeitung , October 25, 2003.
21. ↑ ^{a b} Christian Schlesiger: Learning to lead. German universities have recognized a shortcoming: They are now relying more on practical relevance and also impart management skills. Which seminars are particularly interesting . In: Capital , November 13, 2013, 24/2003, pp. 66–69.
22. ↑ Cornelis Rattmann: On the trail of the relevant message. Strategic planners meet in Hamburg - conversation with Karen Heumann, managing director at Jung von Matt . In: Die Welt , vol. 58, June 23, 2003, No. 143, p. 36.
23. ↑ Lecture: Inner Leadership - Corporate Philosophy for the Bundeswehr in Transition . Konrad Adenauer Foundation , July 3, 2003.
24. ↑ DStV represented on the DGVM board . In: Die Steuerberatung , August 1, 2005, issue 8/2005, p. 386.