TI CEO Podcast · episode 10
Why world class fascinates me
1-minute summary
In this tenth episode of his CEO diary, Christoph Standl talks about a topic that has fascinated him for a long time: world class. World class, he says, doesn't mean achieving something extraordinary once, but maintaining an incredibly high standard over many years. His example is Real Madrid: players and coaches come and go, generations change – Zinédine Zidane, Toni Kroos, David Alaba, Kylian Mbappé – but the organisation's standard remains. World class isn't created in the ninety minutes everyone watches, but in the thousands of hours before: training, video analysis, scouting, youth development, recovery, organisation and countless small decisions. That is exactly where he sees the link to entrepreneurship. Tourismus Interaktiv is not world class today – "Tyrolean league, perhaps" – but why shouldn't a small Austrian technology company measure itself against the best in the world? The standard makes the difference, because it changes every decision. For him, a company is like a team: the CEO doesn't have to play every ball himself, but has to build a team in which people are better in their positions than he is – today complemented by AI and automation. The public limited company is also part of this long-term thinking: a company in which people participate with capital, knowledge and work, and which can last across generations. And world class also means losing – what matters is how you respond to a defeat. World class is not a state, but a standard. Big changes often begin with small daily steps.
Description
What does world class actually mean? In the tenth episode of my CEO diary I deliberately take a little more time for a topic that has fascinated me for a long time. I talk about Real Madrid, about extraordinary personalities such as Zinédine Zidane, Toni Kroos, David Alaba and Kylian Mbappé – and above all about what we as entrepreneurs can learn from this ambition for world class. Because for me, world class is not created in the 90 minutes everyone is watching. It is created in the countless hours before: through training, preparation, discipline, the right people and thousands of small decisions. I apply this idea to my role as CEO of Tourismus Interaktiv and ask myself: Why shouldn't a small Austrian technology company measure itself against the best in the world? I also talk about why I see a company much like a team, why a CEO shouldn't play every ball himself, and why the decision in favour of a public limited company is part of my long-term thinking. This is not about telling a finished success story. It is about taking you along while this story is being written. Topics of this episode are world class and long-term thinking, Real Madrid and the culture of success, leadership and team building, my role as CEO, the long-term idea behind the public limited company, and dealing with defeats and setbacks. My central insight: For me, world class is not a state. World class is a standard. Thank you for joining me on this journey. Big changes often begin with small daily steps.