What really drives an initiative like ours are the people who support it with passion – who not only communicate the values, ideas and goals, but also live them themselves and serve as role models.
Find out more about this special commitment in our interview between Tobias and Dr. Helfried Schmidt.
Tobias Haufe:
Dear Dr. Schmidt, it is a great honor for me to be able to visit you at your offices today and of course I would like to thank you for this interview opportunity. The Oskar Patzelt Foundation, which is the sponsor of the Grand Prix for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The YOUTH GLOBE team warmly congratulates you on this occasion. Please present your special commitment yourself.
Dr. Schmidt:
We founded the Oskar Patzelt Foundation and invented the Grand Prix of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises – 30 years ago now. And the fact that we have been doing this for 30 years, that is, that there is still a need for this competition, shows that the market needs it. That is, what is it about, what is needed: recognition for entrepreneurial SMEs is needed. These are the companies that are usually not on the front page of newspapers and on the front pages of social media channels, but rather come under the radar and find it very difficult to get noticed themselves. But they are the ones that employ 75 percent of the employees in Germany, generate 90 percent of the taxes in Germany and offer and complete almost all training places in their area, provided that young people want them. And for this achievement, German medium-sized companies deserve great recognition, respect and attention, and this competition contributes to this.
Tobias Haufe:
Through your contributions in numerous publications and also through your participation in award ceremonies, YOUTH GLOBE partners have come to appreciate your commitment to and for small and medium-sized businesses. Particularly noteworthy is your accurate, profound analysis of processes and situations, as well as your appreciative, confident manner in a wide range of appearances. What were the most emotional moments for you in these thirty years?
Dr. Schmidt:
How long do we have? Well, there are many. I would like to pick out two, perhaps. One is that almost every year we have the situation that not only a representative of a company is on the stage to receive an award, but a family, with children, with grandparents. And just by that alone, this company's connection to the lives of people within the company is immediately symbolized. Not only in terms of customers and suppliers. And that cannot be communicated often enough, because without that, there will no longer be any medium-sized companies. And a second very emotional experience now five years ago, four and a half years ago, at the federal gala, we celebrated 25 years of the competition and Ms. Tröger, my fellow board member, and I were surprised by members of the board of trustees and by volunteers at the foundation, who organized a congratulatory reception for us during the gala, which we knew nothing about in the preparation. That's not easy, because no detail escapes the preparations, especially for Petra Tröger. A flash mob was prepared. The whole hall sang a song in our honor. One of the award winners donated two large wooden benches for us to rest on during the event. And there was cake and whiskey and so on, all during the gala and without us knowing – and that was of course very emotional.
Tobias Haufe:
Dr. Schmidt, you have known YOUTH GLOBE for several years and know that our ChampionsTour involves an intensive examination of personal life goals based on individual values, one's own potential, different life situations and very personal dreams. What are the most important personal values for you?
Dr. Schmidt:
That's a long topic too. Actually, you would have to be allowed to tell a lot about it, but if I have to answer right now. You have to do things with passion. You have to do things seriously. You have to want to give your own life meaning, then you will always find it. And you have to be human. You often have to prioritize this over other goals, because once it is destroyed, it is often very difficult to rebuild. And no one, no one can do great things alone. The greatest resource for anyone who wants to achieve more than their daily business is, in retrospect, other people. And that is why working together is so incredibly important.
Tobias Haufe:
Dr. Schmidt, I am, of course, particularly pleased about your involvement as an ambassador for our “100 Champions” education initiative. In the course of the foundation's work, you have been able to exchange ideas with heads of state, gain very deep insights into corporate decision-making and the resulting effects, and get an overview of the cultural scene from the cultural contributions to your award ceremonies. You have a broad overview of social processes. What motivated you to support our educational initiative for young people?
Dr. Schmidt:
I think such an initiative is simply great. I think there are far too few of them. I think that every young person, every child, deserves to be taken care of – beyond what school can offer in their everyday school life. And in this respect, this initiative is an exemplary achievement, which I am therefore very happy to support. And also with regard to what I said earlier: we need a lot of young people in the future who want to make something of their lives, more than they might suspect at the age of 12 or 14. And we have to help them while they are open to it, while they can still be influenced.
Tobias Haufe:
Thank you very much.