is there such a thing
asbeing too
muchofaRenaissanceman? If so,Christian
Stadil isdefinitelyguilty.Andyet, theowner
of sports fashionbrandHummel,who
moonlightsaschairmanofDanish
conglomerateThornico, TVpersonality, and
authorofbooksonmanagement, somehow
seems tokeepall theplatesspinning.Not
only that: the43-year-old hasclimbedsome
of theworld’shighestmountains,mastered
severalmartial artsand isacommitted
Buddhist, aswell asa familyman. It justgoes
toshowhowgoodhe isatmultitasking that
he found time to teachus thehard-earned
lessonshe’spickedupalong theway…
Knowyour limits
“Havingambition isaverygood thing,butyou
need toalsoappreciate justwhatyou’re
takingon.WithHummel,we tried to launch
into theAmericanmarketandmadeabig
mistake.Wehad thoughtof itasonebig
territoryand tried toattack itall at thesame
time; however,ourmarketingeffortsand
sales fell short.Weshouldhaveactually
focusedon individual regions. Thebestway
ofeatinganelephant isdoing itonepieceata
time.”
Communicateeffectively
“My favouritecountry in theworld is Japan,
but it’saplacewhereyoucaneasilydo the
wrong thingat thewrong time. I regularly
hirea translatorover there,buteven they
can letyoudown. Iwouldgoandvisitclients
where Iwouldgo into the inspirationbehind
ourdesigns– talkingat lengthabout the
mountainsandwildlifeandwhatever–and
the translatorwould justpointandsayoneor
twowords. It turnedout thatwhile Iwas
doingall thesinginganddancing, hewould
justsay ‘jacket’ or ‘T-shirt’ or ‘hoodie’.”
Stay focused
“I turned43 thisyearandwhat I’ve learned
inover20years inbusiness is that if you try
tochase two rabbits, youdon’tcatchany.
Itgets to thestage thatyouhave toprioritise
things. I’m involved insomanyprojects,but
I’malsoahusbandand father, and that forces
me tochoosehow I spendmy time.”
Ibelieve incompanykarma…
“It’sgood toearnmoney,but thingsbecome
interestingwhenyouchoose todogoodwith
it. It’swhywestepped in tofinance the
AfghanWomen’sNationalFootball team, and
arrangedamatchbetween themand the
womenof ISAF [InternationalSecurity
AssistanceForce].Wehaddeath threatsand
thesecurityservicesadvisedusnot todo it,
butwepersevered.Webelievewecan
change theworld throughsport.”
Think laterally
“TalkingofAfghanistan,wealsoactually
sponsor thenational football federationover
there.Wecan’t sponsorany teams thatplay
in theWorldCup, because it’s tooexpensive
forus, but theflipside is that thebigbrands
can’t support theAfghanistan teambecause
for them it’s toopoliticallysensitive.Asa
smallerbrand,we’reable tobemoreagile
andcan thinka littledifferently.”
Lead,don’tmanage
“If you’renotpassionateaboutwhatyoudo,
yourstaffwon’tbeconvincedeither. Ihave
manymanagersworking formeandmany
arebetteratmanagement than I am– I like to
think thatmy job is toaddabitof spiceora
bitof vision to thecompany. I am involved
withsomanyorganisations,but Imake time
to regularly turnup toallof them.”
WORDS
SIMEON DE LA TORRE
NAME
ChristianNicholasStadil
NATIONALITY
Danish
BASE
Languedoc, France
CAREER
Thesonof a lawyerand
companyowner,Christianfirst
trainedasasoldier in theRoyal
LifeGuardsbeforegoingon to
study lawatAarhusUniversity,
Denmark.Hebecamechairmanof
theboardatThornicoA/S in
2000, andsince thenhasheld
positions inglobal think tanks
– including theculture forum
Co-existenceofCivilizations,
whichheco-founded–andon
awardspanelsand juries.
“Therehas tobe room fora little
madness inyour life...”
Thismonth,
ChristianStadil
revealswhat it takes tobeamultitasking
Scandinavianbusiness superman–andoddly, the secret togetting loads
donedoesn’t involve turning yourself intoamachine
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