Munich Re Group Annual Report 2006 (PDF, 1.8

Munich Re Group Annual Report 2006
Pressure is put on us to deliver on our strategies each and
every quarter. But if you are really interested in our enduring
results, this is misleading. Our business model has a
much longer perspective and is a more sustainable one.
That’s why we made the issue of climate change and its
risks public back in the seventies, as we felt that it was
something of outstanding future importance. Climate risks
were and are emerging in unprecedented dimensions. We
are risk-scouts – that’s where perseverance and innovation
are needed in equal measure. Back then, we were a voice
crying in the wilderness. Climate change wasn’t fashionable
at all. Now, 25, 30 years later, climate change is a topic
high on the agenda everywhere. This is just one example
of the type of situation in which I, in my leadership position,
feel regularly challenged. People devote a great deal of
attention to fashions, even to hype, whereas we at Munich
Re are long- or at least medium-term-oriented: we may not
have the same “sex appeal” as, for instance, competitors
who are interested in action only for action’s sake. Employees
may get nervous and say: “Others may overtake us;
they follow the trend and we look boring by comparison.”
Kent Nagano_ “Fashionable” is by definition something
that does not last. One should say that conviction
and will touch humans as a kind of life force that can
sometimes be completely uncoordinated with the natural
rhythm of fashionable cycles and may take some dramatic
6
forms. Think of Ludwig van Beethoven’s great ninth symphony.
When it was premiered, the audience was bewildered
that the great and cherished master could write
something so seemingly incoherent. The critics were
unable to understand the depth of Beethoven’s achievement.
Because after the long period between the eighth
symphony and the ninth symphony, people were expecting
and waiting for something tremendous and enlightening
to come. What did arrive was so visionary that it was
apparently incomprehensible. Beethoven died before the
ninth symphony was accepted as a universal statement. It
is such an inspiration to us all that it managed to become
a recognised masterpiece and has remained so over time.
Beethoven had a very profoundly rooted conviction. If you
look at it from the perspective of several hundred years,
you can see that it broadened people’s concepts of what
music is and can be. But in Beethoven’s lifetime the symphony
was never “fashionable”.
Nikolaus von Bomhard_ My experience is that if you
lead or run an organisation and you have a long-term
vision, one thing is indispensable: you must communicate,
explain – and convince. Only if as many people as possible
share your view, will this build the momentum that you
need to remove obstacles. In addition, your vision must
of course be based on some sort of hard experience and
know-how. From that, you derive the power of conviction.