Sanet in Transition: A Conversation with Dr. Gunter Denk, Founder of the Sanet Group (Part 1)
In the first chapter of our three-part interview series, Sanet in Transition, Dr. Gunter Denk opens up about purpose in work, embracing change, passing the torch. He reveals why cloning leadership styles is a dead end, and how Sanet preserves its expertise while building a new generation of leaders. ππππ π©ππ ππͺπ‘π‘ πππ§π¨π© π₯ππ§π© π€π π©ππ ππ£π©ππ§π«πππ¬ πππ§πβ¦
MANAGEMENT
Part 1 of 3
On Letting Go, Succession and the βRevolution from Aboveβ
Rethinking Sanet: Preserving Experience, Shaping the Future
Why is Gunter Denk still working at 75? Does he perhaps still believe he is indispensable? In Part 1, the founder of the Sanet Group talks about work as fulfilment, the willingness to change, the future leadership team and the difficult art of truly handing over responsibility.
Sawita Iamkaew: Dr. Denk, you are 75 and still work with remarkable energy. Why do you keep putting yourself through it, or are you simply unable to stop?
Gunter Denk: I am not putting myself through anything. Entrepreneurs learn very early that work is not primarily a burden. It can also be a deeply fulfilling part of life.
When you stop working, you stop learning. And when you stop learning, you are already dead without having noticed it.
Over time, you have to find the right balance. And, to be honest, I do not find that particularly easy. Anyone who knows me will confirm that.
Sawita Iamkaew: Or is there perhaps still a thought at the back of your mind: without me, the Sanet Group will not really function?
Gunter Denk: Well, cemeteries are full of people who thought they were indispensable.
Of course, you still catch yourself occasionally taking your own importance too seriously.
But the reactions of those around you quickly show that this does neither you nor anyone else any favours. And those around me are mainly well-educated young people who want to take responsibility.
Those are precisely the people who need room to do so. If you expect others to take responsibility, you must allow them to make their own decisions and their own mistakes. That also means accepting decisions you might have made yourself differently.
Sawita Iamkaew: You talk a great deal about change, both within the company and with clients. But honestly, how open can someone at 75 still be to new ideas, new structures and decisions they may not personally like?
Gunter Denk: You certainly have a point when it comes to formal decisions. In the past, a meeting would often end with the boss saying:
βLet the person who earns the most make the decision. Is anyone here earning more than I am?β
The decision was delivered with humour, but it was still thoroughly autocratic.
Decision-making processes today are more open and take longer. The Japanese, however, have shown us that such processes can also create much stronger acceptance.
There is one thing I have always been proud of: I have often driven a revolution from above. While many employees were still celebrating the current success, I could often already sense that something was changing and that we had to prepare for it. This willingness to change also shapes our strategic management consulting. We must constantly ask what value our services will create for clients in the future.
We are now taking the next step by introducing a new ecosystem of integrated consulting services for our clients.
That means once again challenging our current range of services and products. We must continually define what value they will create for clients in the future and what we need to change.
Some people admittedly see that as erratic. My experience, however, is that it is better to try something new and take a risk than merely to administer yesterdayβs successes.
Sawita Iamkaew: Who will lead the Sanet Group in the future? Has succession within your family already been decided, or are you still looking for the right leadership team?
Gunter Denk: At 75, this is obviously not a question I started considering yesterday. The fact that my Thai-German son, Athaphon Michael Denk, joined the company after completing his studies plays an important and very positive role.
But the next generation rarely has an easy ride. If they succeed, people say they stepped into a ready-made position. If something goes wrong, they are quickly accused of destroying the legacy.
Within a family, it is also particularly difficult to be a father, mentor and critical sparring partner at the same time.
Sawita Iamkaew: That still sounds slightly non-committal. Will your son succeed you, or are you deliberately refusing to place everything in the hands of one person?
Gunter Denk: Of course, we have made that decision together.
But I do not believe in simply passing a company from one person to another as though by hereditary succession. The Sanet Group is now too diverse for one individual to lead every area, nor should anyone be expected to do so. A successor from within the family does have one advantage: over many years, they have witnessed the culture and the effort involved in being an entrepreneur.
But it takes a team. That is why we are already developing a holding structure in which my two sons and other senior executives will assume responsibility. The family name is not what matters. What matters is creating a stable team for our different business areas.
That team must combine experience with youthful momentum. It needs entrepreneurial thinking, intercultural understanding, professional expertise and, above all, the willingness to assume responsibility.
We have also experienced disappointments in our search for the right people. Not everyone who appears professionally qualified has the necessary entrepreneurial mindset or personal resilience.
Even so, I believe we have now established several strong pillars.
The future of the Sanet Group therefore does not lie in searching for a single crown prince, but in building a leadership team whose members complement one another and share responsibility.
Sawita Iamkaew: Where do you see yourself in this plan: as part of management, as a mentor, or as the Γ©minence grise who still pulls the strings from behind the scenes?
Gunter Denk: I have a very clear idea and a clear objective:
I want to be there when I am needed, without constantly looking over my successorsβ shoulders and lecturing them.
For several years now, I have felt increasingly comfortable in the role of mentor. That is why I am not particularly happy when I occasionally have to step back into the role of operational manager. But during a phase of growth such as the one the Sanet Group is currently experiencing, some duties are difficult to refuse.
Sawita Iamkaew: But can you really let go when your successors make decisions that you believe are wrong?
Gunter Denk: Letting go does not mean suddenly losing the right to have an opinion. A mentor must contribute experience, ask questions and warn of risks.
But in the end, the person carrying the responsibility must make the decision. If you delegate responsibility and then correct every decision afterwards, you have not really delegated responsibility at all.
Education can provide knowledge, and we can learn a great deal from other peopleβs experience. But what shapes us most are usually our own successes and, above all, our own mistakes. That was certainly true in my case, and the next generation must have that same right.
If it were otherwise, humanity would probably have achieved perfection thousands of years ago.
In future, I want to help wherever my experience creates genuine value: on strategic issues, in difficult situations, in operational management consulting, in important client relationships and perhaps by opening the occasional door. But management itself should increasingly rest with those who will lead the Sanet Group into the future.
My experience should therefore be used primarily where it can make a concrete contribution to the strategic development of our management consulting in Thailand.
In Part 2, Dr. Gunter Denk explains how the Sanet Group intends to evolve from predominantly strategic consulting into a long-term strategic and operational partner, and the role the new Sanet Ecosystem will play in that transformation.
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