Hendrik, what drives you to take on such extreme challenges in dog sled racing?
Hendrik: To be honest, I don't know exactly what has been driving me to take on these extreme challenges for over 20 years. It's an inner impulse that keeps coming up, telling me I have to do it. This impulse grows slowly, develops, gets stronger and stronger until I know I have to get back into the race. There is probably a part of me somewhere. But I'm usually only drawn back into the big race when I feel that my team and I are ready to perhaps be even better at this high level of performance.
You offer the online masterclass “Leading High Performance Teams” at the HPI d-school. How does your experience in extreme sports flow into this workshop?
Hendrik: As an extreme sports athlete and also at my events, we figuratively go into the red zone of the battery or onto thin ice. It also has a lot to do with the internal optimization of risk management. In high performance, the mental optimization of yourself and your team is extremely important. You have to be able to assess yourself and your team as accurately as possible in order to be successful; if you don’t do this, the ice you and your team are standing on may break.
You already focused on emotional leadership in your diploma thesis. Since then, what has emerged as the most important insight in your work with teams, both human and animal?
Hendrik: We have to accept that there is no 100% certainty in life and therefore we have to learn to let go and trust to a certain extent. Evolution has given us a subconscious ability to make decisions and the emotional ability to guide ourselves and others. Of course, this ability is not exactly the same for everyone, but it can be trained. You have to learn to rediscover this ability and then trust it more and more in the next step.
What can the participants of your online masterclass expect in concrete terms and what would you like them to take away with them at the end?
Hendrik: In the masterclass, we look at what emotional leadership involves and what it means for the leadership of high-performance teams. Further development in leadership is also an important component. The content will be based on experiences from the wild with people and animals and transferred to the normal, modern working day. Parallels are drawn between the social behavior of wolves or prehistoric sled dogs and human teams. Participants are introduced to the topic through interactive exercises. Participants are encouraged to think about leadership in a holistic, unconventional way and discover new perspectives within themselves.
Finally, what does “high performance” mean to you personally?
Hendrik: Optimizing the team to achieve set performance targets is a top priority. Most of the optimization must take place before the start of the big race. No resources should be wasted during the race. All questions and problems that arise relate to the set performance target and are subordinated to it. Open, direct, clear communication. Be honest with your team and yourself. If you have not optimized your team to the maximum before the starting line, it will be risky.
