28.10.2025
Udo Fichtner has been guiding organizations through profound transformation processes for many years. In this conversation with Jens Kurth, he shares his perspective on the evolving demands of leadership, the role of trust as a cultural foundation – and why good leadership, at its core, is timeless.
1. Review & Context
Jens Kurth:
Leadership today isn’t defined by control, but by connection. Over the past years, organizations have been forced to reinvent how they lead and collaborate. What, in your view, has changed most in leadership?
Udo Fichtner:
Two trends are certainly dominant. The pandemic has made remote work popular, and technology – especially AI – has an impact. Both trends change the requirements for great leadership. Unfortunately, they do not necessarily change the actual leadership behavior in many cases.
Jens Kurth:
You’ve also worked across multiple industries. Which experiences from other sectors can be surprisingly well transferred to pharmaceuticals or life sciences?
Udo Fichtner:
There are industries out there that appear to be more competitive and just a lot faster. Innovation cycles in some sectors are much shorter, which strongly shapes their corporate culture. Sometimes, more agility and flexibility would be desirable in pharmaceuticals and life sciences. It’s not easy, though, to transfer this spirit into a culture that has been immensely successful in a “protected” environment like pharma.
2. HR as a Lever for Transformation
Jens Kurth:
Transformation often starts with technology but fails on the human side. Where does change most often break down – and why?
Udo Fichtner:
Let me quote two people who are hitting the nail on the head. Michael Kramarsch, founder of hkp, once said: “Transformation is never technology but always human behavior.” And my long-term companion and dear friend Steffen Fischer, CHRO of ifm electronics, with whom I founded the “AI-HR-Lab” back in 2018, added: “The winner is not the one using the best tools, but the one managing the best human–machine interaction.” That says it all.
Jens Kurth:
And what does it take for leaders not only to change things, but to truly move people?
Udo Fichtner:
Know your people. Trust your people. Treat them like adults. And communicate, communicate, communicate. One individual is thrilled by a simple “There is change coming up, follow me” – and doesn’t need much more to buy in. Another needs careful explanation, over and over again. Some are fine with an email or circular announcement, others prefer a video or twenty individual conversations. Remember: know your people! It sounds very simple, but it requires true leadership skills.
Jens Kurth:
True movement happens when leadership meets empathy. The best transformation strategies fail if they forget the human cadence behind the change.
3. Leadership & Culture in Transition
Jens Kurth:
Creating a culture that combines innovation, responsibility, and courage is a challenge – especially in regulated environments. How can HR help to enable this balance?
Udo Fichtner:
It’s a tough one. In a recent project, I supported a company that transformed from a “normal” manufacturer into a CDMO – a contract development and manufacturing organization. We had to implement stringent documentation processes and regular training initiatives to become audit-ready as a first step. What it takes from there to create a sustainably innovative, responsible, and courageous corporate culture in a regulated environment – frankly, I don’t know. It sounds almost like a contradiction in itself: a regulated environment that supports innovation and courage.
Jens Kurth:
That tension defines much of the life sciences world – compliance and curiosity co-existing uneasily. Perhaps the answer lies in creating “safe spaces for courage,” where boundaries are clear, but within them, teams can experiment without fear.
Jens Kurth:
And what role does trust play in transformation – and how can it be anchored in organizations?
Udo Fichtner:
Trust is of the essence. In my experience, there is only one effective way to establish a culture of mutual trust: as a leader, show vulnerability, admit mistakes, talk about them, celebrate them. This ensures that people in your team learn that mistakes are human, can be admitted easily, and serve as a valuable source for learning and development. No finger pointing, no hiding, no politics. Such a culture allows constructive and healthy conflict about issues rather than people. This is the basis for successful transformation processes.
4. Outlook & Personal Reflection
Jens Kurth:
If you were advising a young HR team in a biotech or health-tech start-up – what advice would you give them?
Udo Fichtner:
Learn about data. Learn with data. Learn from data. Data will be King. Use data to support (or argue) people decisions. Data literacy is becoming the game changer for HR.
Jens Kurth:
Data-driven HR can turn intuition into insight – but only when empathy remains part of the equation. Numbers may guide decisions, but culture still determines whether they succeed.
And finally: what does “good leadership” mean to you today – compared to ten years ago?
Udo Fichtner:
I don’t think the fundamentals have changed over the past ten years. It’s still about vision, clarity, integrity, empathy, communication, accountability, adaptability, mutual trust, setting direction, decisiveness, resilience, and learning. Ten years ago – today – and ten years from now. Some of the tools will change, yet the fundamentals won’t.
Jens Kurth:
A timeless definition – and perhaps the best summary of our conversation. Technology will evolve, business models will shift, but the human essence of leadership remains unchanged.
Our discussion with Udo Fichtner reminds us that transformation isn’t about new frameworks or digital platforms, it’s about people. Leadership begins when trust replaces control, and when curiosity becomes stronger than fear. In that sense, the future of transformation looks less like a system – and more like a relationship.