Klaus Bodel
Overview
I could quite easily begin my report as follows: “Once in a lifetime a really interesting opportunity comes your way…” What I describe in this case study was one of the highlights of my career within the BMW Group’s Human Resources Development and Education Department.
Between 2006 and 2009, the BMW Group was involved in Formula 1 and had joined forces with Peter Sauber’s Formula 1 team (Hinwil/Switzerland). I was commissioned to develop a management/leadership training program in German and English for the entire BMW SAUBER Formula 1 team, to personally conduct the seminar modules, and to evaluate and complete the entire project in a process-oriented manner.
All managers of the BMW Sauber Formula 1 team were to be trained over the course of three modules each lasting three seminar days. The team was made up of managers from BMW Motorsport and executives from Sauber AG – at all possible hierarchical levels, but always in roles and functions involving responsibility for employees.
The training concept was developed on the basis of a differentiated training needs analysis carried out with the managers and executives. The modules needed to be scheduled to fit into the international racing calendar. And last, but not least, they had to be organized around the participants’ already overcrowded schedules.
The training program was delivered over several consecutive years with each of the management teams.
Topic
The 3 core themes that set the framework for the program – Fascination, Leadership Development and Formula 1 – were turned into an acronym to form the title for the training program: the “FLF Principle.” The program was emotionally anchored in the participants’ minds during a special event, a “fireside chat” with VIPs and outstanding key figures from the Formula 1 scene.
The three modules had the following core themes and objectives::
• Module 1: Understanding and developing individual leadership personalities
• Module 2: Team development and cultivation of team spirit in the functional teams
• Module 3: Development and optimization of cross-functional understanding of leadership between functional teams
The overall methodological and didactical concept was built on a broad spectrum of METALOG training tools, comprising a total of 19 tools, in consultation with the head of the BMW AG Center of Training Excellence and the Human Resources Manager at Sauber AG.
Staging
a. Preparation
We chose Hotel Römerturm on the Kerenzerberg in Switzerland as the seminar venue. A fitting location, as Peter Sauber, CEO of Sauber AG, commented: “The choice of this seminar hotel reminds me of my own racing career, because as a young man I myself raced up and down the Kerenzerberg in motor races.”
b. Performance
Module 1: Understanding personal leadership behavior; trying out different leadership styles, from “laissez faire” to directing and rigid forms of leadership to the situational leadership model.
Learning project used: guiding “blind” people through the hotel (one blindfold per person); ropes of 50, 80, 150 ft length; evaluation with FacilitationBalls 1 + 2 as well as EmotionCards 1 +2.
The overriding principle: to avoid any risk of injury to the participants and any damage to the seminar hotel.
Module 2: Team development and cultivation of team spirit in the functional teams.
Tools used: StringBall, Scoop, Magic Nails, The Philosopher’s Stone, Team², TeamNavigator, Magic Stick.
| Tool | Reflection focus (question type) |
|---|---|
| Leading the blind and being led blind | Is there a type of leadership that you personally have problems with? (exception question) |
| StringBall | What if the team had been free of all restrictions? (hypothetical question) |
| Scoop | What could you do as a team to make the problem worse? (paradox question) |
| Leonardo’s Bridge | What insights into the problem could be valuable or useful for a real-life Formula 1 situation? (reframing question) |
| Pipeline | When did things go better in the team and what was different? (differentiating question) |
| Tower of Power Special XXL | What impact did your joint team solution have? (so-called “ecology check”) |
| Magic Stick | Is this really the best solution you have in terms of time, quality, and team spirit? (so-called “reality check”) |
Module 3: Optimization of cross-functional collaboration between the individual functional teams.
Tools used: FlyingCarpet, Leonardo’s Bridge, The Maze, Pipeline, Tower of Power Special XXL, Loony Loop; Evaluation of team activities: MetaBlog, RealityCheck 1 + 2, ScenarioCards 1 + 2.
Reflection and question techniques
Reflection on all learning projects took place at the end of each project. An overview of the main reflection points and the respective question techniques is set out above.
Evaluation
The training modules were evaluated using the Kirkpatrick Model (4-level model). The entire seminar and training concept was subjected to a rigorous quality process after completion of the three modules (in accordance with the EFQM model of Quality Management in vocational training).
Conclusion
In 2008, less than a year after his serious accident at the Canadian Grand Prix, Robert Kubica won his first Grand Prix in Montréal, and accordingly also the first victory for BMW Sauber. This was a particular highlight during the seminar program. The training session I had planned on Monday morning did not take place as scheduled, of course, as we all drove to Zurich airport on an emotional high to congratulate the driver and celebrate the entire weekend’s racing team accordingly.
As some participants from the seminar group at Zurich-Kloten Airport aptly said: “This is absolutely awesome!”
It was at this moment that I fully understood the extremely high level of emotion that Formula 1 sport is able to trigger in its fans, spectators, in the media and, in particular, among employees and managers. That’s why the only successful seminar concept is one that appeals to the emotions of all participants – from the choice of the seminar hotel, the setting of emotional anchor points through the fireside chats, or the spontaneous celebration at the airport. And, of course, let’s not forget the training tools used and the transfer of the experiences made to the teams’ daily working lives. All this makes it possible to achieve truly deep learning experiences.