Audi 2010 Annual Report Download - page 109

learns how to cross-country ski. I was
no exception. And when I saw the
winners on television at the Winter
Olympics, even as a small boy I had
the dream of one day standing on
that podium myself. Then I started to
train. I learned the technique, I loved
skiing and with each year that passed
I improved a little. But I was never
satisfi ed. I always wanted more. After
I had won my fi rst international race,
I cried because I sensed that I really
could achieve something.
Strotbek: If I understand you rightly,
for you it was all about perfecting your
technique, a passion for sport and the
fulfi llment of a dream. I can certainly
empathize with that. Here at Audi,
we are motivated by similar things:
technology and passion. It can
take a long time for the fi rst big
success to come. But the secret then
is not to ease off , and to stay in a
leading position.
Dæhlie: That’s another common
area between sport and business:
When you’ve won a gold in sport,
it’s tempting to rest on your laurels and
relax. The same applies in the world of
business. Some companies lose their
drive, creativity, powers of innovation
and customer focus once they become
market leader.
Strotbek: How do you resist the
temptation to ease off ?
Dæhlie: My motto was: You aren’t
Olympic Champion, you’re capable of
becoming Olympic Champion. Even if
you’ve just won gold your competitors
still want to beat you, and if you don’t
keep improving they will succeed. I
didn’t hang my medals on the wall,
I didn’t want to have them in front
of me all the time. I put them in the
basement. The medals that you own
are the past. I was focused on the
future, on the next success – not the
previous one. That was my personal
approach. But how does Audi handle
the necessity never to ease up and to
keep improving?
Strotbek: The main reason why Audi
is so successful is that our brand is
remarkably innovative, sporty and
progressive. We’ve introduced quattro
drive, TDI technology and extremely
high-quality design at Audi. That
has already made us number one in
Europe, but we’re not quite top of the
pile worldwide. Yet precisely that is
our declared ambition, which is why
we are highly motivated. We have
clearly formulated timescales and
criteria for gauging success on various
local markets worldwide. I sense that
the entire organization is working
passionately towards achieving the
goals we have set ourselves, however
ambitious they may sound. But after
all, competition in our industry is
extremely tough.
Dæhlie: I keep discovering similarities
between the toughest years of my
sporting career and the challenges that
I have to contend with in my business.
Bj SPORT is not comparable to Audi,
we occupy a small niche with our
sportswear for cross-country skiing.
But there are parallels: the hunger
to be better than the competition,
and the unfl inching will to overcome
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Audi Board of Management member Axel Strotbek (left) and the successful winter athlete
and entrepreneur Bjørn Dæhlie met for talks at the Audi Forum at Munich Airport.