Three becomes two – the Seven2one relay team is now continuing the race without Christoph Schlenzig.
After 20 years of service, Christoph Schlenzig has retired from his position as Managing Director at Seven2one as of the end of September. He is now serving on the newly founded Advisory Board. Carmen Bickle and Jan Marco Heinz will henceforth be the sole members of the Management Board.
How did this passing of the baton come about?
Founder Christoph Schlenzig announced his retirement from the Management Board in a very personal speech given at our beautiful 20th anniversary party on the roof terrace of Tawa Yama:
I have been serving as Managing Director for 20 years. During this time, I steered the Seven2one ship through times that were sometimes calm and sometimes turbulent, the last 2 years of them together with you, Carmen and Marco.
You can imagine that the future of Seven2one is very important to me, and that’s why I began dealing with the issue of succession at an early stage. Even though I am still full of vitality and drive, I had to admit to myself that my time is finite.
I took the first step to look for capable leaders 5 years ago. With you, Carmen and Marco, I more than succeeded in this endeavour. You learned the ropes and accepted responsibility so quickly that I took you on as part of the Seven2one Management Board 2 years ago so that the three of us could run Seven2one together. The collaboration and division of labour worked well, and you quickly grew into shoes you needed to fill. In the meantime, you have taken over all operational tasks.
Three Managing Directors for a company like Seven2one would be too many for the long term, of course. This time we spent as a trio was meant to help make the transition, and this transitional period is now coming to an end after 2 years. It all worked out quite well, and for me personally, the time went by perhaps a bit too quickly…
Now it’s time to say goodbye. I will be leaving the Management Board and thus handing over the command bridge of Seven2one at the end of September. […] You are doing a great job, and I am fully confident that you will continue down Seven2one’s successful path of growth.
That’s why I am passing the baton to you today and thus putting the Seven2steering wheel in your hands. Starting on 1 October, the two of you will be standing together on the bridge of the Seven2one ship. I am sure you will be carrying the Seven2one baton from one success to another and I wish you all the best.
Christoph will continue to accompany Seven2one as the main shareholder
Furthermore, he will also be serving as Chairman of the company’s new Advisory Board, an entity that will begin its work on 1 January 2022. He will be joined on this Advisory Board by Dr Egbert Laege, former Management Board member of E.ON Global Commodities, E.ON Ruhrgas and most recently EEX, and Matthias Hornberger, CFO of Atevia AG, Managing Director of venture capital provider Kizoo and Chairman of the Management Board of CyberForum e.V.
As Christoph sees it as of utmost importance to foster a sustainable energy supply based on renewable energy in Germany, he will continue to spearhead Seven2one’s research projects (including www.smart-east-ka.de). He will also be serving as a volunteer for Smart Grids Platform BW and fokus.energie.
The race continues – at an even faster pace than before!
Seven2one is at the dawn of its third decade. Carmen Bickle and Jan Marco Heinz have already taken an active approach to shaping the future. The foundation for the success of the next 20 years has already been laid today with the repositioning, the creation of the Strategy Partner Meeting and especially the investment in the TechStack, Seven2one’s new platform generation.
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