Due to the program's success in previous years, the Leadership Connect program will continue this year. On January 23, participants traveled to Contwig in the Südwestpfalz area.

This is where one of the locations of verope AG is located—a particularly exciting company that serves a real niche market and is extremely successful in doing so. verope AG is a joint venture between Pierre Verreet and Kiswire Ltd. based in South Korea. Verope AG's headquarters are in Switzerland, and it has many global locations that work closely together, including ones in Singapore and the USA. The company produces highly specialized wire ropes that are used in a wide variety of applications. And perhaps you have even seen one or two of these ropes without realizing it – for example, at the Eiffel Tower, Disneyland Paris, or the Panama Canal.

All locations are connected by a strong and vibrant corporate culture. In addition to the Verope Service Center GmbH, the Contwig site is home to the KV R&D Center, which unites the expertise of Kiswire and Verope. While this is not a production facility, it is a place where wire ropes are assembled, stored, and extensively researched and tested.

During a tour of the company, participants gained exciting insights into the research center and warehouses. The diverse test procedures used to simulate the operating conditions of the wire ropes were particularly impressive. These procedures included tests on rotational behavior, bending tests, and extensive service life tests. Another important part of their work involves regularly visiting customers worldwide to inspect the wire ropes directly on site. This service is a clear unique selling point of the Contwig location.

The Leadership Connect Program aims to bring leaders from both sides (US military forces and leaders from German companies/institutions) together to engage intensely with leadership issues and inspire each other. As the wire rope manufacturer's team is international, intercultural management plays a central role, which is a good prerequisite for an exchange with the U.S. participants. The discussion focused on the question: How can trust be quickly established in multicultural teams or international collaborations?

Although trust takes time to build in some contexts, there is one key question that should always form the basis for building trust. What is the common goal? A stable foundation of trust can then be built on this question, along with values such as respect, genuine interest in others, honesty, transparency, and openness to other cultures and languages. In other situations, however, it is crucial to build trust quickly, such as when dealing with technical issues. In these situations, customer trust is the foundation for successful, long-term cooperation.