Barbara Herrmann

I am currently leading an operations team at T-Systems International. As the team leader, I work on culture change and agile transformation. Previously I worked for Tesco for 10 years in several international positions, mainly working on change and transformation projects. In this role I planned and executed a service culture change program for 1,000 stores in four countries, affecting roughly 35,000 colleagues. As a volunteer I help organizations with organizational development, individual development, and strategic planning. We are planning to start a ministry at my church to connect and support church members working for large corporations, especially those already in leadership positions. I plan to continue working in the field of strategic planning, organizational development, and people management. My personal mission is to be salt and light with my leadership style in the world. I believe there is a need for more Christians in decision-making positions in the non-Christian world.
I was raised as a Catholic. I was around 24 when I made a personal decision to follow Jesus, change my life, and fully commit myself to the Lord.
One of the defining periods in my life was when I worked in New Jersey in a Salvation Army camp. That environment and the friendships I made there opened my mind to a whole new way of knowing and worshipping my Savior. I started to have moments when I clearly felt the Holy Spirit with me and these became defining moments of my life. I have many stories of how He showed me His grace. He has showed His faithfulness to me even through miracles that were not likely to happen. Another defining time was my very challenging childhood, full of lies about myself. Through that He taught me what He thinks of me and how every little thing can happen for the glory of God.
I would like to grow so that I can contribute to God’s plan by being salt and light. I want to help others bring their best self to work, to use their talents, as I believe God has given talents to each one of us. The desire of my heart is to connect other Christians who work in leadership positions at large corporations. I felt for a long time that my business life and my Christian life were two different things. The European Leadership Forum has been a great help and I am very much delighted to see a program dedicated to leaders working in non-Christian environments.
My role is twofold: to improve and maintain operations and to introduce, build, operationalize, and enable agile transformation. I am managing productivity and performance, individual development, management, and organizational development. I have a team of 60 colleagues.
I am a self-driven person who is committed to development. I want to grow in faith and in how I serve the Lord through my talents and leadership skills. I have not had a lot of opportunities that others have had, but somehow God has always given me things to work with.