His journey began with a degree in computer science at Hof University of Applied Sciences and he now runs his own company. In an interview with Campuls Digital, Max Förster talks about the qualities and skills that are important for success and how he got started in business step by step.
Today, Maximilian Förster works as a coach and consultant in his company ‘First Air Coaching & Consulting’. He specialises in agility and change management.
What was your experience of studying at our university and your degree course?
Max Förster: “Overall, studying Applied Computer Science gave me a good technical foundation, which enabled me to take my first steps in my professional life.
Both the technical and soft skills content taught helped me a lot.”
Can you tell us more about the idea and the start of your company?
“After I started at Accenture as a technical specialist, I quickly discovered the topic of leadership for myself. Accenture gave me the opportunity to take on responsibility early on and to develop in precisely these areas. I identified strength-oriented leadership and the role of the manager as a coach as particularly effective. Because I also enjoy both personal and organizational development outside of my content-related topics, I decided to offer my services as an external coach. What sets me apart from other coaches on the market is that I use the methods I teach on a daily basis and can therefore also report on my own experiences and pitfalls.”
How has your training at our university helped to shape your entrepreneurial success?
“The methodical approach in particular has helped me to build up my company. I am able to grasp information quickly, adapt to new situations, companies and people and get involved. The overarching content and project work within the course in particular helped me to gain a better understanding of different people, ideas and approaches.”
What advice would you give current students to get the most out of their studies?
“Get to know yourself really well. Build up SELF-awareness. What are you good at? What are you not so good at? What is important to you in life? What are your own values? Orientate yourself towards these. Don’t limit yourself to ‘your silo’ of your own degree program. Think outside the box. Connect with others – even with students from completely unrelated courses.
The big challenge in the future will be the ability to translate content – multilingualism is the big keyword. A good understanding of other points of view, empathy and a general overcoming of ‘thinking as usual’ is absolutely necessary in order to overcome the deep rifts that are already occurring today.”
What personal qualities or skills have proven to be particularly important for your success?
“High performance – I really enjoy getting a lot out of few resources. I find smart solutions and linking topics much more fulfilling than “a lot helps a lot”.
Empathy – I am able to empathize with the needs of individual people. I am interested in stories and experiences. Organizational talent – I can switch back and forth very quickly between individual people, topics and tasks. This makes me very flexible. Communication skills – the best ideas are useless if you can’t convey them. I am good at drawing a picture in the mind’s eye of my counterpart. Ability to bond – I like to build deep relationships with the people around me.”
