Main Reaction - The TFL Blog | May 2021

Becoming part of something new while staying true to yourself

I like to compare bringing two businesses together with a couple getting married, thus, bringing two families, family cultures and habits together. Do you remember when you first met your partner's family? Everything was new and you first had to get an idea of how they look at things, what their very individual "family rules" are and how they live different traditions etc.

Basically, they do many things slightly different than you were used to do it and how you have been raised in your own family. However, the more you got to know them, the more you saw that many things were also familiar and though done slightly in another way the basis was comparable. We are all human and we like our habits and the way we are doing things. But sometimes it also pays to take on a different perspective and get an insight in how other families are doing things. Often we are able to learn something new and we may even find advantages of certain habits that we would like to incorporate into our family, too.

Yes, these are all metaphors; but I really believe that bringing together two businesses is in some way a little bit similar. Both parties are coming from different "families" with different backgrounds and habits. Both look at each other carefully, maybe even sceptical, in the beginning, both need to get to know and understand their new partners first. But looking at each other with an open mind and giving the other habit or perspective a chance, is often very beneficial for one’s own view of the world, too. In this way the advantages of both "families" are seen and taken into consideration. Often a "couple" finds a way of transferring the best of their very own traditions to their new family or way of living. With tolerance and respect for the counterpart I believe this is also feasible for businesses merging.

TFL and the leather chemicals business of Lanxess will very soon be merging into a new leading company in the leather specialty chemicals market. If we manage to meet each other with respect and open minded, recognizing "habits" and "rules" the other party is used to, I am sure that we manage to benefit from both cultures and become a truly strong company. The clue is to become part of something new while keeping your own identity, staying true to yourself, nevertheless allowing a new perspective or a new way of solving problems to change your habits for a better result. Because learning from each other is a very powerful resource – not only in a partner relationship, but also in business relationships.

Therefore, I am very excited about our combined businesses, about meeting new colleagues, encountering new methods, learning from each other, thus, making the best out of it!