The development

The founders Gary Burrell and Min Kao (the brand name is an abbreviation of their first names) established the principle in the engineering company that employees should have the freedom to think up the right products for customers. Soon, these employees invented the first running watch with GPS. It was still a somewhat simple device, but it struck a chord with performance-oriented athletes.

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It has been continuously developed, and today, Garmin is the dominant brand on the wrists and bikes of Iron Man participants in Hawaii. Super-precise, long battery life, ultra-robust. In the meantime, there have also been entrepreneurial missteps. When the iPhone appeared on the market in 2007 and made private navigation systems obsolete, Garmin was tempted to enter the smartphone market. But it stuck to its identity of building high-performance devices for fitness and the outdoors. Then, from 2012 onwards, the company grew almost silently and ever faster from a multi-million to a billion-dollar listed company.

The mindset

The inner mechanics behind the growth is the explicit bottom-up culture. The impetus for the first running watch came from engineers when the company was still in the navigation business, which accounted for 70 per cent of its turnover well into the 2000s. Today's watch portfolio seems almost unmanageable to an outsider. But customers find their way around easily because there is something in for everyone. The portfolio is made by employees who want to have these products themselves and who have the same high performance standards.

There are innovation processes, but they are not exclusive to product development. Ideas for new products can come from all employees. For example, Garmin offers a dive computer that was originally thought up by an IT employee who is a diver himself. With support from the engineers, it became a successful product. Garmin does not want to be a hip lifestyle company but wants to support the performance orientation of its customers with personal passion. Or as the claim says: "Engineered on the inside for a life on the outside.

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The leaderhip

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The empowerment of employees to take such actions is deeply rooted in the consciousness of all employees and, in its implementation, revolves around the two words "Servant Leadership". It can best be interpreted as "enabling instead of commanding".

Kai Tutschke: "To German ears, the term 'dienen' (to serve) in connection with 'Führung' (leadership) sounds paradoxical at first, I would argue. In essence, it means: you take a step back as a leader. Everyone should always and everywhere be able to speak their mind. Even if it is contrary to that of colleagues or the bosses.

But the demand goes even further. The people in the company should feel good. "The product really isn't everything. The people are everything," said founder Burrel. "We care for one another." Kai Tutschke adds: "That takes more time than a basta culture, but it pays off a hundredfold." He says it makes the company compact and powerful. "You hold the whole thing together by setting an example. Almost all managers are home-grown, there is no pressure, there are no bonus systems, there are few reports." Management by open eyes and ears. "You look and listen, there are no surveys for that."

The communication

Active communication is an important factor. Every manager has the freedom to communicate in his or her own way, yet it has now been highlighted as a topic. Tutschke: "It's not about giving the colleagues guidelines for their communication, but about supporting them to better develop their personal skills as managers. Where there are conflicts, they are usually based on mishaps in communication.

The three formulated elements of management communication are: Eloquence, predictability, empathy.

"For us, eloquence does not mean, for example, that someone is an orator," says Tutschke, "but that you can express what you want to express, and practise that regularly. In the end, it is about the confidence of the staff. "People should speak up when something doesn't fit.”

The greater benefit

Garmin is a company that is always developing something new and is therefore always developing itself. It is supported by a helping and supportive culture, but the unifying idea is different. According to Tutschke, all employees can identify with the fact that an active life can lead to a fulfilled life. So, the overarching theme is health, to which exercise and sport contribute a great deal.

Half of all Germans do sport regularly. And one of their main motivations is the hope of staying healthy in the long term. Anyone who does not understand the power of such an overriding benefit has not understood Garmin customers and employees. Because no athlete goes out and runs just because he is wearing a fancy watch. Rather, the watch with navigation and performance data shows the way to a better, to a healthy life.