Peter and Peter: Almost 25 years difference in age

Peter and Peter:
Almost 25 years difference in age – but many things in common

Reading time: 6 minutes

Almost 25 years separate Peter Schott and Peter Beugel, but they have more in common than just their names: Both are participants in the Management Development Program (MDP) at REHAU. In other words, they are being trained to become good managers. We talked to them about what this age difference means – and what they have already been able to learn from each other.

Peter Schott, you were born in 1990 and are one of the younger participants in the MDP. How did that come about?

Peter S.: I joined REHAU in 2018 and was able to take on management responsibility relatively quickly. As the team size grows, a large part of the daily work is leadership. I am therefore very happy to be given tools through participation in the MDP that help me with the challenges that come with this.

"Peter Beugel weighs things up, doesn't start any jerky actions, but thinks things through far ahead. I want to take a leaf out of his book."

Peter Beugel you were born in 1967 – why did you decide to take part in such an extensive training program right now?

Peter B.: I have been with REHAU since 1994 and have always been able to develop well. When the plan was for my area at Building Solutions to become the strategic business unit, I really wanted to be a part of it. You never stop learning. REHAU has changed a lot in the past few years, and I want to qualify myself so that I can change along with it.

"All my life I have had a hard time with authoritarian behavior. It ruins creativity."

A question for both of you: What mistakes in leadership do you want to avoid and what does your own experience have to do with it?

Peter B.: All my life I have had a hard time with authoritarian behavior. It ruins creativity. A good leader listens, responds to people, motivates and also takes the private sphere of the team seriously. But I don't want to demonize the past; you have to see everything in the context of the times. And in the past, the attitude at work was often: "Feel good? If you want to feel good, you should take a vacation!

Peter S.: I wouldn't want to work in such an environment myself, which is why my opinion is the same as Peter's. My job as a manager is to create the best environment for my team and to remove obstacles so that everyone can give their best.

You've been in the training program together since last fall. What have you already learned from each other?

Peter S.: I have learned from Peter how to approach proposals in a level-headed way. Peter weighs things up, doesn't start any jerky actions, but thinks things through far ahead. I want to take a leaf out of his book.

Peter B.: And I was able to learn from the younger Peter how to think in networks; he has a lot of experience in this through his staff position. I also admire the fact that he is still very close to the university and thinks systematically without theorizing.