Hauke Heinen

I'm originally from a small village in the middle of nowhere in Northern Germany. When I was 18, I moved to Cologne as I was selected for a competitive business program at Bayer. Honestly, I applied for the program because I didn't know what to study, and it was a way to make some money and gain some international experience while figuring things out. However, it turned out, I really enjoy studying business, strategy and finance and therefore decided to stick with this field. After graduating my undergrad, I joined Bayer's Finance and Tax department and after three years was offered to pursue an MBA at IE. After an amazing year, I returned to Bayer and was curious about lobbying and stakeholder affairs, so I decided to join the Public Affairs Department, representing Bayer and the Pharmaceutical Industry in forums like the EU Platform of Sustainable Finance. After 2,5 years in that exciting function, I decided to follow my interest in Strategy, Communication and Change Management and moved to New York City to become the Chief of Staff of Bayer's US CFO. Besides an interesting role that involves driving the transformation of a 200 people organization together with the CFO Leadership Team, I found myself living in a building with as many people as the entire village where I grew up.

How did IE help you get to where you are today?

Taking part in the IE program opened my eyes to different cultures and gave me the confidence to try out different jobs in various functions and move to another part of the world. It also helped me develop soft skills that I use at work every day and introduced me to friends from all over the globe, making the move a lot easier. Also, I met my amazing wife during the program with whom I am gotten to share new experiences every day and go to amazing weddings of former classmates.

What is the best advice you can give to a young individual starting his/her professional career?

Be kind, connect with others on a personal level, and say yes, every time someone offers you a task that you do not know how to do yet. Additionally, a piece of advice I've recently taken to heart at 27 is to appreciate the present instead of mapping out the future. While I still struggle following this advice all the time, it is clear that if you concentrate on doing the best in your current position, the next door will open automatically. Also, after all, I never predicted any of my new roles two years ahead, so why devote time to planning and worrying?

What does the future have in store for you?

I'm looking forward to moving around, maybe working on a couple more continents, learning about new cultures, and picking up new things every day. With that I am planning to take one step at a time and who knows what's next? The sky's the limit, right?