The Expert Interview with Uwe Stöhr – Regional Manager at Klosterfrau for the CIS Region

WEM News: As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

UWE STÖHR: I wanted to become a chemist. I was fas­ci­nated with the idea of enter­ing the world of mol­e­cules and chem­i­cal com­pounds. With my job in the phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal indus­try, I’m very close to my dream.

WEM News: Which books or films have inspired you?

STÖHR: Rolf Dobelli’s Die Kunst des Klaren Denkens (The Art of Think­ing Clearly). I was aston­ished at how deep the bias of human per­cep­tion is. The con­clu­sion is that every­body lives in an indi­vid­ual world cre­ated by their per­sonal expe­ri­ences and knowl­edge – some­times far from real­ity. The human mind has seri­ous lim­i­ta­tions. As for a film: Ver­mes­sung der Welt (Mea­sur­ing the World). Peo­ple fight for their dreams and pay for it.

WEM News: What is a source of moti­va­tion for you?

STÖHR: Working with peo­ple from dif­fer­ent nations, of dif­fer­ent men­tal­i­ties and cul­tures.

WEM News: What can make you angry?

STÖHR: Peo­ple with­out ini­tia­tive or engage­ment, who find more excuses than ways to do some­thing.

WEM News: Is there anything you can’t say “no” to?

STÖHR: A new, excit­ing chal­lenge. Solv­ing a prob­lem, or trou­bleshoot­ing a so-called “hope­less sit­u­a­tion”.

WEM News: What do you like to do in your spare time?

STÖHR: I love to read good books. I love to travel to places where I’ve dreamt of going. And I love to spend time with my grandchild and my daugh­ters.

WEM News: What pro­gramme makes you want to turn off the TV?

STÖHR: End­less TV talk shows with polit­i­cal pro­pa­ganda, where they don’t dis­cuss the sub­ject. Below-the-belt ‘real­ity’ TV shows. Where do they find these peo­ple who would sell their hon­our and dig­nity for a bit of money?

WEM News: Could you share the secret of your favourite food with us?

STÖHR: I like what my grand­mother used to cook for me! Fried mashed pota­toes, lentil soup and fried mush­rooms – collected from the for­est. But nobody could ever do it her way, or recap­ture that unfor­get­table taste.

WEM News: What coun­try/city do you like most, or have you always wanted to visit?

STÖHR: Tbil­isi. It has an amaz­ing mix of tra­di­tion, her­itage, cul­ture, nature and distinguished cui­sine – also excel­lent wines. Then, there’s Kiev. It’s in an ancient Slavonic state and reminds me of my wife. And Berlin. This is the city that expresses my lifestyle, because it never stops.

WEM News: What has been the most suc­cess­ful deci­sion you’ve made in your life?

STÖHR: My deci­sion to study in Rus­sia. And to marry my sec­ond wife.

WEM News: Who is the person you admire most, and why?

STÖHR: Win­ston Churchill – a man with clear objec­tives and opin­ions, a strong will and a sharp and punchy mind. Also, Karl Marx—he gave a bril­liant analy­sis of the cur­rent economic sys­tem.

WEM News: What kind of man­age­ment advice do you have for European Pharma Managers looking to expand into Russia?

I have three rec­om­men­da­tions for Rus­sia:

1. Try to under­stand the Russ­ian men­tal­ity.

2. Be patient, patient, patient…

3. Prioritise per­sonal con­tacts.