A LITTLE over a year ago,
on December 19, gm
of Lufthansa Southern
Africa, Dr André Schulz
was comfortably asleep in
bed when he was suddenly
wakened by his heavily
pregnant wife.
“Happy birthday, happy
birthday – I’m sorry, but
we have to go,” she said.
Ninety minutes later André
and his wife had been
blessed with their third
child and first son. “Can
you imagine – of all the 365
days in the year – he was
born on my birthday,” says
André. “I didn’t sleep, but I
had my birthday present.”
André and his wife, who
is originally from Hungary,
have two other children,
aged six and three. They
met 12 years ago when
André was studying
business administration at
the University of Düsseldorf.
It was during this time
as a student that André
cultivated a great passion
for travel. “I love meeting
new people and exploring
different cultures,” he
says. He describes the
first time he flew businessclass
as a 21-year-old
exchange student in
California after he’d been
invited by Lufthansa to a
meeting for a traineeship
he had applied for. “I didn’t
sleep that night – I was
so nervous and I had no
idea how to move the seat
and was too shy to ask
anyone how to do it.” After
his interview Lufthansa
asked André if he would
like to visit his parents
in Wuppertal before flying
back to California and he
gratefully accepted. The
experience inspired him
and, on his way back to
San Francisco, he couldn’t
help thinking what a “cool”
company Lufthansa was
– he said he felt as if the
entire experience had been
a dream.
Upon completing his PhD
in diversity management,
André applied to work at
only one company and has
been there ever since.
Focus on family
However, as much as
he loves his job, André
describes his decision
to leave Frankfurt and
come to South Africa as
a “family decision” and
says he would have failed
both his family and work
responsibilities if his family
was not happy with the
decision to move from
Germany.
What makes André
happiest is the moment
he arrives home after a
successful day at the office
and his children jump
into his arms, welcoming
him with no judgement or
criticism. “They don’t care if
I am the gm of Lufthansa,”
says André. “I really am a
family man.”
Even when making
important decisions, André
says he trusts his mother’s
opinion and that the two of
them are very close. “My
mother said that I should
never forget where I came
from and never treat people
differently,” says André. “I’m
not a big fan of hierarchy.”
An expert on cultural
diversity
André is an expert in
dealing with different
cultures and his PhD
focused on how to take
the cultural diversity of
staff and customers into
consideration and make use
of them to ensure effective
business management.
Prior to working in South
Africa, André worked in
Tokyo, Shanghai, America
and Kuala Lumpur. “When
I arrived here, everyone
was very welcoming and I
felt as though I were being
invited into a family,” he
says. “One day, when I am
retired and I am sitting in
a vineyard and I think back
to my time in South Africa I
will be able to talk about it
forever.”
André says this after being
in South Africa only a little
over a year.
He doesn’t regret any of
the big decisions he has
made and describes the
moment of mild panic he
experiences before making
any big move: “That minute
you think: why don’t I just
stay here and relax, I don’t
need to go to another
country, what am I doing?”
Yet, he says that one grows
and develops only when one
pushes oneself out of one’s
comfort zone. He says it’s
only by doing so that he
has learnt what he has and
become who he is.
Getting to know André
If André could invite any
three people for dinner
it would be Nelson
Mandela, his mother and
Kofi Annan.
André is currently
reading Long Walk to
Freedom – in German.
His secret passion is
golf, however he doesn’t
know what his handicap
is and describes his
golf proficiency as “not
there yet”.
He recently downloaded
Taylor Swift’s latest
album after hearing it in
a Lufthansa lounge.
He and his wife own a
vineyard in Lake Balaton
in Hungary which
produces 350 litres of
Riesling a year.
He describes himself
as a strategic thinker,
someone who is
approachable and “close
to the people” as well as
someone who is “aware
of cultural diversity”.
