Matthias is in his element when he is asked by his clients to advise them in leader appointments or development. He gains energy by building strong relationships, where the core is trust. He is a trusted advisor who sees his clients as partners and always asks them “what is your goal in a year? In 5 years?”.
The amazing aspect in my everyday working life is that every day is totally different. On some days I am meeting clients in the area, in the country, or internationally, like in the US or Singapore. On other days I am sitting at my desk, doing hands-on or strategic work. Or I see candidates in our office, for selection or assessment interviews.
The aligning red line in my workdays is structure. I deeply believe that you cannot be successful in our job without structure; because it helps you deal with the high level of freedom you are given, and the enormous responsibility you have to impact both, your client’s and candidates.
To put it simply, the first words that come to mind when thinking of my work is: Trust, Resilience and Development.
Back in the days I was a successful consultant and part-time team leader in a stock-exchange listed recruitment firm and I felt boxed in. That short term result expectation that made it impossible to develop clients in the way I wanted.
What I saw in MU was a high degree of freedom that I could fill with creativity and a well-thought long-lasting business plan. Later, I also got my initial feeling confirmed that MU is a truly hidden champion: There is no Executive Search firm I know that is mid-sized but has a global spread of employed professionals, all united under the headline “create value for people” over solely turnovers. I’m convinced that this approach is much more profitable in the long run.
Our scientific background is the ideal base to perform that impact. Our setup is unique in the industry, and it helps me to make companies’ strategies work through people, globally and locally. This is also what makes me feel proud: With MU I have the chance to create entire leadership appointments that turn out to be great investments for both clients and Executive candidates, regardless of the candidate’s expertise or background.
Best in my job is that trust spreads with a high speed. When I deliver an extraordinarily good match for a client and a candidate, we bond on a personal level and build trust for future partnerships. Like a fine artist can be proud of the art he creates, I am fully proud when I see that advised candidates do fulfil the business need and the goals they are expected to - and when they are happy because they found the professional development they have been looking for. That is the magic of “match making”! That is also my own credo of being an Executive in MU. I see myself as an advisor to mature business-people, helping them the realize their goals.
Yes, that there really was the freedom that I was looking for. In an almost pure status. It just took me a “click” moment over a beer to understand that I should simply fill that freedom with “WWMD” – What Would Matthias Do? I learned that this is the perfect environment to create comprehensive strategies, present them to the board and – voila – most likely they will be approved, and the journey starts.
MU is entrepreneurial and meritocratic, with all it takes. That makes me stay happy, humble and creative. Everything internally goes in a relaxed, Swedish way – which I was also not used to before I joined MU. We walk the talk of meritocracy and provide entrepreneurial participation and reward invested efforts. It was also a surprise to see that this simple logic turned out to be so simple.
Since 2018 I am a Director in MU, that means I am running a team of consultants in Duesseldorf, that I grew organically. The team consists of sustainable, visionary and mature business-people, that are also great advisors to their clients. Some perform Sector Lead roles and spread our international mindset. As I always enjoyed doing international business and was never tired to bounce back my experiences to the board, I was asked to take over also our Americas business back in 2020. It was a special learning to lead another team in remote over Covid, and perform important hiring decisions without being present. Today I am happy to be a vital part of our global footprint, reporting to the CEO and creating our future actively.
Matthias Loidold studied Social Psychology / Economics and Marketing Research. In his early career, he has worked closely with a PhD in Psychology that is a leading capacity in Personal Diagnostic and later with recruitment for a stock-exchange listed global enterprise.
He joined MU in 2015 with an intention to support his clients in finding the right people for all business aspects without being held back by their own company structures. Besides German, he speaks English, Dutch and Serbo-Croatian, and has a special crush for the Balkans.