Keep an open mind to change. It’s something of a mantra, and it is the thread that binds the chapters of Marc-Dominic Nettesheim’s career. Since May 2024, he has held the role of Vice President Head of Investor Relations within Lufthansa Group; a position that reports directly to the Group’s CFO and that sees Marc at the helm of the Group’s relations with capital markets, shareholders, hedge funds, long-term investors, and analysts. As Head of Investor Relations, it also falls to him to helm the organisation of Lufthansa’s Annual General Meetings and the preparation of Lufthansa’s quarterly and annual reports.
“It’s a relatively new role for me still” he says. “Prior to Investor Relations, I was Head of the Group’s Mergers & Acquisitions unit. Both are roles with a lot of responsibility in the organisation’s senior leadership echelon. Lufthansa is the number one airline group in Europe with more than 100,000 employees worldwide.”
Marc has always worked in finance, but his career has been prone to significant change: in role and in industry. Before joining Lufthansa, he worked in corporate finance and banking; first with Dresdner Bank and KPMG and more recently with private bank Metzler, specialising in M&A advisory. Making the shift to the airline industry was a product, he says, of a desire to “go broader;” to gain exposure to new challenges and new opportunities for mobility—an openness to change that has consistently provided professional momentum.
“Banking is a terrific industry, but I wanted to experience a broader and deeper value chain and obtain a more in-depth understanding of M&A deals’ underlying dynamics,” he says. “I was keen to move around within an organisation a bit more. What I really loved about Lufthansa was the industry itself and the size of the of the company—it’s a big organisation with scope for variety in exposure. That, and I loved the culture.”
Wings of change
Lufthansa is changing, says Marc. As an organisation and a culture, the company is evolving away from its roots as a state-owned entity up until the late 90s, now embracing a future that is more international and diverse—all while retaining its status as one of Germany’s great industrial icons. From its core position, headquartered and culturally rooted in the DACH region, Lufthansa is expanding its horizons. Part of this means building new corporate footprints in different parts of Europe through M&A, such as the firm’s most recent airline acquisition in Italy. Inside the company, change is also manifest in a shift in mindset, says Marc: an increasing focus on people, on diversity and on inclusion.
“It’s so rewarding to see the shift taking place on a day-to-day basis. There’s a real shift in our vision towards becoming more diverse as a company, more colourful and more embracing of different viewpoints. We are evolving from a culture that is quite formal and Germanic—the tie-wearing, predominantly German-speaking image of the past—to something that resonates more internationally. "
We’re embracing a younger point of view and encouraging people to come in from outside and contribute new ways of thinking and acting which are more dynamic and aligned to our fast-changing world. It’s a process and all processes take time. But it’s essential.”
Leading people through cultural change, being at the helm of such a critical function within the organisation, has given Marc a clearer view of what effective leadership looks like, he says. At its core, leadership is about unleashing the best in the people you have; ensuring that they enjoy their work, that they feel recognised and rewarded, and that they have the freedom to develop their capabilities, to grow and to flourish within the organisation. It’s akin, he believes, to raising a family.
“There is a quote from German writer Goethe which I think relates well to leadership: ‘there are two things children should get from their parents: roots and wings.’ The people within my team know that I back them and support them—that I stand behind them. But they also know that they are empowered to go out and make decisions of their own. And this is key.”
Critical exposure
In terms of his own journey and practice as a leader, Marc is convinced that leadership can be learned by observing others—the leaders that have populated your own career—and picking out of this experience what resonates with you: the traits or behaviours that help you develop and grow. In his own career, he has experienced very different management styles, he says; from the “schoolteacher” approach of being told what to do and routinely assessed, to being awarded the autonomy to experiment and learn—an approach that has always helped him gain clarity and confidence in his own decision-making.
Building the bedrock of his career as a CEMSie, of course, has had plenty to do with attaining confidence, he insists.
“CEMS gave me exposure to very different ways of building knowledge. My overseas experience, going from my hometown of Cologne to ESADE in Barcelona, was an exercise in shifting from traditional, theoretical learning to a much more hands-on, practical framework."
This combination and the international exposure I got opened up a whole new world to me. It was a little sink or swim and an enormously steep learning curve: a bit like being part of the Auberge Espagnole experience of studying, learning a new language, mastering a new culture and still finding time to sleep on the beach,” he laughs.
Keeping an open mind
Being with other students, interacting with people from diverse backgrounds and with diverse mindsets, forged an early understanding of the global business context: a critical first exposure to an international mindset that has helped Marc throughout his career.
“It’s a primary knowledge base and understanding that you can dip into again and again as you work with people from around the world later in life.”
The CEMS experience has crossed paths with Marc’s career in interesting and surprising ways, he says. Very recently, a meeting was convened with the Group’s newly appointed, incoming Head of Controlling.
“I couldn’t believe my eyes when I walked into the meeting. Our new Head of Controlling was my CEMS friend Christian, who succeeded myself in Barcelona after my overseas semester. Here was the guy with whom I partied on so many CEMS parties back then, and now we were meeting for the first time as colleagues in the same team. It was brilliant.”
The Lufthansa Group is, of course, a CEMS Corporate Partner. And as an organisation it is highly welcoming of the kind of talent and the mindset that the CEMS experience engenders. Young people from diverse walks of life and with different skills and perspectives are highly sought after by the company, says Marc. And if he would share just one key piece of advice both to CEMSies coming into the industry, and to other young people at the start of their career, then it would be: keep an open mind to change.
"I think that flexibility of mind is key. Be open to change, keep an open mind and don’t assume that things stay the same, because they don’t."
"hat job you hate right now might improve, just as the role you love may move in another direction. The important thing is to understand that change happens and to be open to it. Open minds are welcome in mine and in any great organisation—and they’re critical to long and colourful careers.”