ABB sets sights on 'designed in China'

Q: How do you spend your weekend amid your busy schedule?

Hubertus von Grunberg,chairman of ABB Group

A: I mostly work during weekends.

What are your hobbies?

Music and motorcycles.

What is your motto?

Success.

Who is your icon?

None.

What is your favorite book?

Medical Surgeon. That's how I started my first business.

What is the quality you most admire in a man?

Good character.

What is your most treasured possession?

My family.

What kind of "green" lifestyle do you have?

Saving power when not needed.

What's your impression of Chinese cities? Are there any places you have not visited but want to explore?

I have visited many Chinese cities on customer trips and for business meetings. I hope to have time for sightseeing someday.

What's the best way to break the ice with a Chinese businessman you've met for the first time?

To be honest and make him/her trust me.

Give three words to describe your impression of Chinese businessmen.

Aggressive, fast, delivering.

What kind of experience has shaped your thoughts the most?

Winning.

As a foreign adviser to the Beijing mayor, what kind of inspiration did you get from meeting him regarding business strategy?

Acting fast, being open, trying to get something from others. The speed of implementation is what I want to take home. It's an important experience and it allows me to say at home it can be done and I'm just coming back from a country that proves that nothing is impossible.

A good team is one that expects challenges.

What's your method for keeping a team willing to accept challenges?

Finding the right people and keeping them well. You need to pay the right salary. But payment for aggressive people, the best you can find, is just one element of the satisfaction. The other elements are making your people like the job, be proud of their job, providing an opportunity for a career, for moving on, for getting higher.

For our best people, they need to know they can move up.