Christian Sachs

WHO IS CHRISTIAN SACHS

As a certified project management expert (PMP®) and C.Eng. M.Sc. Mechanical Engineering (University) with more than 30 years of experience in international management positions worldwide in a wide variety of industries, I have worked for companies all over the world and achieved goals. I studied the world’s most successful management methods, simplified them and developed my own system. My principles: #DoLessBetter, #keepitsimple and #effectiveness.

I’ve been dealing with the topic of mindset for almost as long. With the question of why some people just fly to success while others work their ass off and achieve nothing, absolutely nothing. And still others have great plans and are fully motivated, and still don’t get rolling. And with the question of how you can change your mindset so that you switch to the first group. Another insight from my many years of experience is that your projects only run as well as your mindset is. And the same goes for your teams. Because a team will not compensate for your weaknesses, but will increase them.

My passion is entrepreneurship. Ines, my wife, and I have successfully founded several companies since 2008 to make a difference. Has it always worked? No, but it was always exciting. So when people want to go out and achieve something, whether it’s a great product, a service that doesn’t exist yet, something that makes the world a better place, then I’m all ears.

I have made these 3 things my mission: to combine transformative psychology with the world’s best management methods to help entrepreneurs and business owners achieve the success they deserve with their business.

WHAT I DO:

I step in if you lack the staff, crucial know-how, experience or language skills for an important project. Call me when you’re ready to decide and experience the FASTEST onboarding you’ve ever seen!

I mentor active entrepreneurs and business owners, and help them to lead their projects to maximum success with minimum effort.

I learn new and inspiring things every day, and I pass that on. Be it on my Cactus Competence blog, in my podcast, on Facebook, LinkedIn or Instagram.

HOW I DO IT:

With me, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. I choose the management method that best fits the needs of YOUR business, company, and project. I focus on #DoLessBetter, #keepitsimple and #effectiveness.

My VIP Mentoring for entrepreneurs and business owners combines transformative psychology with the methods of the best companies worldwide. One is finding the habits and mindsets you can develop to become the person who will automatically become successful. The second is the planning, execution, and adjustment methods you need to get from where you are to your vision. My methods are radically simple, effective and feasible for everyone.

WHO I WORK WITH:

As an interim manager, my typical client has an international project (or several), is open to new approaches and needs perfect communication in German, English and/or French. He needs immediate support and is therefore ready to make quick decisions.

As a consultant and mentor, my typical client is an entrepreneur or business owner and wants to make a difference, has a goal that he/she wants to achieve. I can’t do anything with people who are comfortable in their life and business and don’t want to change anything.

I offer my mentoring and consulting in German, English and French. The product or service you offer doesn’t matter as long as it’s legal. Having worked and lived in many countries around the world, I don’t care where you’re from either, as long as we speak a common language. 😉

What others are saying about me

Here’s what Christian says about himself:

I have always been the lazy guy, and I’ve always been looking for simplicity and efficiency. Useless complexity drives me nuts. On top of that, it’s much more fun working in and on a project if you know exactly what you are doing and that nothing you do is wasted. Yepp, ideal world dream, I know… In the past 10 years or so I have been working on myself, developing my skills and finally realised that for real changes on the outside I needed to transform inside first. That’s what I started with Jim Fortin’s Transformational Coaching Program. Since then, I had many other teachers who inspired me and helped me grow (for ex. Srikuma Rao, Marisa Peer, …).

But who is that Christian Sachs, and how did I become who I am now?

1967 – 1992: Thank you Mr. Teacher

We are moving, constantly. Karlsruhe, Böblingen, Munich, Stuttgart and Paris are the stops, some repeatedly. So, I learn to adjust to ever-changing conditions and to cut out dead wood. Furthermore, I understand that I can learn everything I want, even when the teachers say I never would. For example, the French language (thank you for that Mr. Wenzel, it’s been a long time and you are forgiven).

Despite this constant moving, I manage to pass my high school diploma within the stipulated time and to finish my mechanical engineering studies with reasonable marks within 9 semesters in the fastest 1%. So already back then, I was all about effectiveness.

1992 – 1999: Variety and consistency

The first working years and even more moving. The names of the places are getting more illustrious. Eu in France (is THE town with 2 characters in French crosswords), Gochsheim and Aschaffenburg in Germany, Colmar back in France and Leonberg in Germany again.

I’m gaining experience in the cycle, mechanical engineering and automotive industry.

I realise that I need variety in the job as well and move on as soon as I start feeling bored.

1995, I get married. And I still am!

For the first time, I start my own business and go bust as fast as I decided to take the plunge. To mentally and financially recover from that „bloody nose“ took me no more than 14 years.

At least, the marriage with my wife and today’s business partner Ines is still holding on. Seams that I need one constant in life after all.

1999 – 2004: Valeo shapes

The longest time with one employer, but 5 jobs within 5 years.

The automotive supplier Valeo shapes me in professional regards. I get to know all project functions, I assume my first project leads. Moreover, I learn to manage teams, to delegate and how to kick off quickly and deliver good results with a minimum training period. I have a great time and Valeo entirely fulfils my desire for new tasks and challenges.

Yet I realise that a certain amount of work-life balance is important to me and that this kind of permanent 24/7 duty burns me out. Continually on a plane to fly from A to B, from C to D, waking up in a hotel bed not recalling where I was, is not for me. After 5 years I have got enough and change – this time not only – the job but the employer too.

2004 – 2009: Promotion and re-start

I’m becoming more and more a kind of generalist. I’m gaining experience outside Europe. China, Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, an exciting time.

But again, I’m more far away than at home, what wasn’t initially planned but just so happened.

Therefore, and because I’m offered a position as director in Stuttgart, after 2 years I change over to the software industry.

I’m bringing in new ideas, the company is growing and getting more professional. The customers are enthused about the improved service. But I’m facing hurdles, the parent company CEO thwarts me. He doesn’t want to implement my suggestions, despite the customer demands. Finally comes the crisis, the definitive break and …

A new plunge into independence.

2009 – … Cactus Competence

Ines and I decide to start a new business again. We launch cactus-competence.com and Ines takes over responsibility of the marketing and website programming (at the time still coded in HTML), besides her activities as trainer.

I fully concentrate on project management and become an interim manager. This allows me to be at the same time entrepreneur and project manager – which in fact is being an entrepreneur for the time of the project.

I’m managing projects in the automotive industry, the service sector and the on-line business world.

Besides, I dive into psychology and start my search of answers to the question of how think and act people who get done more with less effort than others who need twice the time (I always wondered why my colleagues spend so much time in the office 😉). I get certified as a psychological adviser. And Ines and I launch other companies, amongst others a newsletter platform and an investment company.

I get my certification as a Project Management Professional (PMP^®), but at the same time, I see how something so simple as project management is so complexified that it gets inusable. I also start recognizing that if the methods were simplified also small companies and entrepreneurs could profit from them. I intensely engage in minimalism and apply it to all my methods. My #DoLessBetter method comes to life.

2018/19 – … Real Transformation

We are realising our dream of living in the sunny south of France, buy a small apartment and renovate it nearly completely on our own. Huge project!

In 2018, I participate in Chris Ducker’s Youpreneur Summit in London and the idea of a coaching program for entrepreneurs is born. By the end of 2019, together, we complete the Transformational Coaching Program with Jim Fortin.

In 2020, I complete the training and am awarded the designation Certified ScrumMaster® (CSM). This gives me a deep insight of how one can achieve goals while the way towards and the details of the goals are still in the dark. More tools for my toolbox are generated.

The „Covid years“ 2020 and 2021 are the most economical successful ones for Cactus Competence. But Ines and I are often away but mostly externally controlled for interim management still takes place at the customer’s site.

So in 2022, we decided to finally realise our idea from 2018. We start different mentoring programs to help business people who want to accomplish something to make their vision come true. In 2023, the first course will go on-line.

And the journey goes on…