Dialog Is the Elixir of Life
Interview with Tobias Zehnder, Entrepreneur and Member of the Advisory Council of StrategieDialog21.
Since 10 years ESSENCE RELATONS manages, develops and positions the Swiss foundation StrategieDialog21. As a member of the Advisory Council, Tobias Zehnder supports the dialog platform. Several years ago, he gave the name to the Opportunity Barometer and in doing so laid a major foundation for the success of the publication, which will appear for the fourth time on September 29 to coincide with the Opportunity Day 2023.
In the interview he explains why it is important to engage in dialog outside your own comfort zone, and what the key factors are behind the success of a dialog platform.
Tobias Zehnder, you are a member of the Advisory Council of StrategieDialog21. The aim of the foundation is to promote dialog between the worlds of culture, politics, science, and business. What do you need for a dialog to take place that focuses on solutions?
Good dialogs are based on openness, curiosity, and an interest in exchanging views: a recognition that your own point of view is always just one part of reality. And it is just as exciting to get to know other outlooks. A dialog is never about convincing someone, winning a conversation; it’s about learning and understanding. In the ideal situation, you create a new basis together and build up confidence and understanding. To do that the main thing you need is a genuine and personal exchange of views, including with people who hold a different opinion to your own. A dialog that is focused on solutions takes place outside your own comfort zone, involves displaying interest in the person you are dealing with, and a willingness to give and to learn.
Various social trends are causing us to live in a bubble and surround ourselves with people who share our opinions – whether we like it or not. StrategieDialog21 is keen to promote dialog between different parties, levels, and groups in society. What are the ideas you are using to do this?
I actively seek out what is new. To engage with new people and new ideas. As an entrepreneur I spend a great deal of time outside my own organization, trying to work out what is changing around us, what is going on in the various sectors we operate in, and how society is changing. Alas, anything is only a snapshot; it’s an almost impossible task, but it opens my eyes and gives me the external context I need to take decisions.
It’s not about convincing someone and winning a conversation; it’s about learning and understanding. In the best case, you establish a new basis together and build up trust and understanding.
StrategieDialog21 and ESSENCE RELATIONS have together set up various dialog platforms that bring together online, offline, and live communications. What made you pick this medium? What are the advantages of dialog platforms?
Actually, dialog platforms are dialog machines. They produce the ideal framework conditions for an open dialog, making it easier to break out of your own bubble. The advantage of the StrategieDialog21 dialog platform is the positive experience you take away from very event, the fundamental openness on the part of all those involved, a clearly positive basic attitude, and the fact that positions which are genuinely opposed come together and swap views.
What are the key factors for success in setting up a dialog platform for the long term?
It’s very simple: be consistent and be selective. Platforms live by their continuity and by having the right mix of participants. Both matter: If formats only exist for a short time, or if you always have the same people swapping views for years on end, that doesn’t encourage dialog across all levels and shades of opinion. You need creative disruption in the guest list; you also need perseverance for the dialog to be attractive. That way, new people will always be willing to leave their bubble more frequently. If you have both of these things, platforms can make a permanent contribution to an open dialog that is focused on solutions.
CV
Tobias Zehnder was born and grew up in Zurich and studied PR and Linguistics at the University of Zurich. After completing his studies, in 2009 he was one of the founders of marketing agency Webrepublic, which now has 250 staff. He is responsible for client management at the agency, lectures at universities, and sits on the board of the agency association Leading Swiss Agencies (LSA) and the Innovation Council of the University of Zurich. He lives with his family in Zurich-Albisrieden.