From school dropout to boss of 6,000 people

By Michael Rothe

Leipzig. They still exist, even in Germany: the stories of how you make it from the bottom to the top - from rags to riches, so to speak. Mustafa Tonguc is one such person for whom this American Dream has come true. Or rather, he has fulfilled it: with his own hard work and by setting a decisive course in Saxony. For the past year, he has been the German head of the Express division of DHLthe world's leading logistics provider.
His career didn't progress quite as quickly as the shipments. The 45-year-old explains how it went during a visit to the company site in the industrial park Klipphausen at Dresden. There, 6,000 shipments roll off the conveyor belt every day - via Nuremberg and Leipzig-Halle Airport to and from all over the world. For customers who are in a hurry, need spare parts, documents or medical samples: like the chip manufacturer Infineonthe printing press manufacturer Koenig & Bauerthe online print shop Saxoprint, Dresden University Hospitalbut also smaller businesses and private individuals with the necessary small change. The parcel center on the Autobahn 4 is one of 38 service centers and ten hubs nationwide with a good 6,000 employees and 80,000 business customers, for which Mustafa Tonguc is responsible.

Growing up in Wiesbaden
As luck would have it, the Managing Director is exactly the same age as DHL, which was founded by the Americans Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn in 1969 and is now a parent company and global corporation with over 500,000 employees in more than 220 countries and annual sales of 82 billion euros.
Born and raised in Wiesbaden as the son of Turkish migrant workers, he was "a completely normal boy" with parties and all the trimmings, the Hessian looks back. He supplemented his pocket money as a pizza delivery boy, helped his uncle in his kiosk and helped his mother with her cleaning job at the weekend. "One day when he was 18", his older brother, who worked for DHL at Frankfurt Airport, persuaded him to apply for a job there. Tonguc remembers the Saturday that set the tone.
He worked nights and weekends, in between completing his vocational baccalaureate in mechanical engineering. "During this time, I learned that I had to get out of my comfort zone if I wanted to make a career," he says, looking back.
His workload shifted to the week. As a result, he dropped out of school. "That was very hard for my mother," says Tonguc, whose parents came to Germany at the end of the 1960s and worked hard in a factory so that their four children could get a good education for a better life.
But despite dropping out, he was given his first management role at the postal subsidiary at the age of 22: as a supervisor of 17 people from several countries - equivalent to 13 years of night shifts. One disadvantage: "It was difficult to have friends in private." If he had a beer with colleagues after the shift, they were looked at askance, he says. "It was just after six in the morning." Things started to look up, "at some point I was in charge of the whole night shift".
He was then asked if he would like to take part in "Pegasus" - the project name for the construction of the DHL air freight hub at Leipzig-Halle Airport. He landed there in 2007 and helped set up the control center at the hub. With around 7,000 employees, 23,600 flights a year and over 2,500 tons of freight a day, the Leipzig freight hub is the heart of DHL's global logistics chain. After some initial bumps, things are running like clockwork there, says Tonguc. "Whenever I come from Frankfurt to the most modern location, my eyes get wet," he says.
He was given additional tasks such as quality control and customer service. One day, he gave the European Head a tour of the complex - and two days later, he was offered the opportunity to work for him. "If there were problems somewhere, I was sent there to work with the teams to improve performance." The manager, who lives in Bonn and also has friends in Leipzig, says he has traveled the world, mostly in the folding seat of a cargo plane, and has learned a lot - including about work culture and communication.

Back to the home of the parents
Then the next call: "Musti, we need you in Turkey." He was to rebuild the DHL network in his parents' home country. The job was "a culture shock" for him, who grew up with a German work ethic and discipline, says Tonguc. Although he has many Turkish roots, German is spoken almost exclusively in the extended family, which now has a good 30 members.
When German teams play soccer against Turkish teams, the man with two passes is always in favor of both. "I can't lose," he says and laughs. But as a rule, his heart beats for the weaker ones - even in real life. In Turkey, he experienced how Syrian war refugees feel and felt what it means to be a minority. And he was ashamed of their rejection by his fellow countrymen. The three months initially estimated there turned into almost ten years.
Now the last step on the career ladder for the time being: responsibility for DHL Express Germany - the fifth largest market after the USA, China, Great Britain and Italy. The Managing Director has already visited all locations in his first year - Klipphausen was one of the last. "It's fun, life is buzzing there," he says. If you sit in the Bonn head office all day, you're far away from the action. Tonguc says it is important for him to find out about processes on site; about problems and concerns of the employees, to take them along, motivate them, show them respect and appreciation.
"I want to create a work culture where everyone has fun," says the buddy type, who everyone just calls "Musti", and: "I live equity through and through." The employees believe him because they experience it. From someone who knows dirty work, who has learned the job from the bottom up, who is authentic - without distant and elitist talk.
Tonguc wants to make a difference. He knows that his job is a traveling circus. In Germany, however, he has "at least another four or five years to do", especially as the express business is struggling with headwinds. In view of the global crises, the volume of consignments is declining. More productivity, network optimization and effective revenue and cost management are therefore needed. Tonguc, who can communicate in both native languages as well as English, Italian and French - and even understands Saxon after seven years in Leipzig - can do this.
His goal: to move up at least one place with Germany, to grow more profitably, ten new, smaller locations between the large ones. DHL Express wants to be where players like Intel are located, he says, and hopes that the center in Klipphausen will soon be too small. Investing is easy. The pragmatist is ready for new, even bigger tasks. He has the blessing of his wife, dog and cat.
"If you're good, you can make a career anywhere," he says. But there's more to it than that. Logistics is not the most financially attractive industry. "I would definitely earn more on the stock exchange or as an insurance or real estate agent". It is the international aspect that keeps him at DHL, and the fact that you are valued as a person there. That is the only reason he has been able to make such a career. It is not so easy elsewhere to run a German business as a school dropout with Turkish roots.
His success required hard work, courage, the right decisions, superiors who recognized and encouraged his talent - but also a bit of luck. The rising star has one more tip for potential imitators: "I wouldn't advise anyone to give up school lightly."