Bernhard Gerl: One good question

Bernhard Gerl, Körber site: Markt Schwaben, Germany

I joined Körber in 2018 as a design engineer. 
Designing machines. Thinking through details. Planning every borehole. 
An environment where precision matters. 

Three years in, I asked myself a simple question: 
What could my path here look like? 

I didn’t have an answer. 
No plan. No clear goal. 
However, the pursuit of personal growth and meaningful work. 

So I took the question to my manager. 

We talked openly. 
Not about titles. 
Not about careers. 
But about interests. 

About sustainability. 
About responsibility. 
About the topics that mattered to me. 

That conversation didn’t end in the room. 
It was shared. 
Picked up. 
Taken further.

An exchange became a circle. 
A circle became an initiative. 
Occasional meetings turned into a group-wide community. 

I continued working as a design engineer. 
At the same time, I started building something new — 
with consistency and persistence.  

At some point, it became clear: 
I couldn’t do both. 

The decision didn’t come suddenly. 
It grew. 

I was released from my engineering role 
to focus fully on Ecodesign. 
Today, I’m responsible for the Center of Excellence.

What made this path possible 
wasn’t a single decision.  

It was an environment 
where questions are welcome. 
Where detours aren’t risks. 
And where going back isn’t failure. 

Even if I decided today to go back to engineering, 
I could – without hesitation.  

Because development doesn’t mean always moving forward. 
It means choosing the right path.