The betrayal – I lose staff and friends

Stefan Rittler demanded a meeting: he wanted to leave the company. He also already had a possible new employer: in the future, he wanted to develop gears at the company Maag Gear. For me, his decision was perfectly fine. He had already wanted to leave the company once. At that time I had held him back. If someone wants to leave, I must let him go. So he took his new job and the position of development management went to one of his former colleagues, Frank Loacker.
Subsequently, Stefan came to see us from time to time and told us about his work. We exchanged ideas from occasionally about experiments we were doing with our gearboxes. One day, one of our suppliers called me: Stefan was planning to develop his own vehicle and wanted him to build it for him. Did I know about it? He wouldn't do it if it wasn't absolutely fine with me. I replied that I would ask Stefan directly, after all we were friends. When I called Stefan, he seemed irritated. Obviously, I shouldn't have found out about the project. Stefan said to me that he wanted to develop a means of local transport for commuter traffic. He also sent me a sketch showing a tricycle that obviously didn't pay much attention to the design. In retrospect, Stefan must have scribbled it down briefly after our telephone conversation. Obviously, not much time had been invested in the design. Based on our telephone conversation, I confirmed to our supplier that everything was in order and that Stefan's work had nothing to do with mine. The supplier then continued to develop Stefan's project...

A few months later Lukas called me: We had something important to discuss. I asked him what the topic was. Usually, we held our really important meetings in a bar. He wanted to quit his job. He wanted to work independently again. We made an appointment in which Lukas told me that he would give me and him a year. That way I could train a good successor and he could build up his business in peace. What did he want to build up his business with? "Rossbollen hoovers." "Rossbollen hoover? What is that...?" It was a device that could suck the excrement of horses out of a meadow. This device had been developed by one of our suppliers. Lukas described the device in such flowery terms that anyone who had pigs or even larger animals at home had to have such a thing if the health of his animals was dear to him. Well, Lukas was a good salesman and I wished him good luck. Our cooperation remained good. Occasionally he would ask things and I would help him set up his business. So, I arranged a contact for him for the bank and I recommended my trustee, who had always advised me very well.
Lukas' last day at work was slowly approaching and Lukas wanted 2 weeks of holiday beforehand, as he wanted to get started with his own sales. Of course, I granted him the two weeks. Before his holidays, we did our holiday handover as usual. I asked him where he was going. To Taiwan. Lukas spoke no English and Taiwan is not really the holiday destination for the average European. I asked him what he was going to do there. And Lukas replied that he had a second product developed there, a vehicle for industry, which he wanted to offer in addition to his horse-drawn hoover. But that was actually top secret. He was not allowed to tell me about it. But he was doing it anyway, because it could be that one or the other senior citizen would be seen with it. He didn't want any stress with me, which is why he was telling me now. Only now did I realise: Stefan Rittler must have redrawn all the plans of a vehicle we had developed from memory and ordered the construction of the individual parts from our supplier in Taiwan! That's why he kept coming to us and asking about the progress of the development of our other projects.
That was too much! I had obviously been betrayed by my own staff. In addition, I considered Lukas and Stefan to be my best friends! I demanded from Lukas that he hand in all his material including the bus and the demonstration vehicles the very next day. And he did. The vehicles were cleaned inside and out, down to the last crevice, and all the material was returned clean. The next day he appeared and I said goodbye to him in front of the assembled team. When he left our company, our friendship also ended and he was not allowed to set foot in my company's buildings any more. With tears and hand in hand, we both walked through the workshop door together. I thought about all the adventures and wonderful experiences we had had together. We hugged one last time and each of us went our separate ways.

When Lukas's vehicle was launched, I was surprised. I had remembered him as a very creative personality. But now, together with Stefan, he had obviously copied a vehicle we had developed exactly. Surely, he had refined a few things in the process. The design, obviously from Stefan's hand, was as if Stefan had not only the construction but also the design sovereignty. Lukas, on the other hand, copied our brochure, our order form, our advertising, he worked with the same database, the company colour was the same, even the font of the logo.
I sued him for that. The judge said that a certain similarity was unmistakable. However, I would first have to commission an expert opinion to prove this. That was enough. Besides, I preferred to spend my time on new projects rather than on old disputes. So I decided to cut all ties. I chose a new company colour: from red, I changed to blue. The company name was changed from CLASSIC to KYBURZ, new brochures were ordered, new forms printed. I even changed the trustee, although he had done a really good job for me so far. I just didn't want to have any connection with Lukas any more.
And what about Stefan? I confronted him. His answer stunned me: I would have accepted his departure from the company without argument. Even after that, I would never have asked him for his opinion again, although he did drop in from time to time. He would have just wanted to carry on with his work. And anyway, Lukas was alone, and he only worked there part-time. So what would I be afraid of? That was enough for me, and that was how our friendship ended.

I learned from it:

• To feel betrayed by your own co-workers is bitter.
• Some friendships wither, others break.
• Arguing does little good. I'd rather learn from the experience and put my energy into new projects.