Looking back on a five-year leadership journey with tb.lx’s CEO, Christian Lessing
How do you summarize five years of growth, learning, and impact?
A lot can happen in five years. What exactly happened for us? A lot of growth, that led us to the exploration of new frontiers and taking on new challenges we never saw coming or thought possible. A lot of trial and error that led to learning and stumbling upon greatness, as if by design. A lot of meaningful connections made between people with a shared passion, and objective to change the world, one day and one trip, at a time.
All of this (and so much more) has happened in the last five years, with Christian Lessing as tb.lx’s CEO. As he ends his run with us and looks forward to what comes next, we wanted to look back with him on some of his most impactful, challenging, and rewarding moments, and celebrate how far we have come as an organization, thanks to his dedication and leadership.
To experience our full interview with Christian — keep reading!
Looking back with Christian Lessing
1. What is the project or challenge you took on at tb.lx that most resonates with you? Why?
CL: Although it’s challenging to make a single choice, my focus would be on developing tb.lx as the center of competence for digital products that facilitate our customers’ transition to Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV). This extends beyond the eServices we are constructing, encompassing the connectivity solutions we are enabling for our trucks. Why this direction? Because it will shape the future of transportation and wield a substantial impact on the world’s carbon footprint. I find this purpose particularly gratifying — building a team around this vision, striving to shape the future, and creating a customer-centric organization have been immensely enjoyable and fulfilling.
2. Looking back, how has tb.lx changed since you started your journey as CEO?
CL: Well, tremendously. We began with a group of individuals on a mission to create epic tech products. However, initially, we had to assemble our own furniture, starting with simple showcases and a remotely controlled LEGO Truck, gradually demonstrating our value. This phase was explorative, free, and flexible. Looking at tb.lx today, it has evolved into a mature company with a healthy and high-performing culture, driving key digital products in the Daimler Truck world and exerting a significant impact on our digital future. What an incredible journey!
3. How do you see tb.lx evolving in the next few years? What should be its main priorities as it continues to grow?
CL: I would identify three major areas that will be key to succeeding further:
Firstly, we need to continue attracting and retaining great people, building trusted teams that can then create exceptional products. People and domain knowledge will remain crucial for our industry, especially considering the challenges that lie ahead.
Secondly, our focus should be on customer value. Collaborating with our colleagues from the global Daimler Truck organization, we must concentrate on understanding customer needs and iteratively working to develop valuable tools and services. Given the uncertainty about how the world of transportation will evolve, being a successful player in this market requires maintaining close proximity to customers and building the right solutions. While we have laid the foundation for this, it’s an ongoing journey, and we are only at the beginning.
Thirdly, we must prioritize delivering quality and, ultimately, providing reliability and predictability for our customers. Logistics is a complex business with narrow margins, and timely delivery is crucial. Therefore, everything we build must function well and scale effectively. The trust of Daimler Truck and our customers in our products is paramount, as their operations depend on it.
4. If you could describe tb.lx in 3 words, which would they be, and why?
CL: 1. Trustful: Trust is the foundation of everything we do. We foster trust among our teams, encouraging open communication and transparency, where everyone can and wants to contribute. This was my intention from the very beginning because I firmly believe that trusted teams build great products. With trust, we build momentum, and with momentum, challenges are not obstacles but opportunities for everyone to work collaboratively and find solutions. We are building to solve.
2. Hunger: We have an insatiable hunger for impact. Embracing challenges, we are equally dedicated to doing things right. Continuously, we assess how we can enhance our work processes and challenge our projects. Our focus is on making a meaningful impact and sustainably changing the world for the better.
3. Bridge-Building: We are closely connected to a major corporation, and our services are reaching users around the globe. Trucks in the US (Freightliner), Europe (Mercedes-Benz), and Asia (Fuso) operate with our services. We not only connect with diverse regions and cultures but also actively build bridges with our customers and partners from Daimler Truck. This mission starts with the smallest daily interactions within our teams and extends to the larger bridges we need to build with other players in the market and our customers.
5. You recently worked on establishing tb.lx’s leadership principles. What was the thinking behind doing so, and for you, what is their ultimate objective?
CL: There are many leadership books available, some of which are truly inspiring and serve as sources of great wisdom. However, I felt that our journey at tb.lx and my experience in tech leadership over the last ten years have yielded valuable insights. These learnings, I believe, are worth documenting. I am personally grateful to mentors and other leaders who have guided me, provided new ideas and perspectives when needed, and helped me become a better version of myself.
Leadership is incredibly fascinating to me, and I wanted to establish a foundation at tb.lx to multiply our experiences, learnings, and lessons from the past decade. This is especially important for our young leaders and serves as a source of guidance to build upon what we have already accomplished at tb.lx. From my perspective, we have cultivated a healthy and trustful culture where everyone actively contributes, and in facing our endeavors and challenges, we are building momentum to find the best solutions. Hence, our guiding principle is called ‘cultivate dynamic momentum.’
In short, it aims to guide and initiate new leaders while simultaneously reflecting our journey at tb.lx. I am confident that by adhering to these principles, our leaders will steer tb.lx toward an impactful future.
6. How do you want your time at tb.lx to be remembered? Why?
CL: Personally, I appreciate a quote from Winston Churchill: ‘Success is not final, and failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.’ Success is not about winning business or life. You cannot win it. It’s about getting better every day and striving for value. Value for our business, for society, and for ourselves. . On the other hand, nothing is ever as bad as it seems; there are opportunities and chances in almost everything.
Over the past five years, we have proven that we can overcome many obstacles. We have transformed from a corporate startup into a healthy and high-performing organization. We achieved this with dedication and drive, but also with kindness and humility. I hope that people can see that if a small team from Lisbon can impact the world of transportation, then wherever there is a group of people with a common mission, they too can change the world.
We just wanted to say thank you — again
While it is true that every journey begins with a single step (or in our case with a single charge or kilometer), arriving at your destination successfully doesn’t just happen. It requires a clear vision, dedication, focus, and compromise, and we think Christian is a clear example of living and leading by these traits. He has guided us through successes, challenges, and plateaus, and has inspired us all to try our best every day, in a balanced, purposeful way.
That is why we want to give him a loud tschakka and say thank you for every moment over the last five years.
This interview was conducted by Andrea Leiras, Employer Branding and Social Media Expert at tb.lx, with tb.lx’s CEO, Christian Lessing. 🚛🌿
