Introduction
Great to have you back for another episode of TJ's Technology Tuesday — the show about becoming more digitally productive. As you know, I always have a guiding theme: purpose. Are we doing things that truly make sense? And to explore that, I occasionally invite outstanding guests. The guest I have with me today is someone I have known for a very long time and whom I have admired for just as long. I know him as someone who lives by a principle I hold dear myself. You may have heard my saying: I don't take swimming advice from someone who can't swim. Today's guest is definitely someone who knows how to swim faster — both in sales, because he spent years in insurance sales on his own responsibility and did so with remarkable success, and in leadership. And as you know, digitalisation does not fail because of technology. It fails because of leadership and because of the question of whether what we do actually makes sense. That is precisely where the circle closes, because my guest has written a new book.
He says it will be his last. I hope not, because I always look forward to every book he writes. So please welcome the one and only Andy Buhr. A very warm welcome, dear Andy — thank you so much for making time for me.
Andreas Buhr
Thank you very much, dear TJ Thorsten. I am very happy to be your guest.
Thorsten Jekel
Thank you. Wonderful. When you told me you were writing a new book, I asked: what topic are you writing about, and what is the idea behind it? What I find really compelling is that you say the theme of purpose and business is not a contradiction or a mismatch — ideally, it is the bracket that holds everything together. What is the bracket, the idea behind your new book, dear Andy?
Andreas Buhr
Thank you for the question. I once read somewhere — I can no longer recall where — something along the lines of: whoever follows their star never turns back. And the star is not the goal you have in your business; the star is always there, even when clouds obscure it. It is perhaps something like a higher purpose. It can be a mission you fulfil for your customers. It can be a vision you want to realise for your company. It is, in any case, something elevated — an overarching goal, a message, perhaps a philosophy. It is some kind of headline that you follow. And I believe that people who do business — whether they are entrepreneurs, self-employed, or in leadership positions — who have clear goals and know where they are heading, who have an answer to the question "what does this serve, what is this good for?" — those people are what I call people driven by conviction. And people driven by conviction never work for money, because the only ones who work for money are those who will also leave for money. So those driven by conviction always have some other drive. And that drive — this is what the book aims to describe — is something like marrying external success with inner success.
I believe that external success in business — whether in leadership or sales — always originates from within, from inside us. That is what I need as a precondition. What matters in life is not what you have, but what you make of what is already there. Bringing out what is inside, marrying both themes, if you will — that is what the book is primarily about.
Thorsten Jekel
Excellent. And you have developed this from two tracks — on one hand sales, on the other hand leadership. You always say: sales works differently today, leadership works differently today, purpose works differently today — or what is the core message of your book?
Andreas Buhr
Yes, the core message is: success works differently today. And "works differently" even appears as a disruptor on the book's cover. To explain it further, Thorsten — as you mentioned in your introduction — I have now built my second company and, if you will, already handed it over to my successors. That is the ultimate goal of any entrepreneur.
Thorsten Jekel
Brilliant!
Andreas Buhr
To act in such a way that you gradually make yourself dispensable. In my first entrepreneurial life, I focused intensely on sales. That is true. Sales means selling to many. I worked with a lot of end customers and B2B clients. The academy I founded covers both leadership and sales. And why does that matter? Because you cannot separate sales from leadership. When a customer changes their journey — I always joke that my mother-in-law is 88. Since she got an iPad three years ago, she has become seriously dangerous. She has learned to research online and today knows what an Instagram story and a WhatsApp status is. No joke. So even she has become more "online". When the customer changes their journey, the salesperson must act differently. And when that is the case, the people responsible for leadership must also accept that their employees know more — that the team is smarter than it was five, six, seven years ago. That changes everything in leading people. That is why we have always kept these two themes spinning, like two balls in the air at once.
Thorsten Jekel
Yes, and there is a theme you also feature on the book cover. Feel free to hold it up — I'd like to see it. I have it here in very small print on the band. But you have also chosen very deliberately: Consciously Successful. Exactly. And what jumped out at me on the cover was that it mentions clarity, leadership and holistic success — I had always associated you with those. Spirituality, however, is something I had honestly never previously connected with you. We have known each other for quite some time, after all.
Andreas Buhr
What is your relationship with that? People say — those with reservations about the cover — is he doing singing bowls now and incense sticks? Spirituality is ultimately a question of how you define it. And I would like to offer this: the spiritual part is the part where we engage with ourselves. Find the sacred space that gives you the strength to do the things you can and want to do. The sacred space is the place — as I recommend in the book — to visit regularly, to seek out, and to recharge in, so that you can be strong again in the outside world. The sacred space is the place where no motivation drives you forward and, incidentally, no frustration drives you negatively — where, if you will, everything is actually fine, because you have arrived at yourself. You are recharging, like a place of power. People say they do gardening and are completely with themselves; others jog, do pilates, yoga, hiking — whatever it may be. I regularly go to the gym, to the sauna, make sure I become still there, seek out that sacred space, and try to answer for myself: what is this good for, what I am doing? Does it fit? Is this the right thing? Is the measure right? So that I can move forward with full energy and authentically.
Andreas Buhr
And this inner part — this spiritual inner part, this search for inner fulfilment, the search for a completion, so to speak, of what you achieve outwardly — I believe it is important. And when I talk to people in my podcast who are very, very successful, Thorsten, they say: Andreas, if you promise to keep this between us — then they lean in a little closer — and they say: strictly speaking, without this spiritual part, none of it would have been possible for me. So they all have it already. It is not only not excluded — it is mutually dependent.
Thorsten Jekel
Absolutely. What you describe is not singing bowls — because that is where I would say, look, the two of us have been around for a while now. Some people say, oh, they are going through a midlife crisis. I think we are both well past that stage. And at the same time, we are perpetual learners. There is another quote of yours that jumped out at me. Let me read it aloud: Financial weakness is almost always a mental state long before it becomes an economic one. This is not romanticism but documented psychology. Spirituality, understood as awareness of one's own thinking, feeling and acting, is therefore an economic advantage. I found that a very inspiring quote. Would you like to elaborate on the link between spirituality and financial weakness or strength?
Andreas Buhr
Yes, look — if money is your problem, money is not your problem. That is worth reflecting on. I mean, I was a student once, had no money, did not know how to pay my rent, and so on. I came from nothing, if you will. And in my 35 years as an entrepreneur, I have experienced several situations where I did not know how things would continue. In such phases, when you do not know how to pay the rent, the costs — think of the COVID crisis: we lost 82% of our business, we had employees, we did not know how things would go on — when the house is on fire, there is no room for the spiritual part. My teacher once said to me: Andreas, when your house is on fire, you cannot pick roses. And I say, when it comes to leadership, it is a little like being a sailor: when you have strong wind forces, you cannot hold a self-discovery group — you have to act, to operate, to be more directive, perhaps, with yourself and with others. In other words, when there is more month left than money and you do not know how to get through that month —
Andreas Buhr
People watching and listening now who have experienced that may know what I mean. I barely know an entrepreneur who has not been through it — how do I pay the salaries? And so on. In those moments, the room for the spiritual part is small to non-existent. I also believe, by the way, that the whole work-life balance discussion is a mirage. There is no lasting work-life balance, at least not in my experience. It is a state worth striving for, yes, and dedicating yourself to it is entirely legitimate. But we will have few phases in life where everything truly aligns. It is more like this — and I experience this in my coaching, my mentoring, in the events we have run for years — you have phases of building, phases of expanding, phases of stepping back a little so that you have more time for that side of things. It is ultimately about leading a reasonably balanced life over the years. And that includes — on the basis of what I call financial sovereignty, or "money sovereignty" as I call it in the book — also taking that inner part along with you. I once — perhaps I may say this briefly — occupied myself with the question of how economic success actually correlates with happiness and fulfilment.
Andreas Buhr
You barely find anything on that topic. I recently read about Elon Musk posting on his X platform that he now has 700 billion and is not happy — asking what went wrong with his life. It is established that money is not everything, but without money everything is nothing — tick. But it does seem to be the case that having more and more money is ultimately no guarantee that in proportion to that extra money you would also become proportionally happier. There are studies suggesting that an annual income of 80,000 to 100,000 dollars represents an optimal mix between external feelings of success and inner happiness and fulfilment. Everything you earn beyond that is no longer a proportional guarantee of equally greater fulfilment and happiness — it seems to diminish. That sounds reasonable and somehow understandable to me. And that is precisely what this book is about — finding the right measure, the right dosage between manifestation, meditation and all the spiritual trends on one side, and hard work on the other, with the economic foundation that is also needed. In my view, so that both sides ultimately get their due.
Thorsten Jekel
Absolutely. Would you like to give us an overview of what the 12 chapters cover? A guided tour through the book. We have already explored several aspects — now make our mouths water with the 12 chapters you have written.
Andreas Buhr
Right, I have — I would rather not quote the 12 chapters now. That would take, I don't know, 300 pages. What I did was try to work through things roughly chronologically and to also honour and incorporate that spiritual part that has occupied me for 30 to 35 years. I just did not have the headspace for it at age 30 or 35. I was busy, and the messages that were being offered to me I only really understood in hindsight. We generally say: if you connect the dots of your life backwards, some things that happened to you — and things that did not — may become clear. So it is biographical. I describe, for example, what happened to me on Everest. I had a very intensive conversation with the Dalai Lama a few years ago, together with our friend and colleague Lothar Seibert, about happiness and fulfilment, and so on. All of that is what I relay, and I guide readers through the book at the end of each chapter via a dialogue with the Inner Master. (Thorsten Jekel) Wow. (Andreas Buhr) I was recently asked: Andreas, what exactly is the Inner Master? The Inner Master, for me, is the questioning regulative. Because in life, when it comes to moving forward, it is not about having answers — it is about finding the right question. The mother of all answers is the right question. Only with the right question can I engage with the next answer and thus the next level. And this Inner Master is the master of questions who, in a dialogue between master and student, helps me find my own answers. I find that far more elegant in leadership as well, because the person who asks leads others towards their own independence.
Thorsten Jekel
Absolutely. And what I value so much about you is this: I know people who, shall we say, do the singing-bowl thing, and I know people who say "those who brake, lose" — full throttle all the way. What I so appreciate about you — and I think it is genuinely needed — is both, combined. Not just in times of artificial intelligence, but especially in times of artificial intelligence. What is your take on AI, if I may ask?
Andreas Buhr
Yes, that question naturally has to come from you — as someone who is, I think, always up to date on that side. I would always ask you for advice on tools and so on. But I do believe that artificial intelligence is ultimately overestimated. The development of AI is generative. Not engaging with it would be irresponsible. People who use artificial intelligence will replace people who do not. I think we can quickly agree on that. But AI is a challenger for management processes and not a challenger for leadership. Preparing and processing information makes AI a kind of information expert, if you will. But new things are not created by it. New things are only created through consciousness. And since AI currently has no consciousness, that is limited to impossible. When we need something new, it requires creativity, it requires empathy, a kind of capacity for feeling — we can call it feeling. I call it human intelligence. And the combination of both — AI and human intelligence — is ultimately the superpower. That means the next big thing will not be AI — it is already here — but the next big thing, if I may put it that way, is for me: staying humanly connected, humanly processing what is happening, continuing to work on the human part.
Just think about something like — we do not have this in our call right now — but you walk into a room and you can read it. You know what energy is in there. You know what questions people have. Have you ever had the experience of someone approaching you and you get the sense you know what they are thinking — you pick up what they are thinking? You have a sort of sixth sense that suddenly lets you feel what is going on? All of that is present in leadership contexts. It is always a gut question. In sales contexts it is always, always, always a gut question. In the end, it is not about your professional expertise, or about information that AI has prepared. All of that is fine — it gets you to the table. But what is relevant, whether someone decides in favour of you, your message, your product, your leadership idea, is always whether people say yes to you as a person. And with that, human intelligence is what we are permitted to focus on.
Thorsten Jekel
Many thanks. I could not have said it better — because I see it the same way. There is a lot of blind faith in technology, a lot of overhype in this space. Productivity is beyond the hype, if you will, and it would be negligent not to use this technology. But it helps us with more sales, more leadership, more purpose — to convey and implement meaning. And that is exactly what you help your clients with. How do you support your clients? Where can you help? Where does Andreas Buhr add value?
Andreas Buhr
Well, my academy, Buhr und Team for Greater Business Success, is now in the hands of my successors, and we of course have a great cooperation. I continue to be available to the team as a mentor — and that is also the answer to the question. I have always thought about what truly moves people forward. And for the past two or three years, Thorsten, entrepreneurs come to me, clients come to me, start-up founders who are now successful, and they say: I just need someone to talk to. I would love to exchange ideas on CRM systems, recruiting — how do I recognise good people? Leadership style? How do I approach AI topics? Everything that falls under the question "how can I grow my business, do more business from the front?" — those are the topics I engage with and where I believe I have a solid grounding. And so we have developed a mentoring programme for self-employed people, entrepreneurs, managing directors, and employed executives who want to move forward. That makes up roughly 50% of my work, and the other 50% is speaking on the topics, on the books — now Consciously Successful.
Andreas Buhr
You could say: "Success works differently today" or "Leadership works differently today". Those are keynotes, corporate keynotes — some are open events too; we run our own event series as well. So I have less to do, but it is not quite boring yet, because I now have no staff responsibility. I must not spoil that. No staff responsibility. I am only responsible for myself and manage myself. I still need to make this office a bit more presentable when I am not in the studio — like today, when I could not be in the studio. So I am in my home office. It is still a bit bare, as you can see — there is still work to do there.
Thorsten Jekel
But you know my saying: relevance over frills. And you are the living proof of that — someone who truly comes from their own operational responsibility. We actually have a few parallels there. Yes, I too, as a managing director in the mid-market, once said: I find the topic of leadership very enriching, but also very demanding. And right now I am very grateful that, apart from my assistant, I also have no operational staff responsibility, and that — like you — I help people move forward. And to all those who do not yet know Andy Buhr among my readers, listeners and viewers — which actually cannot be the case, since he is far better known than I am. I know him as a past president of the German Speakers Association, and who becomes president of an organisation like that? People who have proven they can do it — people who have the right performance. As a speaker, he is outstanding. Looking at the books — I have read all of yours. I look forward to every book and I always stay with you. I do not want this to be your last book. I hope you will continue to enrich us with more books.
Thorsten Jekel
Because I find — especially in times of AI, where we perceive so many things only in abbreviated form — it is simply enormously enriching. And I consciously make time for it, just as you do. A book truly helps you dive deeper, to gain real mental clarity, both for us as authors and for readers. And regarding the mentoring programme — I have been fortunate to learn so much from you, for which I am very, very grateful. So I can only recommend it. That is why I normally — let us say — at the end there should always be a call to action. I have three calls to action. First: book Andy Buhr as a keynote speaker. Second: buy the book — hold it up one more time. Absolutely a must-read and a must-buy. And the third call to action — knowing full well that marketing professionals say you should only have one — book Andy as a speaker, buy the book, and third, engage him as a mentor. I get no commission for this; I am simply an Andy Buhr fan — including his wonderful wife. You are a great team. And on that note, a very, very heartfelt thank you to you, dear Andy, for taking time out of your busy schedule for this wonderful interview.
Thorsten Jekel
Thank you so much, dear Andy.
Andreas Buhr
Thank you for the invitation, TJ, dear Thorsten. It has been a great pleasure being guided by you. Thank you in all directions. I look forward to meeting you in person. Greetings from Düsseldorf. Wonderful.
Thorsten Jekel
On that note, this was another episode of TJ's Technology Tuesday — live on LinkedIn every Tuesday from 12:30 to 12:45, available as a podcast from Tuesday at 5 pm on all major platforms, and to read on my blog at www.digital4productivity.de.
Remember my motto: switch on your brain first, then the technology.
Your Personal IT Coach for Executives, Thorsten Jekel.
Key Takeaways
- Andreas Buhr, a long-standing expert in sales and leadership, has written a new book titled "Consciously Successful" that links external business success with inner fulfilment.
- His central concept: whoever follows their "star" — a higher goal, a mission or vision — acts as a person driven by conviction rather than purely financial motives.
- Spirituality in the book is understood as awareness of one's own thinking, feeling and acting — not as an esoteric practice, but as an economic advantage.
- The "sacred space" describes regular personal retreat phases — such as sport, sauna or hiking — in which you recharge and reflect on your own decisions.
- According to Buhr, financial weakness is almost always first a mental state before it becomes an economic one — spirituality as self-awareness is therefore an economic advantage.
- Buhr describes the so-called "work-life balance" as a mirage; what is realistic is a life that is balanced over the years, with alternating phases of building, expanding and stepping back.
- Artificial intelligence is a challenger for management processes, but not a replacement for leadership — creativity, empathy and human feeling (human intelligence) remain decisive.
- The combination of AI and human intelligence (HI) is what Buhr calls the true "superpower" of the future.
- Buhr today offers mentoring programmes for self-employed people, entrepreneurs and executives, as well as keynotes on the topics of success, leadership and sales.
- Thorsten Jekel recommends three concrete actions: book Andreas Buhr as a keynote speaker, buy the book, and engage him as a mentor.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Andreas Buhr's new book "Consciously Successful" about?
The book "Consciously Successful" links external business success with inner fulfilment. Andreas Buhr shows how entrepreneurs and executives can define a higher goal (a "star"), use spiritual self-reflection as a resource and thereby become sustainably more successful.
What does Andreas Buhr mean by a "person driven by conviction"?
According to Buhr, people driven by conviction are those who do not work primarily for money but follow a higher goal. They have a clear answer to the question "Why do I do this?" and therefore bring lasting energy and authenticity to their work.
What is the "sacred space" that Andreas Buhr describes in his book?
The "sacred space" refers, in Buhr's concept, to a regular personal retreat — for example during sport, in the sauna, or while hiking — in which you are driven neither by motivation nor by frustration. In this state you reflect on what you are doing and recharge for outward action.
How do spirituality and financial success relate to each other according to Andreas Buhr?
According to Buhr, financial weakness is almost always first a mental state before it becomes economic. Spirituality — understood as awareness of one's own thinking, feeling and acting — is therefore an economic advantage, not romanticism.
What does Andreas Buhr say about work-life balance?
Buhr describes work-life balance as a "mirage": it is a desirable state but barely achievable on a lasting basis. What is more realistic is leading an overall balanced life over the years, one that contains phases of building, expanding and stepping back.
What is the "Inner Master" in Andreas Buhr's book?
The "Inner Master" in Buhr's concept is an internal, questioning regulative. At the end of each chapter, Buhr stages a dialogue between the student and the Inner Master to help the reader find their own answers to personal and entrepreneurial questions.
How does Andreas Buhr assess artificial intelligence for leadership and sales?
Buhr sees artificial intelligence as a powerful challenger for management processes and the processing of information, but not as a replacement for genuine leadership. Creativity, empathy and human feeling — "human intelligence" — remain decisive in his view, especially in sales and in leading people.
What does Buhr mean by the combination of AI and human intelligence as a "superpower"?
According to Andreas Buhr, the real strength comes not from AI alone but from combining AI-supported information processing with human creativity and empathy. This combination of artificial and human intelligence is what he calls the "superpower" of the future.
With what does Andreas Buhr concretely help his clients today?
Andreas Buhr today offers mentoring programmes for self-employed people, entrepreneurs, managing directors and employed executives. He supports topics such as CRM systems, recruiting, leadership style, AI applications and the general growth of business success. In addition, he delivers keynotes on success, leadership and sales.
Why does Thorsten Jekel emphasise that one must engage with AI?
Thorsten Jekel stresses that it would be negligent not to use AI technology, since people who deploy artificial intelligence will replace those who do not. At the same time he underlines that AI supports sales, leadership and the conveyance of purpose — but does not replace them.
Tools & Resources Mentioned
- Artificial Intelligence (AI) – Buhr and Jekel discuss the sensible use of AI as a complement to human intelligence in a business context.
- Andreas Buhr – Consciously Successful – Andreas Buhr's new book on success, leadership and inner fulfilment; recommended for purchase during the interview.
