Götz Werner and three partners founded the drugstore chain dm in 1973. Werner’s first store was in Karlsruhe. He gave his stores great independence. The store managers could decide on the product range and the staff schedules, and in part on pay. In a 2018 interview Werner said that a leader today must no longer be a Direktor but an Evokator, one who calls forth. Der Direktor weiß alles besser, gibt die Direktiven. The director knows everything better and gives the directives. Die Kollegin schaut nicht zum Vorgesetzten, sondern zum Kunden. The employee looks not to the superior, but to the customer. Werner died in February 2022, at the age of 78.