"I enjoy supporting my clients and strive to develop a deep understanding of their situation so that their potential can become effective."
In my work as a trainer and coach for leadership and work-life balance topics, I am particularly fascinated by the interaction between people and their environments. People shape their environment and at the same time are influenced by it. Very complex dynamics arise from this interaction. So when there is a desire for change, “simple” solutions are often not enough. I support my clients in looking beneath the surface and understanding the dynamics of their everyday working lives. This understanding gives rise to new perspectives and solutions that help to get ‘stuck’ things moving again.
Personal
What dream would you like to fulfill?
Packing my backpack and traveling around the world for a year
Your motto?
“Mer läv nur einmol” – in High German “You only live once”. This Cologne proverb expresses my basic conviction that you should always try to make the most of what you have and enjoy every moment.
Which specialist book has inspired you the most?
“If you want, call it leadership” by Cyrus Achouri. This book puts up for discussion what leadership means in the 21st century. It creates a new image of the effective leader whose task is to moderate, integrate different perspectives, question and create connections between employees so that they can organize themselves intelligently. An exciting read that challenges the classic image of the “heroic leader” on the basis of systems theory approaches and reveals new perspectives.
Which book has had a lasting influence on you?
“There is no reality but the one we have within us.” This quote is from Hermann Hesse’s Demian. In my youth, I was very enthusiastic about Hesse’s books and I think that his ideas on finding one’s own path and further development still strongly influence me in my work today.
What has been your most impressive trip so far?
That was a backpacking tour of several weeks through Thailand and Australia. It was a big dream of mine to see the opera in Sydney and literally stand on the other side of the world. It was a very moving moment.
What are the most important findings of systems theory for you?
1) The system cannot be instructed. – Each person decides for themselves what they learn in a training course, what is relevant for them and what is not. I think that seminars in which the top 10 dos and donts of leadership are offered as a panacea are not effective. Seminars should offer an experiential space in which participants can work out concrete solutions to their specific cases and learn methods with which they can continue to find these solutions themselves after the training – even without a trainer and definitely without a panacea.
2) Every system organizes itself. For a manager today, it is no longer about having all the answers at hand and being the helmsman in troubled waters, but about organizing the self-organization of their teams in such a way that the team can develop further and make intelligent decisions together.
How do you recognize the effectiveness of a training course?
When I ask the participants to work out their action plan at the end of the training and they are so absorbed that I realize that I am completely “superfluous” as a trainer.
The best training location so far?
Costa Rica. There we had a hotel just outside San Jose on a coffee plantation. The building looked like a colonial-style hacienda and it felt a bit like being transported back in time.
