As a company for organisational and leadership development, we share experience, knowledge, methods and practical examples in blog articles on our whiteboard. Here you will find our publications on the topics of leadership, organisational development, team development, change management and transformation and personal development.
"Delivering quality, handing over responsibility, involving employees and letting them do what they burn for - with a common goal, freedom of design and trust." so according to Dieter Furch, Managing Director of Stingl GmbH in Munichleadership. Read the interview to find out what this looks like at Stingl.
We conducted this entrepreneurial interview with Tomislav Bodrozic, Managing Director of Fabula Games GmbH. With his team, he develops serious games and thus contributes to making learning a pleasant and positive experience. Read this interview to find out how a serious game is created and what learning in 2050 might look like.
Michael Weise is managing partner of IBF Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH Munich. He spoke with Sabine Walter about how he sees the (digital) future and why he believes that beaming can become a reality.
Claus Pescha, who studied geography, is a web designer with a passion. He tells Sabine Walter what parallels there are between geography and web design and how he manages to develop truly unique products for his clients.
Corona requires it more than before. What was previously a marathon of successive meetings is now one too. A meeting marathon - only digital. In themselves, telephone and video conferences offer the chance to get to the point more quickly. The prerequisite for this is that they are conducted correctly. Here are some tips on how to do this.
For national or international teams in professional sport, it is a must if you want to play sustainably at the top: Teamwork. In the top echelons of industry, it sometimes comes up short. But why is it no longer enough at board or executive level to hire a group of competent alpha personalities? Why do we also need a well-functioning high-performance team at C-level?
Crises demand drastic changes in a short time. In these changes lie opportunities. To exploit these Opportunities to is used by, a healthy Balance between savings and investments be found.
The Corona crisis has forced many companies overnight, Traditional forms of work in virtual structures and digital processes to transfer. The tools and platforms that enable digital working were quickly accepted.
Now it is a matter of maintaining leadership effectiveness, productivity and team spirit even under virtual conditions. How does that work?
We explain in the article six key success factors for leading virtual teams.
Lucila Pfeiffer is a trained chef and sommelier. In Berlin, she runs Chin-Chin, a platform for private wine tastings. She spoke to Sabine Walter about her passion, wine, and how it can bring us from the head to the heart.
Reiner Leonhardt is an entrepreneur and owner of the Andechs coffee roasting company. He says: "Everyone should drink the coffee they like". In his roastery on Lake Ammersee, he roasts, grinds and sells different types of coffee. All the coffee beans come exclusively from small fincas, spread throughout the (high) countries of the world. And if you want to linger, you can of course taste the coffee in the roastery.
In many companies the Error culture a culture of fear. It paralyses and leads to neither lateral thinking nor trying out new things. A destructive error culture also prevents employees and managers from taking risks and assuming responsibility for decisions or new paths. In this article we give Tips for a constructive error culture and clarify the entrepreneurial gain that lies in this cultural change.
For the Head of Innovation & Technologies at E.G.O. Elektro-Gerätebau GmbH in Oberderdingen, Dr Patricie Merkert, includes Leadership has two aspects: Enabling the development of potential and visionary thinking. In an interview with Sabine Walter, she explains what attracts her to leadership and how she manages to get the best out of people and her teams.
In July 2019, the Global Innovation Index Report 2019 published. The report presents the Innovation power of 129 countries worldwide evaluated on the basis of various criteria.
Switzerland is the front-runner for the second time in a row. Germany is in 9th placeThe report invites readers to take a closer look at Germany's innovative strength.
In many companies, the term "team" is used as a synonym for a "working group". In this article, we present what distinguishes a team from a working group and what characterises a high-performance team. Our Team check helps you analyse your own team.
Start of the year - time for strategy workshops and strategy talks. Even though this is already carried out in a very structured way in many companies, we experience time and again that an essential strategic building block is missing: competence development.
The following procedure helps to bring structure and continuity into the process of competence development.
Our school system is counteracting Germany's development into a genuine knowledge society. That is why it is all the more important to support projects that do things differently. We present two of them here.
Silke Kirsch, executive at international exhibition stand builder Rappenglitz says: No matter who you lead, children, customers or employees, it is always about people. When we see them, value them and give them space for developmentthat would be a big leap towards a better corporate culture and ultimately also towards better togetherness in our society.
Growth is considered an indicator of entrepreneurial success. Annual, ideally double-digit. But growth at any price in an oversaturated society is harmful. Companies and society are already feeling the first consequences: Stress-related illnesses, internal resignation, burnout. In this article, we develop a scenario that shows how healthy growth can emerge. And we raise awareness for alternative key figures and control parameters.
Taking on leadership responsibility is defined by many people as a career goal. They want to lead. They want to take on responsibility. But what does it mean to take responsibility in a leadership role? For what and for whom? As executive coaches who accompany leaders in their personal development and that of their teams and companies, we explain in this article what we mean by leadership responsibility.
Change is part of everyday life in today's world. But that does not mean that they succeed. Studies show that three quarters of all change processes initiated in companies fail. Reasons for this include a lack of transparency and emotional, even fear-driven discussions. Critical thinking is both an attitude and an instrument. In the first step, it helps to comprehensively analyse facts in order to communicate them convincingly in the second step.
We are located at the beginning of the 21st century in a fundamental social change. In order to shape this in such a way that we survive as humanity, a fundamental Paradigm shift required. We need a culture of trust instead of fear, as well as genuine encounters and sustainable relationships. We need courage and the willingness to take responsibility. - for themselves, for others and for society. In this article we focus on the Leaders in the 21st century and on three key leadership competencies which help rethinking the topic and are part of and a prerequisite for this paradigm shift.
Agile teams with a high level of conflict resolution competency can be recognised by the fact that they have a high level of trust in each other. They have the confidence in themselves as a team to resolve the conflict and they have the ability to recognise the first signs of conflict, to address them constructively and to transform them into a joint solution. The process takes time and should be accompanied by experienced facilitators.
Many companies that agile working The companies that are introducing agile work expect shorter development times, more innovative products or a shorter time-to-market. They are convinced that agile working will enable them to react faster to changes and maintain or restore their competitiveness. So much for the theory. Here, too, practice shows every day anew that there is more to it than painting a new organisational chart and renaming employees Agile Coaches, Scrum Masters and Product Owners.
Richard Edelman, head of the eponymous American communications agency Edelman, put it very clearly in his interview with Chelsea Spieker on 22 October. "Stand up and lead!", he urged the leaders from the German business community. The reason for this call was the result of this year's "Trust Barometer", which was compiled by the Edelman agency for the "Made in Germany" seal of quality. It makes clear that the brand "Germany" has suffered damage. This article is therefore about leadershipwhat this means at the beginning of the 21st century, and how it can help to restore confidence in "Made in Germany".
In view of the advancing digitalisation in companies, it is elementarily important that we consciously take time again for real encounters and create space for real encounters. This is also the task of managers. Without these genuine encounters, the emotional bond with companies will continue to decline. As a result, their innovative strength and performance will decline.
Our society is changing. Companies are changing. And our education system? Seen from a meta-level, it seems as if the Stone Age meets the future, the digital world meets slate and stylus. What could an education system look like that supports our social change?
The idea of self-organised teams is becoming increasingly popular in business practice. But many questions arise when introducing this management philosophy: To which companies does it fit? How do I get my employees to work independently? Who bears the ultimate responsibility? Do we still need leadership at all? What does this leadership look like? ... We answer some of these questions in this article.
Our world is complex and very fast-paced. We receive a wealth of information every day and sometimes have to make far-reaching decisions in a fraction of a second. Karsten Miermans from the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich explains how critical thinking can help us, what exactly is behind it and how we can learn and train it.
Are you self-determined? Yes? No? Good, then I'll ask the question differently: To what percentage are you self-determined? This question can be answered intuitively or after some reflection. Let's take the second path together and take the first step of this path with the question "What is self-determination?
Do you have playrooms in your company? Not yet? Then let's do it. Play is generally attributed to children. But the joy of play is part of our DNA. Inspired by the book "Save Play: Because Life is More than Functioning" by the author duo Hüther / Quarch, we present in this article the benefits that games have for all of us and thus also for companies.
Lee Iacocca put it this way: "I'm talking about people with fire in their eyes: you just have to look at them to know they're good." And he expressed what we feel when we talk to personalities at regular intervals. After interviewing various personalities from very different areas of business and science, art and culture for our series "Das netzwerk im Gespräch mit ...", we asked ourselves the question: "What unites these people - despite their differences?"
Dr Kirsten Wenner is a specialist in paediatrics and adolescent medicine as well as a neuropaediatrician. She spoke with Sabine Walter about, among other things, how many small precious moments make her profession so wonderful and why remote and online diagnostics will not become permanently established.
Karen Funk is an editor at the IDG publishing group. She has organised the renowned "CIO of the Year" competition since 2007. She spoke to Sabine Walter about what fascinates her about her job and how good journalism and democracy are connected.
Rainer Agster is an environmental engineer and works as a consultant and project manager for adelphi, an independent think tank and leading consultancy on climate, environment and development. Rainer Agster spoke with Sabine Walter about his profession and how he contributes with his projects to making our world a little better.
Horst Biallowons is a journalist and entrepreneur with a passion. Together with his team, he runs the internet platform biallo.de. Sabine Walter spoke with him about how he turned his curiosity into a profession.
The heroes are dead. We need heroes. The legends of heroes like Siegfried, Homer and Odysseus have long been a thing of the past. And yet the social search for heroes of our time is more topical than ever.
What makes hero:ins? And why do we need them so urgently in this day and age? We would like to answer these two questions in the article.
"If only I had..." - this thought often haunts us for days after we have experienced a verbal attack in everyday life or at work. In the moment of surprise, we often lack the composure for a good reaction and the right words. Working on our repartee therefore means working on our attitude. Only then can we use proven tools to leave the situation behind us with a good feeling.
Meetings are the number one time eater in many organisations. On average, managers lose more than one working day per week to unproductive meetings. This can be changed if meetings are adequately prepared and really conducted. In our Seminar "Talk.Clarify.Decide" you will not only learn how to get to the point in 10-minute meetings.You will also get an overview of three different leadership philosophies: Lean, Management by objectives, Agile leadership.
The glass ceiling in industry and science in Germany is always there. Read this article to find out why this is so and how women can change it.
Renate Weiss is the manager of the aran Café in breuningerLAND Sindelfingen. She spoke to Sabine Walter about what she loves about her job and how she manages to ensure that every guest leaves her café with a smile.
Corporate values guide action. Unfortunately, however, there is a discrepancy between theory and practice in many organisations. Read this article to find out why corporate values are important and how to make them tangible.
Current studies show it, only about a quarter of all change projects succeed. Many management consultants have been earning money for years by assessing the "change fitness" or "change readiness" of companies. However, this does not have a positive influence on the success of change projects. Why? Because in many change projects the Leaders who initiate these changes are neither permanently involved in the process with their heads and hearts nor do they live the changes as real role models.
The figures of the latest Gallup Engagement Index are as sobering as ever: About 85% of all employees have little or no emotional attachment to their companywhich translates into "service by the book" or even internal resignation.
An essential The cause of this lack of emotional connection is leaders who do not live up to their role.
Even though conflicts hold opportunities, most people do not welcome them in their private or professional lives. The strategies for dealing with conflict vary: from ignoring it to lashing out. Addressing a conflict at an early stage in such a way that the other person listens and the conversation is constructive is difficult for many people.
Children can. And they drive us adults almost crazy with the 35th "Why? The motivation behind it is as simple as it is fascinating: Children are curious. They want to discover, they really want to understand. We adults have often forgotten how to ask questions and how to really understand. We assume, presuppose and conclude. Alone. In silence. But the old German saying: "He who asks, leads." still holds true.
Agility is the new buzzword in the leadership world. Anyone who is not agile has obviously not yet understood it. Agility, it seems at the moment, is - along with digitalisation - the panacea for all problems that companies have. As we experience it, this often leads to grotesque situations. But Agility Is a Mindsetno tools. If companies want to become agile, the main thing is to embody this attitude and create structures in which this attitude can be effective.
More and more companies are realising that they can only be successful in the long term if they develop themselves in general and their employees in particular. Employees should learn. Constantly. Everywhere. Self-driven. With fun. In our work, however, we experience time and again that the cultural framework conditions in companies often counteract this demand for learning employees.What does that mean? And above all: What can you do differently in your company?
Who wouldn't want that: a well-functioning team in which the individual members mesh like cogs, complement and support each other perfectly and act like a smooth whole. Accordingly, a lot of time and thought is put into the composition of teams, and new team members are carefully checked for their team skills and "personal fit". Friction is to be avoided as much as possible, because this could be an indication that the cooperation is not running "like clockwork" and that the employees do not yet form a real unit. What is fundamentally overlooked is this: Friction is not caused by distance, but by closeness.
For some it is everyday life, for others it catches them on the wrong foot. The request to lead a meeting or to take over an appointment although you have little idea about the content. Below you will find some tips on how to succeed in appearing professional even if you are not an expert in the subject.
Trust is the basis of a benevolent relationship, of good cooperation. It is even the basis of our own successful further development.
If we trust ourselves and our strengths, we will make different decisions. as if we lack this self-confidence.
Termination and separation processes are a great challenge for all involved. This leads to the talks being delayed or insufficiently prepared.
With these tips you can shape your separation processes in an appreciative way.
Executives spend between 60-90% of their working time in meetings. They lose more than one working day per week to unproductive meetings, according to a study by the market research company Harris. This is often because meetings are often inadequately prepared, not really led and the simplest ground rules are not followed.
The following tips will help you to increase the productivity of your meetings so that you can make good use of your working time and that of your colleagues.
Occasionally you should read this article, because you might take away an impulse. One sentence, four softeners: occasionally, should, sometimes, maybe. This softened language has become an integral part of our daily communication - professionally and privately. Unfortunately. Because it lacks four things: Clarity, commitment, self-confidence and self-assurance.
Language is an expression of our feelings - even the unconscious ones. Therefore, our language reveals a lot about our state of mind, and it says a lot about our personality.
Time management is a perennial topic in further education and guidebooks. And: It is the topic that very few people are able to manage to their personal satisfaction. Read how it can be done.
Dr Beate Hafner works as a "midwife" for new research ideas. She spoke to Sabine Walter about what she loves about her job and why people like her will still exist in 2050.
Imagine you take part in a seminar and afterwards you are able to recall what you have learned in your everyday life. Even when things get stressful and you don't have time to think.
Utopia? No. Reality. With our integrated further education offer.
According to a study by the market research institute INNOFACT, each person in working life spends an average of 100 hours per year creating presentations. 100 hours - that's more than 2 weeks. It is all the more shocking that over 80% of these presentations are rated as boring by the audience.
With these simple basic rules you will manage to make your presentations convincing...
When we look at companies in the Team development We are often greeted with the message: "Actually, everything is fine with us. We just want to see if we can improve the little things! When asked if there is a lot of arguing in the team, the answer is often a relieved "No.". Fortunately, we don't have any quarrels. There are hardly any conflicts either.
But this relief is deceptive. Because: A healthy and constructive culture of dispute and conflict is an expression of trust.
Vittorio Strosek is a car designer with a passion. He spoke to Sabine Walter about how he has been successfully living his childhood dream for more than 40 years.
Mobile working has become an integral part of our working world. But there are companies that, after initial generosity with regard to working hours and work location, restrict mobile working again. One reason for this is the fear of many managers of losing control.
In this article we give Tips as you also lead at a distance in such a way that the result- and goal-oriented work is maintained.
Part of targeted leadership development are customised training programmes. These include training on personality development, communication and leadership.
What we teach in these seminars stays with you and leads to a return on your investment in staff and leadership development.
Training overview:
Leadership developmentOur videos in the series "Wissen kompakt - Führungsinstrumente" (Compact Knowledge - Leadership Tools) give you very concrete tips on your leadership tasks and thus support you in increasing your leadership effectiveness. (Language of the videos: German)
Compact Knowledge - Leadership ToolsOur videos in the series "Wissen kompakt - Kommunikation" help you to communicate more convincingly. (Language of the videos: German)
Compact Knowledge - CommunicationOur Executive Coaching is aimed at boards of management, managing directors, first-level executives and entrepreneurs.
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