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Management Coaching

Leadership skills at eye level

Everyday management and successful leadership cannot be studied and read exclusively in the table of contents of a management book. The high density of change, increasing complexity, uncertainties and non-linear developments in the corporate world present everyone with demanding challenges, and managers in particular.

The positions and tasks of managers in an organization are no longer limited to results or even “being the boss” of employees. Leadership situations are characterized by the complexity of tasks, content, crises, and issues that often go beyond the purely business level.

Successful leadership is based on a deep understanding of one’s personality to be able to successfully fulfill leadership tasks at eye level.

Executive coaching: developing leadership personalities

Depending on where you are in your career, you may already have a leadership role or you may be on the threshold of one. In both cases, leadership coaching has proven to be extremely useful in developing a clear understanding of your personality – an important prerequisite for being able to lead authentically and steadfastly. As a manager, how can I present myself convincingly to employees or groups when I am accompanied by a feeling of insecurity because I am not clear about, for example:

My values and how they should be reflected in my leadership
What skills do I already have and what skills would I like to develop?
What defines me as a person in business and in my private life and what does this mean for my different roles?
What strengthens me in challenging situations and phases?
What is my identity as a leader and how do I lead or want to lead?
Am I a "boss", mentor, and responsible partner for impulses, change, process, decisions, and appreciation?

This is just a small mental extract from my leadership coaching to give you an idea of how deeply you can and should work on your leadership skills because pure management by the book is certainly not as effective. With the help of coaching methods, you lay the foundation for “helping yourself to help yourself” in a way, because in future situations you will be able to fall back on what you have learned from the management coaching sessions and thus continuously develop your leadership skills.

Challenges for modern managers

Today more than ever, the role of modern managers is characterized by complexity and constant change. Managers are faced with the challenge of constantly adapting and developing themselves further and, in doing so, taking the people and employees in the company with them, not only purely through professional competence but also on a personal and human level. It is about having a vision and communicating it clearly to inspire and motivate employees. At the same time, managers must be able to create an environment of cooperation and trust to promote innovation and develop talent. The ability to respond quickly to change, develop innovative solutions, and at the same time lead a team effectively has therefore become essential.

To put it in a nutshell, leadership is about growing a stable yet agile and flexible pillar in the organization that can maintain its steadfastness regardless of or despite a rapidly changing environment. For this reason, leadership is far more than just an isolated competence.

Leadership competence - what exactly does that mean?

As mentioned above, leadership is much more and much more complex than the mere mastery of competence – it always starts and ends with you, your leadership identity, and clarity about it. Nevertheless, competencies are of course essential and leadership coaching offers the opportunity to refine them, work on them, and consolidate them in clarity. There are certainly differences in the requirements for leadership skills depending on the corporate context and culture. Nevertheless, the following are fundamentally important skills:

Communication skills – This involves much more than the ability to express oneself, but rather the ability to reliably reach and mobilize people through one’s communication at a management and leadership level, even in the event of conflict and crisis, for example. When communicating with managers, people are looking for more than results, reports on quality success, and decisions.
Decision-making ability – I have experienced time and again that the ability to make decisions with confidence and trust is not one of the favorite disciplines of managers. Even if, from the perspective of the company and in the corporate world, management is sometimes responsible for precisely this, the individuals concerned are often faced with more than just the challenge of making sound decisions under pressure and uncertainty. As part of management coaching, it often helps to take a closer look at the individual decision-making process to gain insights into where decision-making ability is at risk of stumbling.
Problem-solving ability – issues that concern management are often characterized by great complexity. The ability to recognize and assess different perspectives has a positive effect on one’s problem-solving skills. Of course, not all perspectives and issues can always be reconciled, but leadership also means making decisions and solutions accessible to employees by enabling them to participate, for example by looking at the issue or problem from different perspectives. In management coaching, I often accompany managers on a long-term basis as a sparring partner to support them in repeatedly looking at different perspectives and levels to arrive at a coherent solution to a problem.
Self-management and self-reflection – self-management and self-reflection are very often an essential part of management coaching. The demands and density of topics that managers are confronted with in business often mean that the focus on themselves often shifts to the outside world instead. However, self-reflection is an important prerequisite for healthy and balanced self-management. In this respect, it is also my task as a coach to support and accompany you in your self-reflection.
Motivation and inspiration – I would describe these as the basic ingredients of every manager. Above all, it is about the motivation and inspiration that you should be able to convey to your team. Their success and effectiveness in business are decisively influenced by this.
Delegation skills – at the end of the day, this describes so much more than just the ability to distribute and pass on tasks. Delegation also means being able to give advance trust and to see it as an effective tool to empower employees; it can almost be seen as a form of mentoring.
Visionary leadership – no leadership without vision and goals. Management coaching should also always focus on clearly identifying and strengthening your vision and goals. No one will follow a manager if they cannot authentically and convincingly convey why and in which direction they want to go. Therefore, clarity about one’s vision and goals as well as the communication of these are an important basic prerequisite for leadership.

Your coherent leadership style

Whether you are already in a leadership position or know that this is the next step for you, my leadership coaching will help you to work on and think through various topics so that you can ultimately sit more firmly and clearly in the saddle.

In my experience, business coaching or executive coaching is not only or “only” necessary in the case of tangible internal and external conflicts, for example. It can also be used for self-optimization of one’s leadership and thus even contribute to and support the often-discussed work-life balance.

In my coaching process with you, I aim to discover and consolidate your own identity as a leader. You will learn to develop a management style that authentically matches your personality and goes beyond theoretical concepts, i.e. not management by the book. In my view, the first step should always be about who you are and how you see yourself as a manager. The aim is to develop a deep understanding of your role, your values, and your management style.

The focus is on developing an authentic leadership personality that builds on personal strengths and experiences and knows about its resources, which can also be drawn on in phases and situations of high stress and pressure.
In my view, executive coaches have the task of placing you at the center of every consideration and working with you to develop and create a coherent image of your leadership role. Only with a stable self can you meet the challenges of the complex world of work and its demands in a healthy, confident, and effective way.

My coaching: my expertise for your further development

As a former manager and competitive athlete, I am aware of the demands and complexity of leadership. My bicultural background helps me to categorize and understand different topics, including, of course, multicultural contexts. I conduct my coaching sessions in German and English.
In my executive coaching and my coaching in general, I focus on you as a person with different roles and understandings of roles. Regardless of what we are talking about, be it work-life balance, crises and conflicts, leadership challenges, or other topics, my coaching begins with your own identity and attitude about the topic in question.

Business coaching - if you like, I'd love to!

I am happy to use a free consultation call lasting a maximum of 30 minutes to find out more about the topics we could discuss together. The meeting should allow both you and me to develop an initial feeling for each other. After all, both sides must be able to imagine working together; interpersonal chemistry is an important prerequisite.

I look forward to getting to know you! The best way to reach me is either to book a free consultation call or otherwise via email.