You still don’t know enough about me? Then you will find all the details about the different stages of my life here:
- Coach and leadership trainer, change agent
- Manager in an international IT company
- Scientist with roots in theoretical physics
- Wife and mother of two differently hearing children
- Former competitive athlete (athletics & ballroom dancing)
- Rider and horse owner
I actually have many good memories of my school days. But one memory still makes me shake my head sometimes today. I encountered limiting beliefs for the first time, even though I didn't know it at the time, of course.
I was in the IT elective, and since there were only a few PCs, we had to work in groups. Our teacher put the few girls in one group - which annoyed me beyond measure. From the beginning, most of them had the attitude: "As a girl, I can't do that anyway". Accordingly, they didn't even try to understand and we didn't get very far :-(.
At the time, I wondered firstly why they let themselves be talked into something like that, and secondly, why they went to the course with that conviction in the first place. Today I know how such beliefs come about, how limiting they can be and how difficult they are to discard without support. What has not changed is my lack of understanding of such prejudices against other people.
Even in my youth, I was fascinated by the emotional world and thoughts of other people. I could listen to other people's problems for hours, ask a thousand questions and, with the best of intentions, try to give tips from my experience - which, of course, were not always well received. Because as I learned in coaching, my solutions don't necessarily fit someone else.
But since I didn't know at the time that there were professions that did just that, I first decided to learn how the world and the universe worked: I studied physics. In doing so, I practised my analytical skills and learned to recognise patterns. Even today, this helps me to put together the puzzle pieces of the "Grand Unified Theory" of a coachee's topic.
People often shake their heads at how I can have such different interests. But I don't feel that way at all, because I am simply curious about how something "works". It doesn't matter whether it's the universe or people.
Since my youth, I have always done competitive sports. First athletics and then over 15 years of ballroom dancing.
I have experienced many things. But two insights stuck with me above all:
- Only those who dare win.
Our dance club, which is now around hundred years old, was almost on the brink of extinction when the premises were cancelled. As a board, we had the choice of downsizing or taking a risk and renting large rooms directly at Stachus. By expanding, we have become the biggest club in Munich. - Skill is only half the battle
Because it also takes mental attitude and strength. Our thinking, our attitude to a situation massively influences our actions and accordingly also the result. No matter how good you are, if you assume that you will lose, it will happen.
After graduating in physics - as the only woman left among eighty students - I decided to do a doctorate. Unfortunately, the other two women decided earlier on a different career. We need many more women in classic male domains!
My topic was: neutrino oscillations - one of the pieces of the puzzle to understand why our universe behaves the way it does.
"On the job" training and rotation through all departments in Amadeus including marketing in Madrid and software development in Nice.
The (international) trainees were selected in a 2-day assessment centre. It was an incredibly exciting experience and my first contact with psychological methods and personality models. Of course, the assessment centre also focused on skills, for example with an IQ test, but it was more about the right attitude, which was tested in numerous games, for example building a bridge out of Lego or a discussion on how best to survive after our (imaginary) plane crash in Antarctica.
Design and development of server capacity and performance reports for all stakeholders worldwide, development of new data sources, ad hoc analyses of all Amadeus systems and presentations to the company management.
My boss only gave me the framework and otherwise gave me a lot of freedom. I was able to contribute my own ideas and was also allowed to make mistakes. This management style has left a strong mark on my working life.
With our second daughter, our family is complete and at first everything seems perfect.
But then comes an initially devastating diagnosis. Both girls are moderately to profoundly hearing impaired - or as we and many affected people prefer to say: differently hearing.
That was a difficult time for us. We had an incredible number of appointments and had to learn a lot of new things. But what really got to me was that the children's future was suddenly "thrown out the window" - at least it seemed that way in that moment. Which school will be the right one, will they be able to do the job they would like to do, etc.? But above all, one thing was clear: they will always have a harder time than others.
Because I know how good it is to have outside support in such a situation, I am also a coach who is passionate about supporting relatives of people who have experienced a stroke of fate.
Part-time management of a software development team, responsible for capacity planning and performance analysis software.
Even today, I am still grateful to my boss at the time for offering me the team leadership while still in parental part-time. I learned a lot about people and leadership without control/micro-management. In part-time I would not have had time for that. I had a lot of fun developing visions together and then trusting that my people already know how to best achieve this vision.
Leading an international team of direct and functional reports, responsible for the correct planning and budgeting of the infrastructure in the Amadeus Datacenter.
Sometimes it was a bit nerve-wracking to be responsible for the functional topic but not have the disciplinary responsibility. You are doubly dependent on the "good will" of the people, you have no power that you can use.
Conflicts with the second manager are also practically pre-programmed. The employees are quickly confused as to which instruction is ultimately valid. But as we all know, one grows with one's challenges.
Staff and budget responsibility including product ownership of a software development and production team with a total of 60 people in 5 countries, responsible for software solutions and automation for data centre operations with direct reporting line to the VP. Introduced agile methodologies and ceremonies across all teams.
The most exciting part of this period was building a development team in Bangalore. It made me realise how much our behaviour is shaped by our culture. We take so many things for granted because we don't know them any other way. It showed me how differently we can perceive the same events just because we perceive them through a different filter - shaped by our own experiences.
Even as a child, I loved to ride and have always dreamed of riding a Friesian. Just like dancing, the movement in harmony is absolutely fascinating.
Unfortunately, having my own horse was out of the question at that time.
When I started riding again with the girls, the desire to have my own Friesian soon came up again. Of course, a horse is a big responsibility and also a liability. Therefore, the head clearly said "no", while the heart loudly screamed "yes". Fortunately, I eventually listened to the feeling and have never regretted it. Besides the many wonderful hours, I wouldn't want to miss out on the personal development.
Detailed theory about the attitude in coaching and about coaching methods in the business context combined with practical exercises by the Münchner Akademie für Business Coaching.
I was very enthusiastic about my first contact with the mindset and methods of coaching. I immediately remembered how much I enjoyed having exactly such conversations in my youth. From the beginning, this approach just felt right to me and I used it more and more.
Leading a department of 5 teams with a total of 45 people spread over 4 countries, responsible for all transversal topics of the infrastructure and cloud area such as purchasing, capacity planning and project management with a budget responsibility of more than 100 million Euros. Scaling of the agile teams company-wide with the help of SAFe.
In my day-to-day work, I realised more and more that what I enjoyed most in the leadership role was supporting my people in their own development. I decided to focus on that, regardless of company politics. Finally, I made the decision to become a self-employed coach.
Further deepening of coaching knowledge in the one-year, DCV-certified coaching training in Anja Mumm's Kompetenzzentrum Coaching. In addition to the systemic attitude and competences, many methods and tools based on the latest psychological findings are taught. Extensive practical exercises and numerous coaching sessions under supervision ensure quality.
A very intensive time in a wonderful training group, in which I learned a lot about myself and my values in addition to the content. Especially as a woman, in my leadership role my understanding, my tolerance towards other people was sometimes interpreted as weakness. Now I learned freedom of judgement about other people and openness to other opinions as a strength.
Training at the EMDR Akademie in methods for reducing stressful situations. Brainlog is a further development of EMDR, WingWave and Brainspotting, which are also used in trauma therapy.
Brainlog has exceeded my expectations of having a method to get results even if the trigger is not known. The best feedback I got was: "I can still remember the (bad) feeling, but it's just gone."
Well-founded, long-standing and association -recognised training in equine coaching methods at AHAA Manufaktur.
It is wonderful to be able to bring my second passion into coaching. But much more important are the enhanced effects and even better results through horses.