Performance that lasts – in management, in the clinic, in the seminar room and on the mat.
Psychotherapist (cognitive behavioural therapy), coach, former industrial manager, management and communication trainer, former hospital director – and judoka. I work with people who carry responsibility and aren’t satisfied with lip service.
I’ve sat on both sides of the table. That’s why I don’t separate what belongs together.
I’ve managed budgets, led teams through restructuring, coordinated emergency repairs on three continents and run hospitals. I know what it’s like to have your foot to the floor, the sleepless nights before big decisions and the moment when effort and resonance stop adding up. And as a psychotherapist, I’ve worked with people who broke down over exactly that.
What struck me: the support that people in positions of responsibility really need isn’t available as a package. Coaching without clinical depth. Therapy that leaves out the job because it doesn’t understand it. Sport and relaxation as leisure activities. Education with no practical grounding. Each field has its own remit and its own vocabulary, and the silos between them are often impossible to bridge within the system. The person in the middle falls through the cracks.
My approach connects what works but stays institutionally separate: the scientific methods of cognitive behavioural therapy, systemic coaching, (psycho-)education, physical activation and measurable relaxation. Not as wellness, but as work. With friction – because without friction there’s no traction.
A new book, the same question.
Twenty years ago, I was already putting my finger on a sore spot in the consulting market. The book “Wes Brot ich ess, des Lied ich sing: Managementberatung – Kunst, Handwerk oder Geschäft mit der Angst” (roughly: “He who pays the piper calls the tune: management consulting – art, craft or business built on fear?”) took a hard look at the widespread sycophancy in the consulting industry – its habit of comfortable compliance and telling clients what they want to hear.
Since then, becoming a father has opened a new chapter in my life – one that has also fundamentally changed my work. Out of this perspective comes a new book, now in preparation: “No Sycophancy – Coaching und Therapie zwischen Validierung und Traktion” (coaching and therapy between validation and traction). Its insights and tried-and-tested substance form the direct foundation for the content and formats on this website.
Wes Brot ich ess,
des Lied ich sing
Professional publications and articles.
- Sustainable mental health
Promoting mental health sustainably in institutions and organisations: salutogenesis
- Developing people sustainably
“Up or out: die Schattenseiten der Performancewirtschaft” (the dark side of the performance economy)
Anthology Sport und Management, Symposium Verlag
- Sustainable project management
“Reifegradorientierte Projektarbeit” (maturity-based project work)
Anthology Interkulturelles Projektmanagement, Symposium Verlag
- Information logistics in organisations
“Der Neuro Manager” (the neuro manager)
Article in Gehirn & Geist
- How we understand change
“Humans love progress but hate change”
Article, International Symposium Hot Metal Sheet Forming
- How we understand leadership
“Mitarbeiter belohnen gute Führung” (employees reward good leadership)
Article in Consulegis
Most of these publications are in German. I’m happy to share the texts, some of which are under copyright, on request.
Experience that shapes my work.
- Industry
Director Industrial Processes, Alstom Power Service
Responsible for a global service organisation, including health, safety and environment on site. Decisions under time pressure, in difficult regions, caught between the competing logics of line management, staff functions and finance.
- Consulting
KPMG, Zürcher Kantonalbank, St. Galler Consulting Group
Strategy, financial management, process and change management. An insider’s view of a consulting market where advisers all too often tell clients what they want to hear.
- Clinic
Hospital director, AMEOS Klinika Bad Aussee
Running a hospital from the inside. Before that and alongside it: psychotherapeutic work in rehabilitation centres and clinics. I know the silos of the system because I’ve worked inside them.
- Competitive sport
Judo, German Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen, Swiss National League
As an athlete and as a coach. Judo teaches what no management book can: you fall, you get up, and progress comes from patient practice against resistance.
- Teaching & training
Trainer of systemic coaches, management trainer
From top executive training to change management and first-time leadership. Designing complete management development programmes, including the coaching that goes with them.
- Stage
Keynote speaker
On topics such as Blue Ocean Strategy and leadership, for audiences of executives and entrepreneurs.
Four words to hold me to.
Direct
I say what I see. Respectfully, but without sugar-coating. When something feels uncomfortable, that’s usually where it’s worth digging deeper.
Grounded
Cognitive behavioural therapy led the way in putting methods of change on a scientific footing. I bring its tools into preventive work and coaching out of conviction – because they create clarity and have a measurable effect, not because they sound modern.
Systemic
You’re not an isolated problem but part of patterns: your organisation, your family, your role. Making those patterns visible and changeable is half the work.
Discreet
Professional confidentiality, a fully encrypted portal and hosting on European servers: protecting sensitive content is my top priority. Everything you share in our sessions is treated in the strictest confidence. What’s discussed here stays between us – guaranteed.
Evidence, not improvisation.
The foundation is a legally regulated qualification as a psychotherapist, plus ongoing professional development. In preventive coaching, this background guarantees the highest methodological standards and a reliable, protected space for real development.
- 01
Psychotherapist (behaviour therapy)
Registered on the list of psychotherapists of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Health since 8 October 2019, no. 11033. Specialisation: behaviour therapy.
- 02
Studies
Social sciences with a focus on systemic sociology, media studies and politics, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (Mag.).
- 03
Management
Further training in financial management, strategy, process and change management. Many years of line and leadership responsibility.
- 04
Biofeedback & HRV
Bio- and neurofeedback; heart rate variability as a diagnostic and training tool for personalised relaxation.
- 05
Systemic coaching
Studies focused on systems theory and complex systems. Trainer of systemic coaches. Experienced coach and member of several coaching pools at renowned organisations.
- 06
Trainer
Trainer in management, leadership, change, communication and rhetoric. Designing and running management development programmes.
- 07
Languages
German, English.
Mountains, mat, Atlantic.
I live and work in Bad Goisern on Lake Hallstatt. The Salzkammergut isn’t just a postcard backdrop here, but an active part of the work: conversations on the move, exercise as part of the method, reflection with pen and paper rather than only on a screen. Being a father adds another perspective on development, responsibility and what really matters.
Judo has shaped my path since I was young – in the German Bundesliga with Bayer Leverkusen and in the Swiss National League, as an athlete and as a coach. Much of what I know about leadership, resistance and patient practice I learned on the mat long before it found its place in organisations. Add to that my experience as a paragliding instructor: in the air as on the ground, what counts is reading the situation precisely, keeping a cool head whatever the weather and making clear decisions.
The Azores island of Flores, on the westernmost edge of Europe, has become my personal retreat. It’s also where the intensive pit stops take place: distance that isn’t an escape, but creates the space to take real stock.
Let’s find out if it’s a fit.
A free 30-minute intro call. Get to know each other, understand, analyse, challenge, decide.