Question 1: What experience as an executive do you have?

Question 2: What experience as a human resources developer do you have?

Question 3: How did you turn from a jurist into a consultant?

Question 4: Which one of your continuing education courses has been the most memorable?

Question 5: What kind of psychotherapeutic self-awareness experience have you had?

Question 6: What do all your services have in common?

Question 7: Where did you gain your intercultural experience?

Question 8: What's your position on the question of morals?

Question 9: What are you better at than other people?

Question 10: What are others better at than you?

Question 11: How do you assure the quality of your work?

Question 12: What are your current favorite areas of interest?

Question 1: What experience as an executive do you have?

Answer: I gained experience as the head of a human resources department and I've been in charge of international sales controlling projects. This proved to be a tough learning experience because I initially made all the mistakes young executives usually make: I focused too much on technical aspects, there was too little communication, I did too much of the work myself, I got excited about interesting projects, I didn't insist on specifying projects sufficiently, I tried too hard to be liked by everybody and I didn't try hard enough to be respected...I could go on and on. I've learned to understand whom I can cooperate with and in which way and what an organization needs at a certain point. These experiences are of great value to me today because I can pass them on to other executives in my workshops.

Question 2: What experience as a human resources developer do you have?

Answer: I built the department of human resource administration at the MBI Institut für Marketingberatung AG (MBI Institute for Marketing Consulting). In addition to this, I was in charge of human resources development for executives in our Eastern European subsidiaries. One very important lesson I learned was that we need to respect cultural differences between countries. Moreover, I was very involved in the coordination of bonus systems with other human resources development tools. Bonus systems often have unintentional consequences, which can interfere with the objectives of other measures.

Question 3: How did you turn from a jurist into a consultant?

Answer: I used to work at an international law firm, where I advised American branded products manufacturers on their market entry in Austria and Eastern Europe. The main focus of my consulting activities lay on competition law and corporate law. I particularly enjoyed cases that weren't limited to legal issues, but also revolved around internal organization and cooperation. Back then I realized that this field was much more appealing to me than the technical-legal consulting and the wording of statements. So what I did was pursue my passion.

Question 4: Which one of your continuing education courses has been the most memorable?

Answer: It was definitely my training as a group dynamics coach that had the most impact on me. I attended a group dynamics training as early as in 1987. I was 21 years old back then and I was already fascinated by this method. There's no better way to learn about human group behavior. It also allows you to reach a deep understanding of yourself. In organizations, people direct their behavior at each other. However, these processes work completely differently than in romantic relationships or in one-on-one relationships. Some coaches and consultants try to describe people's characteristics as if a person could be described without taking into account his or her interaction with others. I don't think this approach is particularly helpful in organizations because the decisive factor will always be the behavior displayed towards others. Most consulting or coaching activities take place in groups. I use my skills as a group dynamics coach to conduct meetings, workshops, large groups and coaching activities.

Question 5: What kind of psychotherapeutic self-awareness experience have you had?

Answer: In addition to my group dynamics courses, I also went to individual therapy for several years. I considered it very important to start with understanding my own attitudes and behavior patterns towards other people in order to be able to effectively work with groups or organizations. Technical knowledge about psychology doesn't take you very far in consulting or coaching situations because they include immediate and spontaneous reactions. My individual therapy gave me a clear understanding to which degree I influence conversations or groups as a whole. This allows me to maintain my calmness and composure in any given situation.

Question 6: What do all your services have in common?

Answer: The common element is the confrontation with changing patterns of communication. In our Western culture, we pay more attention to the pattern of a rug than to patterns of communication. Thanks to my extensive experience, I can easily and quickly spot these patterns. I don't pay as much attention to what individual persons do but rather to the interaction between people and to relationships that are being established. I see organizations as living systems displaying constant actions and communication processes, which are vital to its existence. I'm enthusiastic about empowering people to unlearn certain patterns and, as a result, showing them new paths.

Question 7: Where did you gain your intercultural experience?

Answer: I was born in the Austrian province of Vorarlberg and we moved to Vienna when I was six months old. As a child, I spent several years in Switzerland and in the Netherlands. After two years, my Dutch proved to by better than my Viennese. At the age of eleven, it came as a big surprise to me that I was suddenly perceived as German and confronted with all kinds of prejudices. The reason of our frequent moving was my father's position as a project manager for software projects with the company Univac, which would later be Unisys. During my college years, I spent long periods of time in the US, Mexico and Guatemala, where I learned English and Spanish. I also went to law school in Spain, specializing in European law and international law.

Question 8: What's your position on the question of morals?

Answer: The question is rather: which morals? There are so many different ones. For me, this issue doesn't revolve around the behavior of others but rather around my own. I assume responsibility for my own actions and I won't assume responsibility for another adult's actions during coaching or consulting. Especially not when someone decides not lo learn or not to change. I don't pass quick judgment on organizations as being either morally good or bad. Yet, there are organizations that I would refuse to work for: organizations that promote intolerance or show fascist tendencies.

Question 9: What are you better at than other people?

Answer: At stimulating sustainable changes. During my coaching activities, I succeed at provoking concern and involvement with participants, making them work hard on their own personality instead of looking for quick answers and fixes. During my consulting activities, I help my clients find the core of problems. There's no such thing as change with nothing but advantages. Possible disadvantages must be taken into account at an early stage in order to assure the success of intended changes. I succeed at helping people make well-meditated decisions between keeping the status quo and initiating changes without neglecting to reflect on cost and benefit. When working as a meeting or negotiation facilitator, I make sure that participants don't beat around the bush.

Question 10: What are others better at than you?

Answer: At superficial work. It's sometimes obvious that nobody really wants changes to happen and that important people don't actually support the project at hand. In these cases, I'm not as good as others because I choose to speak my mind about the observations I make. I'm not particularly good at "feeding" others. This means that I refuse to make necessary changes or learning processes in place of others just because it's convenient. If I ever get the impression that a person or an organization wants to delegate changes involving themselves to me, I don't hesitate to point out that I cannot guarantee change under such circumstances.

Question 11: How do you assure the quality of your work?

Answer: The quality of my work depends on my tools and I myself am the tool. The most important means of quality assurance include reflection, supervision, counseling by colleagues and relaxation. Continuing professional education also plays an important role, but is pointless if not accompanied by thorough reflection about the job one does.

Question 12: What are your current favorite areas of interest?

Answer: I'm involved in impro theater. It's an inexhaustible source of spontaneity and genuine actions. Methods used in improvisation theatre perfectly apply to coaching situations. The crucial importance of communication and the possibility of improving it by constant practice can be shown to executives. Another one of my areas of interest is leadership in organizations with a high level of expertise. This includes questions like: how can executives ascertain their employees' performance if they have fewer technical skills than they do? This is already true for many executives in development departments as well as in law firms and consulting firms. A growing number of executives will face these working conditions in the future. They will be leaders for their employees by providing the framework, assisting in difficult situations and checking reports for consistency.