Insights

Leadership is not a spectator sport.

Thoughts from practice: what really occupies leaders today — and what works. The posts originate on LinkedIn; here they stay.

A note in English. The pieces in this series are currently published in German. Below you'll find short English summaries of all twenty-one — enough to give you a flavor of how I think. If a particular piece resonates and you'd like to read the full text, send me a short email and I'll happily share an English version with you.

You can also follow the series on LinkedIn — most posts go up there first.

Trusted Advisor in an AI world — what doesn't change.

A leader recently asked me: „Will you be replaced by AI in five years?" On what changes — and what stays.

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Talk about the fear first. Then about the tools.

Seven people, a first AI workshop, ten minutes of silence. Why the first question shouldn't be „which use cases?".

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Selling in Hong Kong taught me more about leadership than any seminar.

Hong Kong, 1994. A restaurant in Wan Chai. A „yes" that wasn't a yes. How a Dim Sum lunch taught me the most important thing about leading across cultures.

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120 people, 6 nations, one roofing project — what Singapore taught me about leadership.

Singapore, 1997. 38°C, 90 percent humidity. 120 people from six nations, 45 roofs in two years — and three lessons that still guide me today.

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Why the best advice for leaders comes from the construction site — not the lecture hall.

Monday, 7 a.m., large construction site. Three days of rain. The schedule slips. What the best site foremen know about leadership.

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A conversation that changed everything — and only lasted ten minutes.

A Tuesday. A phone call between two appointments. She was offered a division head role — and something in her said no.

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What a hospital knows about leadership under pressure — that most companies don't see.

6:45 a.m., ICU, shift change. Twenty minutes for twelve lives. What leadership in a clinic teaches about leadership in a company.

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What AI does to trust — and what it doesn't.

A leadership team has just integrated ChatGPT. Half is enthusiastic, the other half unsettled. On what AI changes — and what it doesn't.

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Why change projects die — in the second week.

Wednesday of the second week, seven days after kickoff — the moment change projects die. Not with a bang, but with silence.

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Thursday evening, 7:12pm — the loneliness of leadership

After the town hall, Martin is alone in his office. On the quiet aloneness of decisions you can never fully tell anyone.

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My best employee doesn't want to lead. And that's good news.

Excellent specialists turn into frustrated managers — because leadership is the only career path. That has to change.

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She tried to say it three times. Nobody listened.

The best people leave quietly. No drama, no ultimatum. The question isn't why they leave — it's why we don't listen.

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Your team doesn't need you anymore. And that's the best sign.

Two weeks of holiday, everything runs. Relief — and then the quiet unease. Why being dispensable isn't a problem, it's your greatest success.

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„I'm supposed to explain to my team what AI means for us. But I don't understand it myself."

Half of all leaders feel unsure about AI. The dangerous thing isn't the uncertainty — it's the silence.

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Error culture doesn't mean celebrating mistakes — it means honestly naming the first one

Six out of twelve leaders had errors their boss didn't know about. How error culture is created in a single moment.

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3:32pm. She leaves. He stays. Who is actually leading whom?

Lisa is done at half past three and leaves. Markus stays until 5:45. Who gets the better reputation? And what that says about our systems.

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Shop floor, 6:27am — Why the best leadership is invisible

A shift leader leads excellently for two hours. And doesn't know it. A story about leadership we overlook.

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Three words that change every team: „What do you need?"

Ten minutes of conversation accomplished more than nine months of conflict management. Because one single question opened the room.

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What a handball coach knows about feedback that most managers don't

In the time-out, what counts isn't the analysis of the last 28 minutes. It's the one question that brings the team itself to the solution.

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The most dangerous sentence in leadership: „We've always done it this way"

Seven words that prevent more change than any crisis. How standstill disguises itself as experience.

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Leadership is not a spectator sport — why I'm writing this series

What a handball coach knows about leadership, and why the difference between the stands and the field changes everything.

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