During a recent leadership training running for four days I asked myself as a participant once again the everlasting question what leadership is? We were trained to function in a framework of conflicts and to serve existing structures with its rules and paradigms. The training dealt pragmatically with the cruelty of today´s business and showed [...]

Thailand is beautiful and so are its people. They are beautiful for their gentle and kind way to treat each other, for their sensitivity, for their smiles and for their mindfulness not to hurt each other. All these wonderful attitudes on the other hand are frequently causing many challenging situations in the field of leadership whenever the Thai and Western culture are supposed to form an effective unity. What are the reasons for this and why is caring such an important part of leadership in Thailand? Here is some insight into intercultural awareness and its implications.

The German football team has so far (we are at the semi final stage when I am writing this blog) clearly shown the best performance of all countries participating in the FIFA world cup in South Africa. The fast-paced style of attacking football that Germany has displayed in recent weeks can only be compared with [...]

These days, talking about performance management, I am wondering if the performance management system most of us know and practice is the right approach in order to foster high and excellent work outcome within the strategy channel. In many cases it comes with a management by objectives checking strategic fit and a behavioral part checking [...]

The annual or semi-annual performance review is hardly an event to look forward to. Often enough, employees are scared, sometimes they are afraid of being treated unfairly. Even as the manager, you are not looking forward to the performance management review session. The process is often over-complicated and a comprehensive form has to be filled [...]

For me, care is a difficult notion. Karl Popper said: “The attempt to make heaven on earth invariably produces hell.”
Where does care begin, and where should it stop? When do we talk about care, and when are we dealing with business? Is it possible to care, when we are aiming at profit maximization? And are [...]

I just finished reading the book “Helping People Win At Work: A Business Philosophy Called “Don’t Mark My Paper, Help me Get an A” by Ken Blanchard and Garry Ridge. One tool described in the book caught my eye and made me do some search on it.
According to research by Noel Tichy, the American leadership [...]

About two years ago, a friend of mine, who is leadership coach and as well process worker, got me acquainted with the notion of process and world work as Arnold Mindell and his associates have developed it during the last 30 years. I was so fascinated by this approach to organizational change and conflict management [...]

Sunday morning, 7.15 a.m. The first employees and customers of Merck Ltd., Thailand arrive at the registration booths that were set up in Benjasiri Park nearby the company’s office. Some of them bring along their spouses, children and friends. Upon registration, everybody receives a blue Merck Thailand Volunteer polo shirt, special shoes and tools.
At 8 a.m., 10 [...]

I know many managers who are doing motorsports. In my company, for example, a CEO, two department mangers and myself will go on tour into the Italian Dolomites in the beginning of July, rejoicing speed, focus, challenge, company, nature, and intensity which sum up, I´d say, to fun and joy.
In order to prepare myself for [...]

Daniel Pink, one of my favourite authors, has recently released a new book titled “Drive – The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us” in which he makes a strong, science-based case for rethinking motivation. In “Drive”, he reveals the three elements of true motivation:
Autonomy – the desire to direct our own lives
Mastery – the urge [...]

Recently, I experienced in two different settings outside my company a crisis of caring leadership. In one case, I myself was in the lead, in the other I was observing the issue not being directly involved. In both cases, the representatives of caring leadership were failing to hold up to their standard and image, promoting [...]