Executive Coaching for leaders who carry the responsibility.

What executive coaching does at C-level

Executive coaching is not tutoring, and it is not consulting in the classic sense. It is a structured dialogue in which you sort your questions, test your options and prepare decisions — with someone who sits outside your hierarchy and wants nothing from you. You say what cannot be said in the boardroom, and afterwards you see more clearly what you actually want.

Research confirms what many leaders experience: coaching can lead to emotional relief, stress reduction, a change of perspective and improved self-reflection (Künzli, 2005). For people who make consequential decisions every day, that is not a luxury; it is part of doing the job professionally.

Typical triggers

The reasons leaders come to me are rarely dramatic — but almost always pressing:

• A new role: the first board seat, the move from expert to managing director, the first 100 days.
• Succession: handing over a family business, or taking over from a predecessor who shaped everything.
• Conflict in the leadership team: two strong positions, an executive board that no longer pulls in one direction.
• Deciding under uncertainty: restructuring, a sale, an investment — when the numbers alone do not settle it.
• Crisis: liquidity, reputation, loss of trust among owners or the supervisory board.
• Exhaustion: when your own resilience becomes a risk for the company.

Why a former CEO and CTO as your coach

I founded a company in 1992, grew it to around 300 people, sold it in 2014 and then carried responsibility as Group CTO across three continents. Since 2020 I have worked as an interim manager. I know what a supervisory board meeting feels like when the quarter has not held — and how lonely a decision to let someone go can be.

To that I added a second education: an MSc in counselling sciences, a diploma as an Austrian life and social counsellor, a degree as academic psychosocial counsellor, and supervisor training. Together, they make for sparring at eye level. I ask questions rather than give advice — but I understand what you are talking about without needing it explained. Leadership coaching in Vienna, from someone who has sat in your chair: more under About.

How executive coaching works

• First conversation — no obligation, fully confidential. We clarify what this is about and whether working together makes sense.
• Contracting: What should be different at the end? How will you recognise it? If the company funds the coaching, we agree the goals together with the company; the content stays between us.
• Working phase: typically five to ten sessions of 50 to 90 minutes, every two to four weeks. Between sessions you act; at the next one we look at what worked.
• Close: taking stock against the original question. What has been achieved, what remains open, what you can now do on your own.

Details on rhythm and framework are under Process and terms.

Confidentiality and formats

What you say in coaching stays there. As a licensed counsellor I am bound by a statutory duty of confidentiality. Reports to employers, HR or owners exist only if we have explicitly agreed them in advance — and then only to the extent you release.

Sessions take place in Vienna, in Leopoldsdorf near Vienna, or online by video. Many clients combine the two: an in-person start, then ongoing work remotely — including from Germany and Switzerland.

Four areas of focus

Executive coaching is the umbrella. Depending on what you bring, the emphasis shifts:

• CEO Coaching — sparring for managing directors and boards: decisions, owners, supervisory board, the first 100 days.
• Leadership Team Supervision — roles, conflicts and collaboration in executive teams and management circles.
• Executive Burnout Prevention — recognising early warning signs and managing load before it turns into absence.
• Method: Systemic Coaching — how I work, and why questions are more effective than advice.