Kirsten Hein Coaching Profile

Executive Sparring and Opinionated Facilitation

Growth requires friction. As a leader you will find moments where you don't need another neutral facilitator. You need a sparring partner with an opinion based on competence and experience – someone who listens closely, names what she sees, and challenges you where it matters. In a safe space - with radical candor, empathy and cultural sensitivity.

Your sparring partner

Leading at senior level often means leading through change and transformation: new roles, new structures, new expectations. Since 1998, as founder of CONTRAS, I have supported leaders and organisations through exactly these moments.

Having lived and worked in eight countries, I know what it means to lead across cultures, to arrive somewhere new, and to be measured by unfamiliar standards. Your coaching can take place in German, English or Spanish (in person or online).

In 2020 I founded the Leadership Campus (CLC), an academy approach to leadership development. It rests on the same premise as my coaching: real development starts with an honest look at yourself.

What we work on

• Stepping into a bigger role. Moving into a global, executive or C-level position: what changes, what to let go of, and how to lead people who used to be peers.
• Leading through change or transformation. Restructurings, new organisational models, international set-ups – with equal attention to the structural and the human side, while ensuring business continuity.
• Leading across cultures and countries. Working in diverse and international teams, leading remotely, and making your leadership work beyond your home market.
• Executive profiling: knowing where your strengths and potential really lie. Are you at your best when you manage – structuring, steering, delivering results – or when you lead – setting direction, mobilising people, shaping culture? Most leaders have a clear center of gravity, but few have looked at it closely. Using structured profiling frameworks we map them against what your organisation needs, and turn the result into a well-founded decision about your next step.
• Character and self-reflection. Which of your strengths carry you, which ones start to get in your way at the next level, and how others really experience you and your behaviours.
• Empowering others – with judgement. Empowerment is a powerful tool, but not the answer to everything. We look at when to empower, when to delegate, when to decide, and when to step in.

What makes the difference

The 3C approach: Personal Case, People Case, Business Case. Most leaders come to coaching with personal or team topics. At senior level, though, the business is always part of the picture and cannot be left out. Your coaching covers all three:

• Personal Case – you as a leader: your strengths, patterns and next step
• People Case – your team, your peers, your stakeholders, your leadership style
• Business Case – markets and customers, strategy and ambitions, stakeholders and competition, numbers, and what your company needs from you

That keeps your coaching concrete and fully customized: your development is tied to what your business actually needs.

Political intelligence. One of the seven dimensions of the CONTRAS 7Q model - and a capability few coaches address. It is about reading power, interests and informal networks, and using that understanding to get things done and build collaborative alliances – with integrity. For leaders moving into global and executive roles, it is often the decisive difference.

Sparring, not just mirroring. You get good questions – and a clear view. An experienced counterpart who has seen many organisations from the inside – and who tells you openly when she sees things differently.

Self-reflection is the starting point. Coaching works when you are willing to look at yourself, including the uncomfortable parts. Structure and challenge come from me; openness comes from you.

Person and system together. Your challenges rarely sit only with you. That is why the organisation around you is part of the work – roles, interfaces, expectations – so that what you change also holds in practice. Your role and your next step are looked at from three sides: what the role demands professionally, what it demands of you as a person, and what it needs to contribute to the team and the culture.

Is this right for you?

This coaching is for leaders who want to grow and are ready to be challenged – high potentials on their way into international or executive roles, and experienced leaders facing a crossroads or a new chapter. And anyone who wants to make their career step a deliberate choice rather than a matter of chance.

What you can expect:

• A clear, honest counterpart, not a cheerleader
• Experience from many industries, countries and leadership levels
• Confidentiality and full focus on your goals
• Concrete next steps you can try out between sessions

References (excerpt)

• Carl Zeiss
• Daimler
• Danone
• Evonik
• EY
• Healthcare Frauen
• HORIBA
• Jamestown
• KPMG
• LEO Pharma
• Leonine
• Paul Hartmann
• PERI
• Schaeffler
• thyssenkrupp rothe erde
• VISTA