Team

Direct. Experienced. Close by.

More effective leadership and teams come from experienced consultants with interpersonal skill and a feel for the person across the table and the role they hold. Three partners work on every engagement personally and bring in exactly the depth needed from a growing network of specialists. At home in Cologne, at work across the German-speaking region.

Michael Schön
Background
Education: Business Psychology (B.A.) · General Management (M.A.) · Certified Trainer (INeKO) · Insights Discovery® Licensed Practitioner
Career: Absolventa · T-Systems · Media Broadcast
“the business psychologist”

Michael Schön

Founder & Managing Director
Quote
“Most leadership teams do not have a decision problem. They have a commitment problem. Commitment takes radical openness, and that is exactly where I start.”
In essence

As a business psychologist, Michael separates the stated demand from the real need, makes the few effective levers visible and makes sure something remains that translates into action in daily work. His feel for group dynamics creates the space in which the unspoken can be said, and that is exactly where the friction dissolves that has been slowing a team down for months. He leads with calm presence rather than pressure: listen, reflect back, get to the point.

Focus areas
  • Brings different levels onto a shared language, from the shop floor to the executive board.
  • Establishes a feedback and performance culture in which both praise and criticism can be discussed effectively.
  • Condenses many topics into a few priorities that hold when facilitating.
  • Translates leadership team intentions into strategies everyone understands.
Ludger Sieverding
Background
Education: Diplom-Volkswirt (Economics) · Bank Clerk · Certified Trainer · Insights Discovery® Licensed Practitioner
Career: 1&1 · Telekom / T-Mobile · Bertelsmann · QVC
“the CEO”

Ludger Sieverding

Managing Partner
Quote
“A strategy is only worth as much as each person has made it their own.”
In essence

Ludger led in top management for 20 years, from division head in a DAX corporation to COO. He brings the analytical sharpness to extract the few levers from a strategy that really carry it, and the experience to drive them all the way to the operational level. He knows the pressure under which leadership decisions are actually made, and translates between the world of numbers and the world of people. His experience in upheaval and crisis gives leadership teams the confidence that even uncomfortable decisions will hold.

Focus areas
  • Translates strategy into structures and roles that hold up in daily work.
  • Leads and develops leadership teams, including through upheaval and crisis.
  • Aligns the long-term interests of employees, customers and the company.
Christopher Prätsch
Background
Education: Business Administration (B.Sc., WHU) · Investment Fund Specialist (DekaBank) · Insights Discovery® Licensed Practitioner · Scrum / Agile
Career: Procter & Gamble · HelloFresh · Volkswagen
“the entrepreneur”

Christopher Prätsch

Managing Partner
Quote
“I know the difference between a workshop that feels good on Friday and one that changes something on Monday.”
In essence

Ten years as founder and managing director: Christopher brings an entrepreneur’s bias for getting things done. Name the delicate topics first, then focus radically on the few real levers, then stay with it until it sticks. Moving between start-up and corporation, he quickly sees which structure actually holds a system together and where only symptoms are being treated. What drives him is impact rather than activity: a workshop has only succeeded once it shows up in behavior on Monday.

Focus areas
  • Combines strategic thinking with operational execution, having carried responsibility for growth and change himself.
  • Raises delicate topics openly and strengthens psychological safety without losing edge.
  • Moves leadership teams from many topics to clear, binding priorities.

Network · focus topics

Experienced specialists, brought in when an engagement calls for it.

When a topic grows larger or more specific, we extend the core team with exactly the expertise that counts: curated, not random.

01Strategy & transformation
Focus topic:›Transformation
Prof. Dr. Georg Kraus
Prof. Dr. Georg Kraus
Founder & Managing Director, Kraus & Partner

Founder and Managing Director of Kraus & Partner with 35 years of experience in change: professor of interpersonal skills (TU Clausthal), change lecturer at SGBS St. Gallen and author of numerous management books. Transformation and change, leadership, turnaround, strategy and innovation.

Kevin Pfander
Kevin Pfander
Managing Director, Kraus & Partner

A fearless change expert with 15 years of experience: a creative contrarian who challenges settled positions and ties solutions tightly to business reality. Change management, strategy and innovation.

Frederic Bauerfeind
Frederic Bauerfeind
Founder, WEBUILDAI

AI implementation for mid-sized companies and corporates: from idea to production, across 150+ projects. Founder and managing director of WEBUILDAI in Cologne, and a sought-after keynote speaker who explains AI without the buzzwords. AI strategy, processes & delivery.

02AI & innovation
Focus topics:›AI for leadership›AI in processes
Jelmer Peerbolte
Jelmer Peerbolte
Venture builder · ex-McKinsey · Exponential Executives

From idea to viable business model: as a venture builder he guides the path from zero to product-market fit. He combines the strategic sharpness of his McKinsey years with hands-on experience from building his own ventures, across industries.

Aragorn Meulendijks
Aragorn Meulendijks
Future historian & AI expert · Exponential Executives

Makes exponential technologies like AI and the metaverse strategically tangible for leadership teams: reads technology trends through the lens of history and turns them into pictures of the future. Keynote speaker in 15+ countries, co-founder of the Innovation Network.

Patrick Willer
Patrick Willer
Innovation Catalyst · Exponential Executives

Translates technological change into concrete steps and builds the networks that carry innovation. 30 years of innovation experience at Oracle, SAP and Salesforce, founder of the Innovation Network and book author; his talks connect philosophy and technology.

03Personality & empowerment
Focus topic:›Presence
Uwe John
Uwe John
Coach & theater director · Independent

30 years of experience-based people development: formats that interrupt familiar patterns and make personality, presence and team dynamics tangible. Theater director, drama educator and systemic coach (ECA); combines stagecraft with modern personal development.

Tatjana Poloczek
Tatjana Poloczek
Empowerment trainer & actor · fem:up

Presence, impact, delivery: acting-based methods that create real experiences. An actress for film, TV and stage as well as a voice actress; her trainings combine improvisation, status work, role, body and voice technique with personal development.

Anna Röser
Anna Röser
Coach & founder of fem:up

Female empowerment and presence: creates spaces where people discover their impact. An actress (Schauspielschule der Keller) with a business degree and coach training at the INeKO institute, University of Cologne; founder of fem:up, increasingly working with mixed groups too.

04Coaching & learning
Dr. Tobias Bach
Dr. Tobias Bach
Coach & mountain guide · Independent

A sports psychologist (PhD) and state-certified mountain and ski guide: takes teams into the zone between learning and panic, and makes sure they keep going when it gets hard. Teaches mountain psychology at the German Sport University Cologne and in Germany’s mountain-guide training; systemic coach (INeKO).

Florian Schmidt
Florian Schmidt
Systemic coach & change manager · Independent

Agile transformation and team coaching: creates the setting in which people reach results themselves. Systemic coach and change manager who stays with teams through change until new routines hold; DJ on the side.

Viola Ploski
Viola Ploski
Learning transformation expert · Kraus & Partner

A pioneer in modern learning: she connects company culture and learning culture so that people and organizations keep developing. Her best ideas arrive outdoors, running or hiking. Learning transformation, new work & change.

Latest from Michael Schön

Notes from practice. Latest posts on LinkedIn.

Contact

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your mind?

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Or reach a person directly:

Michael Schön
Founder & Managing Director
Ludger Sieverding
Managing Partner
Christopher Prätsch
Managing Partner