A
lways at home in several worlds (I was born in London, grew up mainly in Germany, worked in the UK, USA and France, was married 24 years to a German-Iranian – now a widow – and the mother of a 20-year-old daughter), I come into my own when standard solutions no longer help and everyone is required to think in new and connected ways in order to develop sustainable value creation strategies together.
I don’t get held up for long with symptom analyses and prefer to get to the bottom of the cause behind the cause. In the profound conviction that it is only by achieving this milestone that really ground-breaking and sustainably effective solutions are possible.
During all my life I have curated my learning journeys myself. Questions which I see on the horizon at a very early stage have continually accompanied me.
My digital learning journey started in the mid-90s: after two years’ professional experience, I moved to the USA with a Young Professional scholarship from the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft to explore the internet. On my return I founded at the age of 28 the network “webgrrls” – at that point only 3% of all women in Germany were online. 1999 the industry magazine Konr@d described me as “… one of the 50 most important women in the Internet”.
A few years later a mindfulness learning journey was on the agenda. Among other activities: a 3-month sabbatical in India (2000) and a certification as a yoga teacher (2009). Since then my daily morning practice is an integral part of my life.
My 3rd learning journey focused on personal & organisational development. Essential elements were the certification as inhouse trainer for Stephen R. Coveys globally renowned programme „7 habits of highly effective people“ and advanced trainings in the area of organisational development with a strong focus on systems theory and organisational psychology with Klaus Eidenschink (Hephaistos / Metatheory of Change) und Dr. Wolfgang Looss.
My current NEW WORK learning journey is broad in scope. It includes a 2,5 year pilot with the selforganisation framework “Holacracy” (the lessons learned I’ve shared in an article for the German business psychology magazine “Wirtschaftspsychologie aktuell” 4/2019), my active KASO-membership (Germany’s selforganisation network for big corporations) and a wide range of pioneer work. What constantly drives me is the question how excellent value creation can best be achieved in the VUCA age.
The next learning journey is already emerging. Stay tuned!
Pioneering work in all its facets characterizes my résumé: ranging from fusions, start-ups (companies, departments, networks), and holistic transformation work to interdisciplinary research.
A strong vision and interdisciplinary depth characterize my thought. My actions are characterized by strong, pragmatic implementation strength and the inner drive to achieve excellent value creation for the good of all.
Where others give up, I come into my own.
Calm. Unconventional. And extremely effective.
Karin Maria Schertler
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