Executives and Professionals on a Cross-Road – Interview with Ernst Bechinie

Ernst, thank you for your taking the time for this interview. What are “Executives and Professionals on a Cross-Road”?

These people have normally had an exceptional career and a satisfying personal life. Out of the blue things start to change for them. Things are not as they used to be before. They suddenly are surprised by a combination of professional and/or private challenges. It might be a new business opportunity, a sudden promotion offer or being completely unexpected released from a position.
They ask themselves: What is this? Why me? How do I handle this? Where do I go from here?

How did you encounter this topic for yourself?

I have gone through this myself. Growing up and studying in Austria. Leaving my original home country I worked in Germany; later building up and managing my own consulting business there and selling it. Than I came to Switzerland where I live since a number of years – growing new roots and working in my passion called coaching.

From that experience and my working with many people in situations as described above – I accompany executives and professionals in walking successfully and with confidence their path of change.

What are you exactly doing with your clients?

We are doing a special journey together. This is a journey that involves body, mind and heart. It is a special travelling that means at least two things: I as a coach am in completely foreign country and I have no idea where my client is at the moment and where or how he wants to go. The client on the other hand is in a country she knows very well because it is herself. She might not be completely aware of what she knows but she is “at home” with all her resources, experiences, and creativity. And usually she will have the ability and a strong longing for learning.
Let me show this on an example. I am presently working with a business lady: American, living in Switzerland, end thirties, divorced and educating her two school aged children.
In the last 10 years she has built up and successfully managed a training business here in this country. Now her father has asked her to take over a family business in the US. This is a big business challenge and at the same times a strong emotional issue – helping the father and going back to her American roots.
In our work we started out with a business strategy for her Swiss enterprise. We developed various options: selling the whole thing, finding a manager, developing a successor from inside or even managing the company at a distance from the States by all kind of internet conferences.
Since I have been an entrepreneur over 30 years, this seemed to be a fairly safe ground for me in the beginning. Then it turned out that her life partner was also working as an employee in her company and the relationship was difficult for her. The question was what is the stability of this relationship and what will be when she leaves Switzerland?
Than there was the question of the children. Should they go to school in the US or stay with the grandmother here in Switzerland.
That meant that amidst this “technical” business strategy work we were and still are confronted with a number of relationship issues. On top of this we are dealing with her feelings of leaving Switzerland, which has become a second home for her with all the connections she had built up here.
In our coaching all these issues are connected with each other. From one session to the other or even during a session a different challenge comes into the foreground. And only the client herself can solve all of them.

I am there as a supporting partner. My job is just to ask a few questions to built trust in our relationship and increase her awareness. By awareness I mean for instance where are we now, where does she want to go, what obstacles does she see or feel on the way and how she can overcome them? What does her body say and how does she feel?
Important for me is to stay in the position “I don’t know” and “I am not responsible for solutions”. I am responsible to get the process going and stay on track.

How does this differ from a normal coaching?

Well, I think I have described my „normal“ coaching. How it differs from others I really don’t know.
I can tell you what is important for me.
A first question thereby is: Can I be “real”, can I stay authentic, reachable and transparent for my client. That means for me bringing in my own feelings and personality without imposing anything.
The second point is, am I able to understand the inner world of my client? Can I feel her from the inside and enter her world as visitor on a basis of respect? Can I fully trust that he or she will find all the solutions from his or her own resources?
Thirdly it is very important for me to build on previous successes and strengths of my client. What has worked before and lets do more of it.
Here it is important to give support by genuinely caring and praising; accepting what there is.

Now, what coaching is this: business strategy coaching, relationship coaching, leadership coaching?
It is all three and maybe more. I call it: being a partner for people on a cross-road and walking with them for a while.

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Ernst Bechinie works as Coach in Lausanne, Switzerland. Contact Ernst at www.solutioncoaching.ch