Develop Skilled Leaders and Teams for Today’s Challenges
Whether you just want to elevate your office townhall or team retreat with an insightful and fun interactive impulse talk, appreciate a sparring partner on your organization’s learning & development offer, or book a training program for your leaders and teams – we are all-in.
Trusted Collaboration:
Fostering NextGen Leaders
How to fulfill one of your most important tasks as a leader – preparing the next generation to follow in your footsteps? Fewer high potentials than ever want to actually pursue a management career, though we undoubtedly need great leaders for the challenges lying ahead of us. On top, we are facing labor shortage in crucial areas and often need to come up with alternatives to classical hiring - at the forefront keep our existing talents. This makes your leadership and role modelling more important than ever. In this course we tackle how to lead and promote especially GenZ and late GenY team members. Boost your modern human leadership skills with tools from coaching, mentoring and experiential teaching – to be able to inspire, enable, upskill, and reskill your team.
Cultivating Team Trust & Psychological Safety
In its global endeavor to detect the secret ingredients for high performing teams Google discovered over a decade ago that psychological safety – i.e., openly sharing ideas and feedback without the fear of retribution – and accountability were by far the most important success criteria. This insight has since then found entry into common leadership science and top trends like human leadership and vulnerability. Still, it often remains a challenge to even recognize, let alone establish and maintain trust in practice – especially in hybrid or fully virtual team setups. In this course we tackle both starting from day 1 as well as growing trust. With markers to quickly evaluate the (non)existence of psychological safety and commitment and practical tools and tips to establish both, you may easily derive concrete action steps to boost trust in your teams.
Mastering Hybrid collaboration
Before Covid managers used to think that a performance drop would be the main concern with hybrid setups – team members working from different locations at different times – while actually a loss of belonging and thus higher turnover showed to be the real issue. Thus, companies are ordering their employees back to the office, which again causes dissatisfaction as the majority values the newly gained flexibility, plus it’s more ecologically and economically sustainable to work from home. So how to hit the right balance? In this course we jointly tackle how you can define the perfect sweet spot of hybrid collaboration variants for your team. Moreover, you will discover how you can still foster a sense of belonging, and a strong team culture within your hybrid or fully virtual setup – especially while establishing trust and handling conflicts. On top, how you can use online collaboration formats and tools to ideally support your setup.
Building Successful Relationships
In today’s world of hybrid collaboration, it gets ever more important – though also more challenging – to build great business relationships. It’s often hard to foster mutual trust with external partners like clients and suppliers, or internally with managers, colleagues and team members. Yet it is one of the most vital skills to make our collaborations effective, inclusive, and most of all enjoyable and fun. In this course you will discover how to induce trust from day 1 with your authentic introduction pitch for a great first impression, and then build it ongoingly based on your personal strengths – for becoming a truly trusted partner, also beyond a current engagement or project assignment.
Elevating My Team With Feedback
Most people would agree that feedback is helpful and much needed for personal growth and team development. Yet it is also one of the most dreaded workplace endeavors, and living an open feedback culture often seems an impossible task. Why is that so? Feedback is often delivered and received as a mere judgement on our skills, abilities, or our very personality and we feel annoyed, lectured, or even threatened. How can we change that? This course takes a different approach on feedback with some hands-on tools, playfulness, and fun. With the support of an executive coach, feedback is shared and received in lots of little experiential games and exercises in a safe space. This not only boosts your skill to give feedback that finds acceptance followed by concrete actions, but also your team collaboration and trust. Feedback can indeed be fun and most helpful to discover and apply your individual strengths to the best. Go for it!
Know Yourself, Know Your Team
Human leadership is one of the core topics nowadays. To be able to be authentic, empathic, inclusive, and inspiring as leaders and colleagues, we need to first understand ourselves though – namely our strengths, work style and preferences. Only then we can begin to truly see and appreciate others as enriching and complementing team members. In this course we use a common psychometric test method, the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator® (MBTI®), or the CliftonStrengths® by Gallup to identify your own style in areas like communication, conflict resolution, innovation, or change processes. In doing so we jointly discover your team’s composition to identify your unique setup and how you could use these insights to boost your team collaboration, as well as your team’s overall performance and visibility.
Our training programs focus on our passion for trusted collaboration, focused communication and true mindset shifts for modern and inclusive leadership styles.
As coaches, all our workshops and talks are fun, interactive, and highly experiential with simulations, games, group exchange, tailored business examples, practical tools & frameworks, and coaching exercises.
Have fun discovering our service offer to boost your own and your team’s development here, or simply give us a call right away to chat about what you would like to achieve.
Focused Communication
Establishing My Brand
Who are you as a work professional and why do you do what you do? What’s your unique style and contribution? How do others benefit from working with you? If you can answer those questions from the heart right away, congratulations! You are part of a very small group able to do so. If not, no worries, you will be soon. In this course we tackle the topic of defining and communicating your very own personal brand, elevating your professional image within your organization and industry. Together, we will craft your brand to represent your unique value proposition – ensuring it aligns with your values, skills and ambitions – and determine effective internal and external communication channels to reach your audience with your authentic advertising pitch.
Telling My Business Story
Due to a remarkable decrease in attention span, on-point, audience-tailored communication becomes ever more important – especially in today’s data-driven environment. Communicating in a clear, engaging and convincing way can make all the difference whether your message gets heard and subsequently acted upon or not. With insights from public speaking, strategy consulting, branding, and advertising, this course features a multitude of practical tools and frameworks to place a message with an audience not only effectively, but also efficiently on a daily basis. Furthermore, an optional slidewriting add-on dives deeper and offers tips and tricks on how to structure and display information specifically on PowerPoint slides or in similar formats.
Boosting My Presence
It is not only what we say, but also how we say it that determines in large parts if a message gets heard and acted upon. Our presence, voice and intonation are transmissions of our personality, so what better way to express ourselves? In this course, you work with an experienced speech & presence coach to not only boost your verbal presentation skills, but also define your personally best way of speaking with body dynamics, voice, and articulation. Furthermore, you learn how to prepare mentally and physically for presentations and overcome potential stage fright.
Acing Cross-Team Communication & Networking
Successful cross-team communication and networking are vital for ensuring that various teams within an organization collaborate effectively, share knowledge, and work towards common goals. Only when we are able to win people over beyond our own teams and departments and break up silo-mentality we can create real long-lasting impact within our organizations. In this course we focus on how you can collaborate across teams by distilling essential common grounds and promoting overarching goals. Experience how you can actively tap into our deeply human inclination to help each other being a part of ‘one team’. On top, consciously network and build alliances for your cause.
Negotiating for
Supreme Collaboration
Negotiation is mostly associated with commercial bartering, while it is something we use every day, in all our collaborations. It is not only managers or project leaders who regularly face the task of winning over and inspiring colleagues in their teams or across teams. Good preparation in the sense of objective arguments or facts is often not enough. The power of persuasion lies elsewhere. This course focuses on achieving what you are aiming for and more, while at the same time maintaining and even promoting the relationship with your negotiating partners. With a mix of practical tools and methods from behavioral economics, psychology, and latest negotiation research, this course induces a mindset shift when it comes to our negotiations.
(Out)Maneuvering
Power Play & Politics
Both terms ‚power‘ and ‚politics‘ are often associated very negatively within organizations - yet they may also be simply seen as inherently human behavior to strive for improvement whenever there is hierarchy and resources scarcity involved. As such this may be both helpful or hindering, in any case mastery is key to get things done. Studies show that people who are able to navigate politics are more successful, productive and resilient. This becomes ever truer, the higher you climb the corporate ladder and the more cross-team you work. In this course we together take a look at your specific company culture and setup to determine how you could apply your given power to shape topics, while staying authentic and true to your values. Furthermore, you will discover how to foster alliances for joint successes. On top, you will learn to recognize and handle neurotic traits like narcissism and paranoia – their existence being a statistical norm among corporate executives.
Modern & Inclusive Minds
Nurturing My Intrapreneurial Mind
Taking ownership and being able to be a proactive partner at eye level for managers, colleagues, clients, and further stakeholders is a cornerstone for our success in today’s fast and uncertain environment. Yet, also as part of a larger organization we want to keep the independence we desire to be creative and induce our very own style and value-add. This course encompasses both techniques for fostering our intrapreneurial and solution-oriented mindset, as well as methods to quickly gain clarity on own roles and responsibilities. With the support of a Strengths finder test like Gallup’s Clifton Strengths or VIA Strength Finder and further practical frameworks, you will gain more self-awareness, direction and confidence in your work collaborations and communication.
Becoming Critical Thinkers in Times of AI
With Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) getting ever more sophisticated, yet also error-prone, and deep fakes and crafty fraud on the rise, human critical thinking skills have become more important than ever. It is key to be clear about our intents and leverage human creativity and rationale before we consult GenAI tools – and then relentlessly challenge the results and recommendations they give us, for the best application possible. In this course we focus on fostering our human curious and scrutinizing mindset muscle as well as building practical critical thinking skills. With many easily and quickly applied tools, tips and tricks for both individuals and teams you will get a serious grip on idea generation and selection, as well as structuring your thoughts and problem-solving approaches.
Leading for True Inclusion
Diversity is a key performance indicator, equity is a bridge, while inclusion is the real key for leveraging the beautiful variety of human minds and abilities. We are well beyond times where diversity was solely referring to dimensions like gender, ethnicity, or age. People are just different in numerous ways, yet our similarities are much greater than what sets us apart. As leaders we have a huge influence on whether our team members feel included and appreciated – and may thus unleash their full creative potential and contribution. In this course you will discover your own unconscious cognitive and learned biases and develop strategies how to overcome them in fun and insightful exercises and games with your peers. Moreover, we will together tackle practical ways to establish a truly inclusive culture in your teams and actively address related conflicts along the way. Be ready to unlock major success factors like higher engagement, boosted team performance, more innovation, significantly larger talent pools, and stronger retention.
Leading Intrapreneurial Minds
How do you actually lead team members to be highly engaged, self-directed intrapreneurs, while not losing your grip as a leader? How do you convey vision, meaning and impact that are somehow relevant for all of us, but plainly essential for Generation Z? There is a multitude of ideas available, from systemic and adaptive leadership methods to agile and holacratic formats. However, how to cherry-pick the right methods that fit with your authentic leadership style and your unique team within your organizational setup? It’s a jungle out there. In this course we jointly tackle how you can build and empower your own high-performing team by setting clear directions through inspiring goals and aligned key deliverables, yet leaving room for creative ideas, innovative spirit and flexible autonomous work styles.
Solving Complex Problems in Times of AI
In times of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) on the rise, human problem-solving skills seem to become more important than ever. Recent studies found that although GenAI shows to be a great resource for e.g. creative product innovation or administrative tasks, it tends to be indeed hindering for company-specific business problem solving. This course thus focuses on the relevant human problem-solving skills to be able to apply GenAI strategically and focused as a result, rather tan being steered by it. In a step-by-step approach with many practical tools and effective frameworks we will together crack a tough nut complex problem along an intriguing real life case study from your industry.
Managing Neurodiversity & Mental Health
Awareness and appreciation for neurodiversity on a broader spectrum has been continuously growing over the past few years, along with a heightened attention to our mental health overall. This is specifically relevant these days, dealing with the aftermath of Covid in an uncertain multi-crisis environment. While more than 90% of employees say that their employer carries responsibility for their mental health, the return on investment for mental health programs is a staggering 1:4, according to latest insights. To enhance not only well-being, but also physical health, productivity, culture & team dynamics, retention, and crisis handling, we need to understand our brain and body reactions better as leaders. In this course we will look at the neurodiverse spectrum from High Sensitivity to Asperger and how these can be leveraged as superpowers, especially in team setups. Moreover, you will investigate your own reaction patterns when it comes to performance under stress and stress overload. Finally, you will learn how to spot and address resulting mental health issues like depression and addiction in your teams.
Tailor-Made Programs & Train the Trainer
Jointly with you we design and set up training programs along learning journeys that exactly meet the need of your learners.
That may be a complex problem solving and communication training for your new joiners, a leadership toolkit for your emerging leaders, or an advanced self-branding and inclusive teaming program for your senior leaders.
I am grateful for having the chance to take part in a consulting workshop led by Sandra. She is exceptional in what she does, for being able to deliver abstract, multi-facetted theoretical concepts in a very understandable way, making those very easy and natural to adopt practically.
The workshop left me very opened, seeing and understanding much more of people around me, recognizing reasons why I am able to communicate with them naturally and successfully or not so. It goes further beyond the contents of the training though, I see so many new possible growth and development routes, and if ever a workshop deserves an etiquette of being life changing - this one surely does - entirely thanks to Sandra.
Artur Pilch,
Project Manager, UBS
Barbara has the ability to quickly empathize with a company and its employees. We appreciate her warm nature, great energy and her ability to convey her broad knowledge professionally and with a good dose of humor.
Sabrina Wiik-Schaerer,
Head of HR & Recruiting
Energy Infrastructure Partners
On top, if you prefer your leaders or internal trainers to conduct your tailored programs, we are more than happy to train them in professional facilitation skills to enhance your learners' experience and maximize your program's impact.
We also love to co-facilitate with senior leaders in your company to bring that extra flavor of anecdotes and hands-on mentor tips to your trainings.
Oriented towards modern micro-learning approaches while still offering an interactive experience with a coach, all our workshop modules have a duration of 2-3 hours, can be conducted online or in-person, and may be combined with (team) coaching on demand.
Your possibilities for combinations are (almost) endless, thus enabling individualized and sustainable growth that fits into your busy schedule.
See individual program details listed below
Barbara delivers the full package of training design and coaching while thoroughly representing our corporate culture, mission and values. She quickly picks up on what we want to reinforce and train on and the principles behind it.
This means that our joint custom programs are developed with our corporate strategies in mind, preparing our trainees for a memorable and impactful experience.
She effectively partners with our business experts […] Working with Barbara has always ensured that the coaching and training delivered to our colleagues receives exceptionally higher than typical participant feedback and it sparks in many an authentic interest and understanding on key sustainability topics.
Sustainability Manager,
Global Financial Services/Insurance
- Co-Facilitator
Sandra played a pivotal role in working with me and my team in launching a complex program […] She is an outstanding coach, facilitator, subject matter expert (SME), and her client relationship skills are outstanding. […] One of Sandra's greatest strengths is her exceptional communication skills.
[She] can convey complex ideas with clarity and precision. Moreover, Sandra is incredibly agile and resourceful, always finding innovative solutions to any challenges that arise. Her proactive approach and commitment to excellence were evident at every stage of our collaboration. I truly hope to have the pleasure of working alongside Sandra in future endeavors and I would wholeheartedly recommend partnering with her.
Rosana Greco,
Global Sr. Customer Success Manager, CoachHub
You may certainly also take advantage of a stand-alone team coaching workshop or individual coaching series along the highest quality and ethical standards defined by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), as both Barbara and Sandra hold an advanced accreditation as Professional Certified Coaches (PCC).
Integrated Coaching & Team Coaching
What is ‘Integrated Coaching’?
We specialize in leadership coaching embedded as a strategic part of your training programs – for your deep personal and team development and integrating new skills in continuous learning formats.
As internationally accredited executive coaches we also bring a new perspective to underlying mindsets on entrepreneurial spirit, critical thinking and problem solving in times of artificial intelligence (AI), and inclusive leadership. Furthermore, it enables us to support you in establishing real trust in your teams and collaborations.
Barbara Bock-Walenta and team has provided invaluable support during the Executive MBA field project journey at the Stockholm School of Economics in Riga combing engaging workshop methodology with a captivating teaching style.
The main focus of the coaching program is leadership and communication skills for building and leading high-performance teams and the ability of (self) reflection. The whole programme has been delivered in a very professional manner, keeping up the energy and positivity among our students even when dealing with very complex questions and leadership challenges.
Yuri Romanenkov, Kate Priede-Trauberga,
Executive MBA Programme Directors)
Stockholm School of Economics in Riga
As a leader in healthcare research, I had the opportunity to observe and work with numerous coaches. From my perspective, Sandra is a unique coach as she combines warm-hearted empathy with a razor-sharp analytical mindset. Sandra co-creates with her coachees without guiding, and she challenges while creating a safe space for self-exploration. In other words, Sandra enables her coachees to discover their unrivaled potential and facilitates their personal growth in a light-footed manner.
Tatjana Ross,
Director Medicinal Chemistry
Merck Healthcare KGaA
Interactive Impulse Talks
We believe participation is always more engaging and long-term-impactful than pure listening. Thus, our keynotes are not only inspirational and insightful, but first and foremost interactive and fun for our audiences.
Whether you seek to successfully kick-off your informal team offsite, elevate your virtual office townhall, or engage large scale conference participants, we are here to support you.
I can highly recommend working with Barbara Bock-Walenta. She has collaborated with us on diverse projects, i.e., as longstanding trainer for a coaching seminar for female high potentials, as well as a moderating impulse speaker at larger conferences in the areas of leadership and negotiation management. Barbara understands how to implement our project ideas in the best possible way, and also enrich and enhance existing concepts with new creative ideas. I especially would like to highlight her extraordinary service orientation and engagement. Barbara was approachable at all times and flexibly adapted to new situations. The exchange with her was always truly inspiring. […] We are very much looking forward to further joint projects.
Betina Kirsch,
Managing Director
Employer Association of German Insurers
Sandra Cameron’s interactive impulse talk was instrumental in deepening our understanding of work-life balance, core values, and neurodiversity. Her leadership insights, drawn from both practical experience and current research, enriched our session. Integrating everyone’s perspective, Sandra provided us with valuable takeaways to reflect on, such as enhancing our approach to work life separation and recognizing diverse cognitive strengths. These insights have highlighted areas we want to explore further, fostering a culture of continuous learning and improvement within our team. We are grateful for the significant contributions she made to our development initiatives.
Julia Heeb,
Senior People Manager, ekipa GmbH
L&D Consulting
Are you seeking a discussion partner for your Learning & Development (L&D) efforts?
Whether you would like to change or strengthen your leadership culture, or simply appreciate a discussion of your current learning journeys and training offers, we are happy to be your sparring partners and bring in our ideas and experience where helpful to you.
For example, you've conducted an employee survey with solid quantitative results, but you're unsure how to interpret the data and derive tailored development programs for your leaders and teams?
Barbara Bock-Walenta and Sandra Cameron have been pivotal in refining our consultant trainings, blending their broad experience to elevate our programs. They've infused our sessions with innovative leadership and problem-solving strategies, tailored to the challenges of the modern business world. Their interactive workshops have not only made learning engaging but also fostered a culture of trust and continuous improvement among our learners. We're immensely grateful for their energy, expertise, and the significant value they continue to add to our training initiatives.
Regional Director of Learning & Development,
Top 3 Consulting Firm
Sandra is a great coach, and gifted consultant. [I must admit] I went into our very first session without too much expectation as I was presenting an issue, I had raised with other coaches already (without much progress). She listened intently and after some probing questions, to my surprise, pinpointed the one thing missing in my workflow management […] Her generous manner and lack of culture/language barriers is a testament to both her deep listening and her global outlook. […] Perhaps what I appreciated the most was that she backed up her coach-consulting with references to studies and convincing data and pointed me to resources that furthered my understanding of the recommended plan. She also made sure I ended each session with a clear and unambiguous action plan, one that I felt compelled to start implementing immediately. Thanks Sandra.
Ramona Britto, (Former) curator
European Molecular Biology Laboratory,
Cambridge UK