Bernd experienced burnout and therefore a painful but after all positive change process. Coaching supported him to manage a new start. Our open and honest conversation has helped me a lot to tweak my coaching offer to people who really feel stuck in their work and are looking for change. Thank you so much, Bernd!

Zum deutschen Beitrag geht es hier: Wege aus dem Burnout

The perfect job, but then things change

During 15 years, Bernd worked as an product manager in an IT company, and he felt in the perfect place: “I could significantly step up during my career, had a great network, worked across functional  borders and departments. The team was great, we really supported one another… my job was just perfect.” But then, the manager moved, and in addition, the company restructured. The small innovation team, which had been a kind of incubator in the high-tech group, got now fully integrated into the big company. “My team got dispatched all over the place, and our interfaces multiplied. In the past, we just spoke to the people next door, now we had to organize a conference for each and everything. There were many factors to it, but the working climate became tense, not valuing, we constantly worked over time and everybody felt under pressure.”

Moving into burnout

Bernd did not like the new situation at work, and was exhausted but also more and more stressed about his job. But he stayed: didn’t want to give up, wanting to prove to himself and to others, and actually he also had to pay the mortgage! “Today, I can see myself hitting the wall like a bull, head down, puffing, blowing, chafing at the bit, wanting to cross the wall – instead of stepping back and looking at the situation.”

Coaching means to give space to what is

After burnout therapy, quitting his job was obvious for Bernd, and the company supported him in this transition, financially and through coaching: “I am very happy that I could work with a systemic coach, who did not only tell me how to find a new job and apply, but who created a space, where I felt accepted, seen and where my options for the future could emerge. The coaching process also helped me to see myself in context of my family, at work etc. and to take different perspectives. This really has widened my perception, created the needed emotional distance and opened new options to act”.

Letting the future emerge in 10 sessions

„At the beginning, I only knew what I did not want. In approximately 10 sessions, I have learnt what really matters to me and to bring this into practice. In the implementation phase, coaching has helped me to re-focus on solutions when I felt stuck in problems, and this helped me quite often to find back into action. What I expect from a coach is first of all listening, not giving advice but letting emerge. The coach does not need to find a solution, as the solution is already there. I only need to find it, and for this search process, the coach needs to hold the space.”

Sustainable change is a matter of the heart

During his change process, Bernd has learnt a lot through „Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction“ (MBSR). „I really like my new job as a consultant, but I have also become aware that I have still focused too much on cognitive processes. So I am now adding more human touch and heart matters into my work. That is really important to me. Sustainable change, after all, is a matter of the heart.“

München and Toulouse: Coaching Circles

In January 2016, „Do what you love“ Coaching Circles with a creative workshop to redefine your personal/professional vision and objectives, followed by 6 coaching circle sessions. Please, register here. You want more information in German or information in English?