What Do I Know? Self-Organization, Leadership, and Teamwork

You put on your new glasses. “Oh.” That’s the moment. You realize how much effort you were using just to see clearly. Now, that feels good! 🤓

Knowledge is like putting on glasses you didn’t know you needed. You realize you’ve been squinting – and that you don’t have to anymore. What a relief! Suddenly, new perspectives appear. Perspectives that you can consider, adapt, or reject. But wait!

Coaching is neither training nor mentoring. It is explicitly not a transfer of knowledge from someone “more experienced” to someone “less experienced.”

So how does knowledge fit into coaching at all?

I don’t tell people what to do. But I also don’t withhold knowledge that might be genuinely helpful.

Sometimes it’s helpful to have language for what we experience. Sometimes it’s a relief to know our experience is “normal.” Sometimes it’s about questioning what we think we already know. And every now and then, we don’t even know what we don’t know.

I know you’ve read the books, heard the podcasts, collected the facts. You already know a lot. So the problem isn’t lack of knowledge, right?

That’s an important insight! If coaching were about knowledge, Google would be enough.

In coaching, it’s about how you relate to the knowledge. It’s an invitation for further reflection.

So, yes, I may bring in research findings, psychological frameworks, or leadership concepts – but never out of the blue. It’s always agreed upon beforehand. And then, we co-explore how it applies to the current context and situation.

My Knowledge – What do I know?

In coaching, you explore the knowledge you still need to reach your goals – tailored to you and your situation. That might include areas like self-management, leadership, teamwork, or health.

You might want to improve your sleep. Instead of generic advice, we explore how sleep, stress, energy levels, and daily rhythms actually interact in your life – and what supports your nervous system sustainably.

Drawing from my background as a certified consultant and coach in future-ready organizational development, we can explore ways to transform culture and structures toward self-organized teams. What’s the difference between purpose and vision? Who leads in a self-organized team? What does modern leadership really require?

We can also work on building knowledge around team competencies: how teams make decisions – because, surprise! – what feels fair or familiar is often not what leads to the best outcomes. Or improve your communication – understanding your inner dialogue, speaking your core truth, having constructive conversations. Also, giving feedback, receiving feedback (still wildly underrated), and asking for feedback.

So coaching doesn’t teach you what to do – but it does change what you see, which might change what you do.

And while knowledge helps you orient, concepts quietly decide how you interpret everything you see. Next up: your concepts. What does it mean…? 🤔

Keep reading → (coming soon!)

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