Exploreself

05/09/2026

Beyond Control 🌍
What a wonderful day with psychologists and professionals from all over the world exploring:
What happens to leadership when control is no longer possible?
Our Masterclass IPU Berlin “Beyond Control: Leadership in Turbulent Times” took us into the psychodynamics of anxiety, defence, desire and containment — and into a different way of thinking about leadership.
Not: How do we eliminate uncertainty?
But:
How can we remain capable of thinking, relating and acting when certainty is no longer available?
A huge thank you to Rahi for the wonderful assistance, thoughtful contributions and co-facilitation. It was a real pleasure to share this journey with you. 🙏
And a big thank you to Tii and Wiebke for the wonderful organization and for creating the space for this international exchange.
And, of course, thank you to everyone who participated, questioned, challenged and contributed. 🌍
I am leaving the Masterclass with one thought:
Leadership begins where control ends.

24/08/2026

Thank you Schwules Museum 💕✨

Wir haben Friends & co gefragt, was sie zur Unterstützung des SMUs motiviert - und das hatte zu sagen 🌟

Am 6. Dezember 1985 wurde der Verein der Freundinnen und Freunde des Schwulen Museums in Berlin e.V. gegründet. Heute ist das SMU ein international wichtiges Kompetenzzentrum für die Erforschung, Bewahrung und Präsentation der Kultur und Geschichte queerer Menschen und sexueller und geschlechtlicher Vielfalt.

Wir sind also 40 Jahre alt und sammeln deshalb 40 gute Gründe, uns als queere Institution zu supporten. Hast du noch einen für uns? 🥰

Foto: Ralf Rühmeier

20/08/2026

https://exploreself.com/blog/self-leadership-and-zen-from-self-awareness-to-meaningful-action

What if self-leadership is not about controlling yourself?
After one week of intensive Zen meditation, I found myself thinking differently about awareness, action, and leadership.
Zen invites us to notice what arises without immediately reacting. Psychodynamic thinking takes this one step further: What is actually moving us beneath the surface?
Our fears, defenses, ambitions, and habitual patterns often shape our actions before we are fully aware of them.
So perhaps self-leadership begins in the space between what we experience and how we choose to respond.
I explore this intersection of Zen, psychodynamic thinking, and self-leadership in my new blog post.
👉 Read the full article: Self-Leadership and Zen: From Self-Awareness to Meaningful Action

Self-leadership begins where control ends. A week of Zen meditation reminded me that awareness comes before action. Thoughts, emotions, fears, and impulses arise—but we don’t have to act on all of them. From a psychodynamic perspective, self-leadership means becoming curious about what moves us

14/08/2026

One week in Zen: reflections on self-leadership

A week of intensive meditation in a Zen monastery reminded me of something deceptively simple:

Self-leadership begins where control ends.

Sitting for hours, day after day, you begin to notice how much energy goes into resisting what is: thoughts, discomfort, boredom, uncertainty, expectations.

Zen practice does not ask us to control the mind more effectively. It invites us to observe it.

And somewhere in that practice, a different kind of leadership becomes possible:

Not reacting immediately.
Not needing every feeling to disappear.
Not turning uncertainty into a problem that must be solved.
But staying present.

For me, self-leadership increasingly means the capacity to remain in contact with myself while not being governed by every impulse, fear, or thought that arises.

One week of meditation did not make reality simpler.

It changed the way I experienced it.

Perhaps this is one of the deepest lessons of Zen—and of leadership: we cannot always control what happens. But we can cultivate the quality of our presence with what happens.

Psychology LeadershipDevelopment InnerWork Awareness ZenPractice PersonalDevelopment

16/07/2026

📚

08/07/2026

Slides: done. Kombucha: almost finished. Excitement: definitely building. ☕📚

My presentation for Friday’s .berlin Mini Lecture is ready, and I’m looking forward to sharing some psychoanalytic perspectives on leadership and organisational dynamics.

If you’re curious about studying psychology at IPU Berlin—or simply interested in how concepts like transference and countertransference can deepen our understanding of leadership—I would be delighted if you joined us online.

🗓️ Friday, 10 July, 12:00 (CEST)

Find all information and register here:
[IPU Mini Lecture: Studying Psychology at IPU Berlin
https://www.ipu-berlin.de/en/mini-lecture-2026-studying-psychology-at-ipu-berlin
IPU Berlin

I hope to see you there!

08/07/2026

Slides: done. Kombucha: almost finished. Excitement: definitely building. ☕📚

My presentation for Friday’s IPU Berlin Mini Lecture is ready, and I’m looking forward to sharing some psychoanalytic perspectives on leadership and organisational dynamics.

If you’re curious about studying psychology at IPU Berlin—or simply interested in how concepts like transference and countertransference can deepen our understanding of leadership—I would be delighted if you joined us online.

🗓️ Friday, 10 July, 12:00 (CEST)

Find all information and register here:
[IPU Mini Lecture: Studying Psychology at IPU Berlin](https://www.ipu-berlin.de/en/mini-lecture-2026-studying-psychology-at-ipu-berlin)

I hope to see you there!

03/07/2026

We usually think of decision-making as something rational, structured, and data-driven. But in practice, it often unfolds very differently.

My latest blog looks at the psychodynamic layers behind decisions in organizations—how anxiety, unconscious conflicts, and group dynamics quietly shape what teams and leaders are able to think, decide, or avoid.

From individual inner dilemmas to collective patterns described by Bion, the central question becomes less “what is the right decision?” and more “what is actually happening in us while we decide?”

If you work with teams, leadership, or change processes, this perspective might offer a different way of seeing what often remains invisible—but highly influential.

The blog explores how psychoanalytic thinking can help us better understand these hidden layers of decision-making in organizations—and why reflecting on how decisions are made is often as important as what is decided.

11/05/2026

Very grateful for this inspiring weekend. ✨ IPU Berlin

I had the opportunity to give two mini lectures:
— at the International Career Day on the work of organisational psychologists and the unconscious in organisations
— and at the IPU Open Days on transference and countertransference in leadership.

As much as I enjoyed speaking about psychoanalysis and organisations, I loved the conversations afterwards even more — the curiosity, reflections, discussions, and thoughtful feedback messages and emails I received.

These exchanges are incredibly rewarding. Thankful for everyone who joined, listened, questioned, and shared their thoughts.