Home / Approach
My Approach
Understanding how leadership, relationships, organizational conditions and context interact — and what this means in practice.
© 2026 Silke Schroeer | ON SILK. All rights reserved.
ORGANIZATIONAL ADVISORY
When Leadership Development Alone Is Not Enough
A confidential advisory engagement examining how organizational conditions, expectations and leadership interact.
Read case →
EXECUTIVE COACHING
A Career Decision with Long-Term Consequences
Developing and testing options for a consequential career decision, then sustaining clarity under pressure.
Read case →
When Leadership Development Alone Is Not Enough
Looking beyond an individual leadership challenge to understand the organizational conditions shaping performance.
The situation
An international organization wanted to strengthen leadership effectiveness and collaboration. Initial expectations focused on individual development, while the situation also raised questions about responsibilities, working relationships and organizational conditions.
The approach
From the outset, I worked closely with the respective leader to align expectations, understand the challenges and establish shared ownership of the process. I conducted confidential stakeholder conversations to identify recurring patterns, while the leader took an active role in exploring the situation, including conducting surveys that complemented the broader assessment. The findings revealed issues requiring action at different levels. Questions concerning organizational mandates, responsibilities and structural conditions were addressed with the sponsors. Leadership capabilities, behavior and personal ownership were explored directly with the leader. I presented my findings and possible approaches to the sponsors, who evaluated the options and decided on the organizational changes to pursue. Implementation combined leadership coaching, facilitated team development and advisory work on responsibilities and processes, with the leader actively involved throughout.
The outcome
Based on the findings, the sponsors clarified mandates and responsibilities and introduced changes to the organizational setup. The leader contributed to shaping these changes and increasingly took ownership of their implementation. Coaching and team development supported the leader in acting more proactively, strengthening collaboration and exercising leadership within the revised organizational setting.
The ON SILK perspective
A function’s performance is shaped not only by the capabilities of its leader, but also by mandates, expectations, processes and relationships across the organization. Meaningful change requires both: an organization willing to examine and adjust its conditions, and leaders willing to take ownership of what they can influence.
A Career Decision with Long-Term Consequences
Finding clarity about the next professional chapter — and maintaining it under pressure.
The situation
An experienced executive was facing a consequential career decision. With many professional years still ahead, the question was not simply which assignment to accept, but what he genuinely wanted from the next chapter of his professional life.
The decision involved significant professional and personal implications, including the possibility of a new assignment.
The approach
We began with a structured coaching process to understand his aspirations, priorities and the wider context in which the decision would be made.
Together, we developed different options, examined their implications and tested them against what genuinely mattered to him — professionally and personally.
One option represented a particularly bold step. Yet as the picture became clearer, he recognized that a different direction was more consistent with his aspirations.
Once that decision had been made, our work shifted towards maintaining the clarity he had gained.
In a subsequent coaching engagement, we integrated Positive Intelligence® practices to help him recognize established patterns, respond more consciously under pressure and develop routines that supported his chosen direction.
The outcome
The executive made a deliberate career decision based on a clearer understanding of his priorities and long-term aspirations.
Rather than choosing the boldest option, he chose a direction that felt authentic to him.
The subsequent coaching supported him in maintaining that clarity while navigating the demands of his new professional situation.
The ON SILK perspective
Consequential leadership decisions require more than evaluating opportunities and risks.
They require an understanding of the executive’s organizational context, the demands placed upon them and the perspectives from which they assess their choices.
Sometimes the most valuable shift is not discovering a more ambitious option, but recognizing what genuinely matters — and having the clarity to choose accordingly.
“Gaining clarity in my decision-making has directly improved my performance, both in how I lead and in the outcomes I deliver.”
Senior Executive, International Organization