Celebrating our newest WOL Coach: Claudia Schmidtke
Again and again, with each celebratory post about new Coach, I discover a depth and richness I find exhilarating.
Claudia is a perfect example.
I first knew her as a Clifton Strengths Coach who had a good experience with a WOL Circle. That alone sounded interesting. When we spoke she had a quiet strength about her: calm, smart, funny.
Then her answers in our standard 3-question interview for new Coaches showed me so much more, including how she demonstrates a deep curiosity and concern for other people; how creating a space for them (like a WOL Circle) can be transformative, both for her and her coaching clients.
“We see how and with what others struggle, we realize that we are not alone, we can comfort or actually help… Setting a room where true connection is possible gives me meaning and I think it is more than ever needed in our more and more virtual society.”
Her other answers fascinated me, too. She mentions growing up in East Berlin and having the world “opened up” for her as a teenager; her interest in walking for days, even weeks, as a means of reflection and exploration; soaking up the culture of Berlin. I hope she can come to New York (or I can go to Berlin), as I imagine we could walk and talk for hours.
I am excited for Claudia to join our Coach community, to be one of the first Coaches to use the new WOL Strengths method, and to see all she can do with WOL in the future.
Note: For each new WOL Coach, I ask three questions so you can get to know them and their reasons for becoming a Coach. See Claudia’s wonderful answers below. You can also visit her WOL Coach profile on workingoutloud.com, or connect with her on LinkedIn or at schmidtke-coaching.de.
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1. Please share 5 facts about you so people get to know you.
I grew up in East-Berlin which means as a teenager suddenly the world ‘opened’ up to me with many new possibilities but also great uncertainty.
My „first career“ was in Market Research/ Product marketing/ UX… I was successful, worked in Spain for 2,5 years, got a leadership position… but was not fulfilled.
The question “Is that everything in life?” triggered me for several years and made me start my coaching education 10 years ago… after gradually incorporating this work in my “employee career” over time I now work 100% as a self-employed coach.
I really enjoy the cultural offering of a big city like Berlin: theatre, cinemas, galleries, concerts, literature, museum… count me in!
For vacation I can best disconnect with long-distance hiking: being on a „camino“ and keep walking over a couple of days or weeks, just moving forward, not knowing what will come, not going back… this really turns off my thoughts.
2. What positive difference do you aspire to make?
In my coachings and team workshops the topics strengths, communication, psychological safety, feedback culture and solution-thinking prevail. I believe in the connections between people and that opening up yourself (also showing vulnerability sometimes) creates trust and connections and I try to create the space for that.
What guides me is the conviction that communication and exchange enable us to see things from a different perspective. We see how and with what others struggle, we realize that we are not alone, we can comfort or actually help… Setting a room where true connection is possible gives me meaning and I think it is more than ever needed in our more and more virtual society.
3. Why WOL?
Following up on what I said above, humans are made for connections. I truly think that we need to have social interactions – some more some less… but they are crucial.
Having a space where you feel safe and you can share your thoughts, goals, challenges, doubts and get the support of a group is the most precious thing.
The structured setting of the WOL circle meetings foster accountability. Having told about your goal means you are actually taking yourself seriously to pursue it.
