Lutz Herkenrath

Lutz Herkenrath: Mean Girls make it to the Boardroom.

Impact Comes from within

Lutz Herkenrath knew at an early age that he was destined for the stage. After training as an actor and spending seven years treading the boards at various city and state theatres, he started working mainly on television. The German TV series „Sonntag & Partner“ (appearing alongside Christian Quadflieg) and „Ritas Welt“ (playing a mean supermarket manager) made him a household name. Many more television and cinema productions followed.

The series he has appeared in have won the Grimme Award and the German Television Award. He himself has also received the German Comedy Award and the Rolf Mares Award for best actor.

Keynotes / Topics:

Everything changes – constantly. And the speed of change is getting faster. Most people´s default response is to ignore and block change. The fear of change is in all of us, regardless of our position. Often the rule is, people who have most to loose present the strongest resistance.

We do not always have the choice of whether we want to change. But: We can choose how we are changing. Stagnation has long shown to be unhealthy for many companies, but it’s equally difficult to force hasty change.

The key questions are: How can we organize change in a positive way? How can we change at a healthy pace? How can we take the hesitant with us? And how can we deal with our own fears and anxieties?

This presentation will share personal observations. Lutz Herkenrath compares his experiences as an actor with the reality in companies and creates surprisingly interesting connections.

We cannot learn something new and expect to be proficient at it immediately.

Discover thrill of learning something new.

Only those who have the freedom to say no can also say yes.

Many women are too polite, l too friendly and self-critical. Many men are too power- and status-oriented. Both men and women have reason for this behavior, both approaches do not always lead to success.

Women are generally better educated, better in multitasking and show stronger interpersonal skills, generally more empathetic and less status orientated than their male counterparts. In the leadership of companies, if women are there at all it is only in single digit percentages. Is this a correlation?

What is the reason for this obvious imbalance? Is it the structure of male support networks or do women themselves thwart their progression by a lack of confidence and self – believe in their skills. What about the famous glass ceiling? Do men actively support women´s feelings of inadequacy?

As an intermediary between the two gender worlds, Lutz Herkenrath describes in a humorous, apt way the rules of the male power struggle. He reveals how women can assert themselves without giving way and why anger can be a great source of energy.

A passionate plea for more solidarity in the workplace, constructive clashes, more positive aggression in the (professional) everyday life and the relaxed playful handling of conflicts.

Status precedes content. Always.

Anger is a good source of energy.

How does trust develop? And who decides if we will be trusted? We rarely reflect on the fact that trust can only be given to us. It is a passive process for those who seek trust. So, what can we do to gain trust? The way we are perceived by other people depends to a great extent on how we say something instead of what we say – this leads eventually to trust.

We all feel it when we listen to people: tension creates unease, a relaxed attitude is more attractive. This is true on stage and in real life.

How can you relax in important situations when „it matters“? After all, it’s all about you! The answer is obvious but requires a lot of courage: become authentic! Become yourself. Authenticity and humanity create trust.

Everybody wants to interact with human beings not with a functionary. Be yourself! There are enough copies out there already. Authenticity creates lasting impressions.

Big points

• Communication always has a subtext.
• Every intrinsic attitude is visible
• Communication on an eye to eye level means to reach people.

Attitude reflects outwards

As an actor, this knowledge is an integral part of Lutz Herkenrath’s working life – as a coach, he has been passing on his insights to participants from all walks of business in seminars and workshops since 2005. He supports people in assessing their attitude and enables them to achieve the desired external impact. His themes are: change, charisma, emotional intelligence and assertiveness. He calls it „Factor M“ „unwiderstehlich menschlich“ (in English: irresistibly human), a way to be authentic and emotional-ly tangible. And this creates a competitive advantage that his clients appreciate.

Method

As a coach, he has a clear sense for the individual issues that his participants face and can therefore offer targeted support. This is one of the main reasons for his huge success. Thirty years’ experience as an actor, both on stage and in front of the camera, mean that he can capti-vate his audience at keynote speeches from the word go. His acting background makes his appearanc-es both entertaining and vibrant, and his ability to touch others ensures that the salient points stick.