Begin with a confidential conversation
In an initial conversation, we examine what the issue actually is, which questions remain open and whether I am the right person for your situation.
What drives me
People save projects. Not spreadsheets.
I have built companies, carried responsibility for hundreds of employees and later worked on major projects in which mistakes were costly and time could become a relentless opponent.
The same thing became clear in all of these situations: processes, plans and tools matter. What remains decisive are the people who work with them, take responsibility and have to respond to unexpected developments.
Structure and awareness
Good structures are necessary. They are not enough.
I value strategy, planning and clear responsibilities. They provide orientation and create the conditions that enable people to act together.
But good structures are no substitute for careful observation or self-reflection. An organisational chart does not explain how people actually relate to one another. A process does not describe what remains unspoken. And a plan does not automatically show whether the right goal is still being pursued.
That is why I consider it important to create settings in which people can look at their situation differently and hear the questions that are easily avoided in everyday life.
Why BlackSheep?
The name began with an observation.
In different companies, projects and crisis situations, I repeatedly came across similar statements:
“You simply cannot work with him.”
“She does not fit into the team.”
Such judgements were often reached remarkably quickly. Processes, responsibilities, leadership or structures, by contrast, were usually discussed much later.
At first, I regarded these as isolated cases. Over the years, however, I encountered the same pattern again and again – regardless of sector, company size or level of hierarchy.
This also changed the way I looked at the situation.
I used to ask:
“Why is this person behaving this way?”
Today, I am more likely to ask:
“What dynamic is causing this person to behave this way?”
The difference may seem small. To me, it determines whether we understand causes or merely treat visible behaviour.
Over time, I noticed something else: the very people who were often regarded as difficult in everyday working life suddenly became the ones nobody could afford to do without in a crisis.
People who asked uncomfortable questions, recognised contradictions early or did not readily conform could be demanding for an organisation in normal operations. Yet when familiar solutions no longer worked, those very abilities became valuable.
This led me to an uncomfortable question:
Are we really addressing the cause – or are we too quick to declare a person the problem?
This does not absolve people of responsibility for their own behaviour. Perhaps the supposed black sheep really is difficult. Perhaps they lack self-reflection, social skills or the willingness to collaborate. All of that exists.
But I have also seen people hastily declared to be the problem when they were drawing attention to something that others did not yet want, or were not yet able, to see.
Holding both of these possibilities in mind at the same time is, for me, one of the most demanding tasks of good leadership.
Not every outsider is a visionary.
Not every independent thinker is right.
Not every black sheep is excluded unfairly.
But hasty judgements remarkably often obscure the underlying cause.
This observation later gave rise to the name BlackSheep. Not as a call to rebellion and not as a romantic story about outsiders.
But as a reminder:
Observe. And be cautious of hasty judgements.
What this means for my work
Do not change first. Understand first.
That is why I do not begin by asking how a person can be changed.
I first try to understand what is happening between the person, the leadership, the team and the system. What expectations are at work? What roles have developed? What is rewarded, what is prevented and what remains unspoken?
Only from this understanding can sound hypotheses and possible paths forward be developed.
Sometimes the necessary change lies with the person. Sometimes with the leadership. Sometimes within the team. And sometimes within the system itself.
For you, this means that I do not arrive with a ready-made explanation for visible behaviour. I support you in seeing more clearly which dynamic lies behind it and where change can genuinely begin.
How would you like to continue?
If you recognise a similar dynamic in your team or organisation and want to understand not only the visible behaviour but also its causes, a conversation may be worthwhile.
BlackSheep for organisations
Learn how I support entrepreneurs, managing directors and leaders in demanding situations of change and decision-making.
Explore these ideas further
In the Insights section, you will find further articles and position papers on responsibility, leadership, change and the effect of different settings.
It all begins with people.