About Dr. Sylvia Rohde-Liebenau
I am an executive coach to leaders and changemakers, and founder of the
SMART POWER Method
My lifelong exploration of power
My exploration of power began with Plato's philosophies in school and deepened through my university studies in political science and law, and a PhD in international relations.
As a young girl, I was attracted to all things martial and loved playing with guns together with the boys in my neighbourhood. In my teens, this changed as I not only started to prefer going out to dance with the boys, but also started less martial activities like Yoga and meditation, and became involved in the peace movement. Like many in my generation, I was concerned by the Cold War and in search of better ways to secure peace than through weapons and “mutual assured destruction” - MAD.
So when choosing my path for university, I decided to study political science, and in particular security studies. I wanted to understand how power operated in the world of politics, and how to make security policy more secure. I had the privilege of studying arms control negotiations while doing an internship at the United Nations in Geneva, and wrote my master’s thesis on the psychological aspects of these negotiations.
I approached my PhD. questioning the “guns and bullets” mainstream approach to security policy. Awarded a scholarship in security studies, I focused on a theme that was the opposite of guns and bullets: how civil society organisations in the East and West worked together to influence intergovernmental relations and played an important role in the peaceful end of the Cold War. During my PhD, a fellowship at Harvard introduced me to visionary leaders, united by their habit to think beyond what seems possible and their desire to make a meaningful difference. A life-shaping experience.
My career started in development cooperation, first as policy expert and programme manager at the European Commission and later as manager in consulting. This work allowed me to see both the power dynamics of large organisations and the challenges of change. I explored why some organisations we were supporting were able to change, while others remained stuck in old, often wasteful patterns. This curiosity lead me to study organisation development and leadership, and finally into coaching, and to my work at the European Investment Bank, where I served for 17 years in a range of roles dealing with personnel and leadership development, coaching, and organisational change.
Developing SMART Power
In my work for the European Investment Bank, I witnessed how this remarkable institution battled the challenge to change its leadership and work culture while maintaining its success in an increasingly complex and volatile environment.
Like many other large, successful organisations, it was facing the challenge to let go of old command and control style approaches to leadership and embrace new, more agile and collaborative approaches that would better equip it to deliver on its huge role for Europe. As head of organisational health and later as leader of an organisation-wide initiative to develop a new leadership model, I had the privilege of experiencing firsthand the dynamics of power play, pressure for adaptation, and the desire for and resistance to change.
All these experiences have helped me to develop the SMART Power Method. It is a method to empower organizations and leaders to reach new heights of impact and efficiency in today’s challenging environment, with less waste and more harmony.
Becoming an Executive Coach
Coaching is my primary tool for helping leaders increase their power and impact. How did I come to it, from a PhD in international relations and a corporate role in operations?
When I first came in contact with coaching while studying organisation development, I immediately realised what an immensely powerful tool it was for creative thinking, problem-solving and personal growth. I started my learning journey as a coach in the late 1990s, first laying a foundation with Systemic Coaching, and later I studied methodologies including Solution Focused, Emergent Essence Dynamics, and Co-Active Coaching and Leadership.
Like many coaches I discovered that learning is never only about methods and techniques, but equally about developing as a human being. We can never coach anyone successfully about human challenges we have not faced and processed ourselves. Thus, my development as a coach helped me to embrace and learn from many challenges I was facing during the past 20 years:
leading corporate change initiatives and learning not only from what worked but also from plentiful failures and set backs
passionately working to improve leadership and work culture in the organisations I have been serving, and learning heaps about power dynamics and power games in the process
supporting managers and staff in working through difficult situations and conflict at work, and learning not only the tools to bring solutions but also having to develop my internal, human “skills” to provide a sense of calm and safety that helped these people find solutions
making the right choices for my career while building a family
experiencing breast cancer and being reminded of the fact that our life is short and precious
being bullied at work and finding a way through and out of it
bridging the tensions between my passion for my corporate job and my personal work as artist, dancer and musician. And in doing so, becoming able to bring my experiences in the arts to my coaching work with leaders
TESTIMONIALS