Enabling instead of preventing
For me, change starts with affection, not anger. If you love a place, you cannot watch it stand still. So I first ask how something can work, not why it can't. I learned that early, in Passau's youth council, where I experienced what it means to have your ideas taken seriously.
Wir brauchen keine Verhinderungsstrukturen, sondern eine Ermöglichungskultur.
“We don't need structures that prevent, but a culture that enables.”
Encounters at eye level
Every person brings their own needs. A guest who feels unsafe cannot feel awe. As a guide I don't want to be a “Wikipedia on two legs”, but a companion who notices the person beside me.
The destination is the stage. The healing happens in the human encounter on that stage.
Whoever explains carries responsibility
Guides, teachers, politicians: whoever explains the world to others shapes how they see it. In times of disinformation and populism that is no side issue. Remembering is not enough; something has to follow.
We explain. We connect. We give context. And in doing so, we shape perception. That is influence. And influence is responsibility.
Even when politicians struggle to speak to each other, guides must remain able to do so.
Faith and places of power
I studied theology, and faith still shapes me. Not as lecturing, but as an attitude: that change is possible, and that there are places where you feel more than you see.
Pope Francis taught us that true leadership requires courage, empathy, and a steadfast commitment to dialogue.
Democracy with a human measure
I became known in Germany as the initiator of the Bavarian popular initiative for a real smoking ban, approved by referendum in 2010. I experienced how strongly change provokes resistance, up to hostility and threats. It shaped me. I left party politics, but I have always remained a political person. Today I am back on Passau's city council as an independent. What counts is the issue, not the party colour, with one clear line: human dignity is not negotiable.
Politik darf streiten, aber sie sollte nie die menschliche Ebene verlieren.
“Politics may argue, but it should never lose the human level.”
Knowing my limits
Sustainability also means having the courage to say: Here are my strengths. And here are my limits.
That is why I work with coaches myself. My personal and business coaches areJohannes Metzler, an executive coach and strategic adviser to entrepreneurs and leaders, and Lea Wernli, a coach and trainer of coaches in Zurich and Lucerne. They ask the questions I don't ask myself.
And sometimes: play
Seriousness and lightness go together. At a children's passion play I was a relaxed Jesus joking with the kids during rehearsals, and completely serious on stage. That switch opens people up, on a tour, in a seminar or in a council chamber.