My mentors
Where do I get my knowledge from?
Steven Reiss, through his published work — Who Am I?, The Normal Personality, the IDS Manual. He died in 2016, so I never met him. What I learned from him is the discipline that motives are not a model someone invented over a weekend. They came out of two decades of factor analysis, item refinement, and clinical testing. The framework holds because the empirical work was done. Rolf Stiefel and Rainer Fridriszik — the two who shaped how I read people in systems. They were teachers before they became friends. What stayed with me from both is a way of looking at organisations that holds the human and the structure in the same picture, instead of choosing between them. Then the unnamed mentors — the leaders, team members, and board chairs whose work I sat next to for decades. Some taught me by holding the line. Others taught me by breaking under pressure I had not seen coming. Both kinds of teaching remain. Both kinds of knowledge are silent until a similar situation calls them back. The Reiss Motivation Profile® added the vocabulary. Stiefel and Fridriszik gave me the eye. The clients gave me the cases. The work today still uses all of it.
Steven Reiss
Turning points
In my private life it was meeting Christiane, my life partner, who is by my side every day as a sparring partner. No one holds up the mirror to me with such love.
In my professional life it was the day I came across Steven Reiss's research in Berlin, during a course to become an integral business coach. His findings on intrinsic motivation are revolutionary. When I saw the results of my Reiss Motivation Profile® for the first time, I knew I wanted to meet the researcher.
What followed surprised me. I went to Columbus, Ohio, several times. We emailed often, and we spoke for hours. Steven became a friend — part of my family.
I represented the Reiss Motivation Profile® for him in Switzerland, with the support of my children Catia and Daniele. Later came the Nordic countries, Portugal, Italy, and finally Germany. Three years ago I retired from the operational side of the RMP. I still use it as a companion tool in every mentoring session.
Steven died too young. His sparring partners are missing him, as is his curiosity. As often happens after a death, his work has yet to be given the recognition it deserves. Steven is the father of the science of motivation.
Thank you, Steven, for letting me know you and appreciate you. You were, beyond doubt, my most important mentor.
Rolf Th. Stiefel
Sponsors in life
As a young trainer and an even younger entrepreneur, I wanted to consolidate my knowledge in personal development. I enrolled in what was then a fairly exclusive seven-week course to become a business trainer.
Rolf Th. Stiefel was one of the rebels of the HR industry. His books were either loved or hated. He had built up a close community of MAO readers — Management Andragogy and Organisational Development — who treated each new edition as compulsory reading. He embodied management andragogy like no one else.
He fascinated me from the first day of the training. The flipchart was his medium. By the end of each day it was layered with sheets of paper, filled with his dynamic and often illegible handwriting. What he said was revolutionary for the HR scene of the time.
When I think about the person who shaped my professional life most directly, the one who showed me that the work of developing people inside companies could be done with intellectual rigour and personal courage, it is Rolf.
I built a small community of MAO enthusiasts for Rolf in Switzerland and went with him to many of his encounters with the leading figures in strategic personal development at the time. I learned, implemented, learned again, implemented again — and was always surprised by his next book, his next project, his next trend.
Rolf is the father of management andragogy.
Reiner Friedriszik
A decisive starting moment
Near the end of my sales trainer development at TAM (Trainer Academy Munich), I experienced a turning point.
Rainer Fridriszik stood before us and introduced the Sales Grid® — a behavioural model that reshaped how I read sales conversations. The model originates from Blake and Mouton's research in the 1960s, who developed the Managerial Grid®.
In the lab we ran simulated sales conversations and observed participants showing distinct behavioural patterns. Afterwards we measured efficiency through sales results and analysed our individual sales styles in a group discussion. Rainer's leadership, his use of group dynamics, the depth of the reflective exercises, and the precision of the feedback rounds left a lasting impression.
Following the training I approached Rainer with a proposal to bring the GRID model to Switzerland. With his encouragement and support, I founded the Swiss GRID® Institute for Organisational Development. Rainer became my mentor in that work.
As a young trainer I went on to lead change projects at Hilti and to run leadership training programmes for many companies. Rainer had a rare ability to give me the freedom to pursue my own direction.
Thanks to him, I started my own company early — the beginning of forty-five years of self-employment.
I am deeply grateful to Rainer. He showed me that action, well-timed, teaches more than analysis. He was the catalyst for the next thirty years of my professional life, and over time he became a trusted friend.
Challenges
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Created content for understanding and addressing workplace challenges. Focused on boosting motivational intelligence, helping individuals enhance decision-making and problem-solving skills.
CEO's
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Helped CEOs develop motivational intelligence by crafting personalized programs. Focused on enhancing self-awareness and decision-making to improve team leadership and achieve business goals.
Authors
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These are my most important authors and books that have strongly supported me in my work.
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