About me
Michael
It’s not easy to write about myself. On the one hand, there is so much to tell, on the other, there is the question of what makes sense to put on a website and might be of general interest. That’s why you can read a small selection of thoughts below, which will give you a better insight. Incidentally, it reminds me of a case in a DAX company: A team had major relationship problems with their manager. The key criticism was: “…the manager doesn’t reveal anything about himself, we don’t know who the person behind the shield is…”. With this in mind, a few sentences about me:
I was born in Schleswig-Holstein, the seventh generation of my family to be born there. This explains in part why I have always remained loyal to my North German homeland and why I am “storm-tested and weatherproof” by nature. Of course, this helps in the frequently turbulent process of transformation!
Looking back, the journey that led to HMC Hennschen Management Consulting today began for me at the age of 27. During a walk on the beach with my wife I mentioned that I should actually be happy in my job at the bank, but somehow something was missing and I couldn’t say exactly “what”. With a twinkle in my eye, I finally said to my wife: “Maybe I should spend some time on a psychiatrist’s couch.” That this would lead to me ending up in the advanced training seminars of a head physician at a clinic in the south-west Palatinate, being trained in hypnoanalytical methods, was far from foreseeable at the time.
That was 28 years ago. The path you take to find what really defines you and what you want to give to the world is not always linear. Important questions that increasingly drove me were: “Why am I actually here? What am I here for?” There are highs and lows and days when you secretly want to throw in the towel. In this respect, I am very grateful today that I can live out dream.
The decisive factor in my development was that I was able to combine my professional and non-professional experience and skills. A 20 year career leading top management of a DAX-listed company, a path that led me into the deepest waters of transformation and challenged me in the most unusual ways. During this time, and I am very grateful for this, I was able to work with some exceptional management consultants. Dr Klaus Doppler from Munich had, perhaps, the greatest influence on me. His training courses on change management, group dynamics and conflict management helped me enormously.
In the years that followed, I summoned up all my courage again and took another important step, becoming a partner in a nationally and internationally active management consultancy. In exciting industries and international projects, I was able for the first time to live everything that was really inside me: the profound love and passion for complex transformations combined with the professional and non-professional worlds!
The HMC family
The best things in life are always the incredible surprises. The decision to move into self-employment led very quickly to one such major surprise. A client from the aviation industry, who knew both my daughter Kim and me, came up with the idea that both Hennschens were needed in the transformation programme.
This was the beginning of a wonderfully intensive journey. We became a very good team along the way, and we became known to many in different industries as “The Hennschens”. After several years of itinerant working, Kim decided to continue on her professional path in Kiel and has settled there very well.
A word about the blogs and podcasts: I started and established these HMC projects with Kim. We pursued our shared passion of sharing knowledge and experience and focusing on people and their experiences of change. With the HMC Tour Van, we launched a format that took the interviewees out of the company for a few hours so that they could look back on their experiences with an unobstructed view. Blogs and podcasts will be continued by me under the guiding principle “Leading Transformation – Go beyond!”.
If you would like to know a little more about my professional background, please take a look at LinkedIn or give me a call for a chat. I always look forward to an exchange of ideas on current and future transformation challenges!
With best regards from the true north of Germany! (to explain this for the international readers: “True North is the motto of Schleswig-Holstein, and to be honest, it’s true)
