Angela Baucke

From DAX corporation to my own practice

Trainer · Consultant · Coach · Owner of Go4yourGrowth

The subject of change has accompanied me for over 40 years – in business as in life. It rarely begins comfortably: in my early twenties I taught in French-speaking Geneva, and shortly after, as a trainer and consultant, I helped build foreign-language institutes at two key Chinese universities – in a country, a language, and a culture that were anything but familiar to me. Later, alongside my work as a trainer for German as a foreign language and intercultural communication, my work as a tour guide took me around the world. In the process, I learned at least as much about myself as about the countries themselves. Among other things, I came to understand that it takes courage to step outside your comfort zone by opening yourself up to unfamiliar situations and people. That change demands time, because you have to sort yourself out, revise things, learn and unlearn. And that we depend on other people along the way, because no one can go through the world alone. We humans need each other!

After many different chapters as a freelancer, of all things it was a corporation that became my professional home. A corporation, too, is a country with its own language and its own rules. On top of my full-time job there, I also completed my MBA at the Open University Business School in Milton Keynes, UK – in English. An experience that showed me: growth happens where we face challenges we wouldn't always have chosen for ourselves.

Within the corporation, I grew from product manager for learning solutions to change manager, and finally to coach for executives and teams. Most recently, as Senior Consultant and Learning Portfolio Manager, I was responsible for learning solutions in areas such as systemic consulting, change, innovation, and strategy. What I learned above all in all those years: guiding change in a global corporation means juggling many interests at once – without ever losing sight of the individual person.

That's exactly why I love change: it pushes us out of our comfort – and that's where what truly moves us forward is created.

Travel as a school of life

For many years, during the dark European winter months, I worked as a tour guide around the world – Asia, South and North America including Alaska and Canada, South Africa, Australia and Oceania. What I learned there wasn't a cultural program: it was real crisis management.

This job was my playground – but one without a sparring partner. If you visited a destination often enough, you built up good acquaintances over time: reliable contacts at the local agencies who rarely became real, lasting friendships, but did become solid working relationships. In the end, though, they remained contractual partners. There was no phone or WhatsApp back then to quickly call for backup or advice. I had to carry the responsibility alone, in every single moment – and that's exactly where the real schooling happened.

When a colleague dropped out at short notice and two travel groups had to be looked after in parallel, when participants fell seriously ill, bus drivers didn't show up, guests lost their passports or were unhappy with an excursion, or tensions within the group started to surface, things got interesting: there was no time left for complaints or explanations – it took listening, composure, and a clear head. Guiding people through emotionally charged moments without losing your own composure – that's a skill you can learn: you just need the courage to jump into the cold water.