Anna Malunat

Interview with Anna

What have I learned the most from?

As a theater director, I have led and managed (artistic) processes with groups and teams of various sizes. I have been able to observe situational and scenic processes not only on stage but also backstage.
Stories are shown on stage that uniquely reflect all facets of human interaction, human communication behavior and relationship structures. Conflicts take a tragic or comic course and are taken to extremes. Last but not least, social issues are also dealt with, showing the individual in tension with his environment. But theater is also a social process backstage and in the rehearsal process. Working together with the people from different professions involved in the various projects, the artistic staff, singers, actors, orchestra and choirs, technical staff, workshops and administration, I learned a lot about the influence of structural and organizational conditions, which are a prerequisite for the success of work processes and for achieving excellent results.
It was a very complex and demanding job, and I got a few scrapes along the way. However, I often learned the most by overcoming difficult moments.

Why did I become a trainer / consultant?

For me personally, the path from theater director to consultant means moving a little further out from the director's position in front of the stage, where I myself was in control, to the side doors of the auditorium, for example. From there I can see into the organization (even if I am aware that I only ever see small sections) and at the same time I have a view from the outside. For me, consulting work is a constant oscillation between complete and intensive engagement with my clients and the process with all my senses and thoughts and, at the same time, adopting a more distanced perspective that allows me to see the whole and the context.
I feel quite comfortable in this field of tension of variable distances.

Which project is waiting to be realized?

A doctoral dissertation.

What is particularly close to my heart?

Diligence at work. And humor.

Who / what can I not stand at all?

The longer I think about it, the less I can think of answers to this question. Which is not to say that I can deal with everything and everyone, but rather that situations and people's behavior may seem frightening, incomprehensible or repulsive to me at first glance, but then somehow become understandable when viewed from a different perspective. (Of course, there are limits to this too).

Which experience has shaped my development as a coach the most?

To see that clients usually know exactly which is the best possible solution for them and which is the right way to get there, and to trust that they will find it and walk it at their own pace: The path slips under the feet of the walker. To realize how much can happen in a silence when it is an empathetic and attentive silence. To realize that it is often about letting go and letting go and not - as one might prematurely assume in the general optimization mania - about adding. (“A headache is not a lack of aspirin.”)