Christoph Holle

What Drives Me

I want to support organisations and people to go their own way and to develop their potential.
I want to inspire people to think leadership in a new way and to have the courage to distribute leadership across all shoulders.

Where I Come From

After studying industrial engineering and history in Berlin, I initially worked in strategic consulting. But soon I was drawn to operational leadership responsibility in the tech, scale-up and start-up sector. My focus there for many years was software product management. At the same time, I rounded off my operational career in leading positions in different areas such as tech, marketing, sales, operations, finance and human resources.

Along the way, I was lucky enough to learn from the pioneers in Silicon Valley, to be part of many experiments, to be able to shape things myself, to be allowed to make mistakes and to be part of building something big.

In 2016, I decided to become an independent organisational consultant and immediately had the feeling that I had arrived where I belong. My second career is also supported by several years of training and further education in systemic counselling, Gestalt work, positive psychology and bodywork, among others, which I continue to pursue.

Vita (LinkedIn, Xing)

  • Self-employed organisational consultant
  • Psychological further education in systemic work, Gestalt work, body work and positive psychology, among others
  • Interim COO at unumotors
  • CFO/COO at Blacklane
  • Managing Director eBay Business & Head of Innovation at PayPal
  • CPO at PayPal
  • Consultant at McKinsey
  • Master’s degree in history
  • Diploma in Business and Electrical Engineering

What I Took Away

  • My industrial engineering studies introduced me to the world of organisation, innovation and digital; as a historian, I learned to fathom where one comes from in order to shape the future.
  • From consulting, strategic thinking, communication, project management and enthusiasm for close teamwork in particular have stayed.
  • Software product management taught me to reconcile supposedly contradictory things – like undirected openness and clear goal orientation, or creativity and operational excellence – as well as the art of shaping through orchestration. Topics like agility, scaling, leadership under uncertainty, or interdisciplinary and self-directing teams have stuck with me ever since.