Bensmann Passage

Focused support during a professional transition

With Bensmann Passage, I work with experienced executives, managing directors and business owners who are reconsidering their professional future.

You may still be successful in your current role, with no immediate reason to leave. Yet your interests, priorities or expectations may have changed. Perhaps you are considering another leadership position, advisory or board work, entrepreneurship or a different combination of professional activities.

A professional passage can begin long before a visible change takes place. The question is not necessarily whether you should leave your current position, but what kind of professional life you want to shape next.

Bensmann Passage combines intensive one-to-one coaching with focused online sessions. My approach is based on the Seven Fields of Self-Leadership and follows three closely connected activities: Recognize. Clarify. Shape.

We examine what is changing, what still matters to you and which realistic options deserve further consideration.

Who is the Passage for?

Bensmann Passage is designed for experienced executives, managing directors, business owners and other senior decision-makers who:

• sense that their current role may no longer fit as well as it once did,
• want to examine how their leadership role is changing and whether they wish to continue in it,
• are approaching the end of an established professional phase,
• are considering another executive position, advisory or board work, entrepreneurship or a portfolio career,
• want to reconsider their personal vision, priorities and professional contribution,
• or need an independent perspective before making a significant professional decision.

The Passage is equally relevant if you eventually decide to remain in your current position under different conditions.

The process

Our work is guided by three closely connected activities: Recognize. Clarify. Shape.

We examine what is changing in your professional environment and in your own expectations. We clarify what you want to preserve, reconsider or leave behind. And we develop realistic options for your next professional phase.

Bensmann Passage combines intensive personal coaching sessions with focused online conversations and individual reflection. The scope and sequence depend on your situation and the questions that emerge during our work.

What we may work on

The content depends on your individual transition. Typical areas are:

Professional identity: Which parts of your professional identity still fit you? Which parts have become less relevant?

Experience and strengths: Which capabilities, experiences and relationships should remain part of your next professional phase?

Future direction and working conditions: Which possibilities fit your priorities, responsibilities and preferred way of working and living?

Vision and priorities: Which parts of your earlier professional vision have been fulfilled? What still gives you direction, and what may have completed its purpose?

Leadership role: How is your leadership role changing? Which responsibilities do you want to retain, reduce or leave behind?

Future skills: Which capabilities will you need for the next phase, especially as AI changes tasks, decision processes and leadership roles?

Decision criteria: How can you compare several possible directions and make a decision that remains sound beyond the initial enthusiasm?

Future contribution: Where could your experience create meaningful value? We examine four perspectives: your capabilities, the work that still interests you, the needs of others and the professional arrangements that suit your next phase.

Your Next Chapter — The Book

My new book Your Next Chapter: Self-Leadership for Executives in Professional Transition will be published in November 2026.

It explores four central questions: How is your leadership role changing? What suggests that your professional passage may already have begun? Does your earlier vision still fit? And where would you like to contribute next?

Drawing on my experience in executive coaching and my Seven Fields of Self-Leadership, the book offers personal reflections, practical exercises and a four-week experiment.

You can use the book independently or as a companion to Bensmann Passage. In individual coaching, we examine your particular circumstances, challenge assumptions and work towards decisions and practical next steps.

A clear structure, adapted to your situation

Bensmann Passage has a defined framework, but I do not work with a standard coaching programme. The questions, materials and emphasis depend on your situation. Where useful, I provide selected books, articles, podcasts, exercises and reflection tools. My work on self-leadership provides the conceptual foundation. The Seven Fields of Self-Leadership help us examine the connections between personal direction, energy, capabilities, relationships, working conditions, projects and contribution.

I also draw on the ideas and practical exercises developed in my book Your Next Chapter: Self-Leadership for Executives in Professional Transition. Selected chapters and reflection tools can support our conversations, depending on your situation.

Our work remains confidential and individual. My role is to provide structure, questions, challenge and an independent perspective while you develop your own direction.

Your next professional chapter starts with a conversation.

If you are facing a professional transition and want to shape the next phase yourself, contact me for a confidential conversation. We can explore your situation, the questions that matter most, and the possibilities ahead. Together, we can determine whether and how I can support you in shaping your next professional chapter.