Christine Locher
By: Christine Locher
Tags: Values, Biography, Change, About, Coaching

Bio

Photo by Paul Clarke https://paulclarke.com/photography/

I want to leave this place better than I found it, and use the time I have to make a positive difference. This impulse has been with me as long as I can remember, along with insatiable curiosity. The travel itch got me to live in 6 countries on 4 continents with longer trips in China and in India. Home is the UK, at least for now.

My academic background includes Communication, Intercultural Communication and Psychology with further studies abroad in Ecuador and Japan. A post-grad in peace and conflict research, and a postgrad certificate in systems thinking and a professional certificate in solution-focused business practice. My first career was in journalism (online, radio, newspaper columnist) and communication. I am a trained coach and facilitator, a licensed psychotherapist in Germany (HP Psych, trained in Client Centered work and Gestalt) and a Hatha Yoga and Inner Yoga (bodywork) teacher (trained in India and Europe).

Mind, body, spirit, from a variety of angles, always broadening and deepening my practice. Sometimes that is formal and based on hundreds/thousands of years of tradition like Mussar, and sometimes it is wild, wonderful and very eclectic. I get something out of all these experiences and I like sharing what I learn.

I love the business environment for its vibrancy, and for the chances it gave me as such an unlikely candidate starting out and starting over a few times. It proved the way out of the very narrow world I grew up in, into a more open, welcoming, diverse and international environment where there was (seemingly) space for everyone, including me.

There are, of course, also plenty of drawbacks to that world, so I want to bring body, soul and depth back to it. There is so much skill and energy in that space, and it could radically transform the world for the better if we could make this work in a way that works for everyone, not just for those with pre-existing privilege, and in a way that keeps our collective future on this planet in mind. I like this planet. It’s my home.

I like to find and connect dots, to go deep, and then I go out and do something with it in practice that helps move things in the right direction. “Too academic for real life”, “not fit for university — people like you are what vocational training was invented for”, “your next development step is out the front door” and “why are you not a professor, you’d be perfect for that” is what feedback sounds like when you cross boundaries back and forth and pitch your work tent in the liminal space. I like it there.

Here is what that looks like in practice right now in my own work: I have a portfolio. As a learning consultant, I help big organizations with their digital learning offering. I also run my own coaching and leadership development business where I work with individuals looking to regain some depth, and to find ways to then make a practical difference with it. A lot of them then start new businesses. This led to my work with start-ups where I support in making their aspirations real, in what they do and how they do it; and I invest in selected projects and organizations. I also write, speak at conferences and events, serve on a non-profit board and run communities of practice.

My sense-making involves writing things down. Partly because that’s how things come together for me, these ideas mix and ferment and then I distill it and share the “spirit” of it with a bigger audience. (My family has a hop farm and a distillery, some of that is still in my blood somewhere). Partly because it’s fun to play with words. An overview is here: https://christinelocher.me/writing/ This stretches from the serious (academic chapters/papers in various stages) to the practical (books and articles aimed at a general audience), to the whimsical (more creative formats). Some of it is also here on Medium.

When I am not doing all of the above, I train to be a craft beer expert, I knit, I enjoy making and experiencing art and I push the limits of what sorts of food you can make with a hot plate and a tiny oven. I try to be off-screen as much as I can and travel at every opportunity, near and far, on the outside and on the inside.

You can find me at:

https://christinelocher.me/

https://liordotart.wordpress.com/

https://twitter.com/ChristineLocher

or at info at christinelocher dot me