Bridging Strategy and Humanity: The Art of Sustainable Leadership
ABOUT MARCO HARENBERG
I believe that sustainable success arises when organizations align strategic clarity with human connection. My mission is to guide leadership teams through transformative journeys that not only redefine their strategic direction but also cultivate a culture of trust and collaboration.
Every leadership offsite or strategic intervention is an opportunity to unlock potential, resolve underlying tensions, and foster a shared vision. I specialize in creating environments where difficult conversations lead to meaningful change, and where conflict becomes a catalyst for growth.
If you're seeking a facilitator who can navigate complex dynamics with calm authority and strategic insight, let's connect.
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HI, I’M MARCO
Top Team Facilitator, Systems Thinker, Strategy Consultant & Co-CEO of Let’s Work Magic
With over 12 years of experience in strategy consulting and leadership development, I support organizations in becoming future-ready, innovative, and resilient. My approach combines systems thinking with a deep understanding of team dynamics, enabling leaders to steer their organisations through complexity with confidence.
I have guided numerous leadership teams in aligning their strategic objectives with their organizational culture, ensuring that both elements work in harmony to drive sustainable performance. My work often involves facilitating conflict resolution, enhancing decision-making processes, and fostering environments where trust and accountability thrive.
As a co-founder of Sustainable Natives eG and through collaborations with organisations like WWF Germany and Rinn Beton- und Naturstein, I've led initiatives that integrate sustainability into core business strategies. Notably, Rinn Beton- und Naturstein was awarded the German Sustainability Award in 2018 for its transformative practices.
Big Picture Perspective, Grounded Approach
My academic background in philosophy and psychology has equipped me with the tools to ask the right questions and to understand the nuanced interplay between individual behaviors and organizational systems.
My experiences in international development work, particularly in Sierra Leone, have reinforced the importance of resilience and cohesive teamwork in the face of adversity. These insights inform my facilitation style, which is characterised by empathy, clarity, and a commitment to actionable outcomes.
Sustainability starts with Leadership
For me, sustainability is not just about being “greener.” It’s about how leadership shows up – how we make decisions, take responsibility, and build cultures that think long-term.
In my work, sustainability becomes tangible when leadership teams are willing to ask the uncomfortable questions:
What kind of impact are we really having? What do we avoid talking about? What kind of culture are we enabling – or ignoring?
Sustainability, done right, is culture work. And culture work starts with courageous leadership.
Transforming Conflict into Collaboration
Conflict, when approached constructively, can be a powerful driver of innovation and cohesion. I specialize in conflict resolution strategies that help teams navigate disagreements, uncover underlying issues, and emerge stronger and more aligned.
By creating safe spaces for open dialogue, I enable teams to address the "elephants in the room," turning potential obstacles into opportunities for growth and enhanced collaboration.
Trust is Key.
Every leadership team operates within a web of unspoken dynamics, assumptions, and past experiences. Often, what holds teams back isn’t a lack of strategy, but a lack of psychological safety and real dialogue. That’s where I come in.
I help teams:
Identify and overcome internal obstacles like imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and unspoken tensions.
Establish trust-based collaboration that fosters both performance and well-being.
Make leadership development practical, deep, and transformative—not just another training exercise.
Time Off or Offsite?
Leadership offsites are game-changers.
Stepping out of the day-to-day creates the space for realignment, reconnection, and real conversation. Over the years, I’ve seen how the right kind of offsite can transform a leadership team—helping them uncover hidden strengths, break through silos, and rediscover their collective vision.
Offsites aren’t just retreats; they are catalysts for leadership transformation. Done well, they create lasting impact far beyond the days spent together. This is where the real work happens.
German Interview
„Can concrete be green? How Marco'‘s client Rinn transformed an entire industry
Marco has been accompanying Rinn as a strategy consultant since 2012 and supports the development and implementation of sustainability strategy and reporting. In the meantime, Rinn has become a true sustainability expert and major player in Germany. Marco is still called in today as a coach and consultant for new projects.
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Elegant, charming, cunning, transforming the stress and tension of the moment into a smile - it is pure joy that she transmits, to nervous performers, to expectant spectators, to benevolent and strict jurors alike. She: Anaïs Bock
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I would find it difficult to imagine any enterprise that would not benefit from Anaïs’ insight. I was impressed with how she conceptualized a unique program to fit the needs of our group. The methods introduced by Anaïs really work and she delivers them with subtlety and grace, using her own special brand of magic.
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We needed to build a workshop that would be the foundation for trust in our team. This was one of the greatest collaborations I’ve had so far because Anaïs managed to understand the context really fast and bring forward a mix of techniques that we really valuable for our whole team. We had a wonderful session that fully delivered on our objective: to get together with all our strengths and our vulnerabilities. Honestly, I can’t wait to work with her again!
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Anaïs came to us with her magic wand and literally gave new life to our project, when our self-confidence and determination were at the lowest. Each session with Anaïs was an energy booster and a recipe full of brilliant ideas.
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Anaïs Bock ran an outstanding kick-off workshop of our new team and facilitated deep mutual understanding amongst the team members, which has been a great basis for our collaboration as a team.
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Speaking Topics
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In a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous world, leadership can no longer be about control. It’s about sensing, aligning, and adapting – together. In this talk, I unpack what it takes to lead when clear answers are few, but clear minds are needed.
I share tools from systems theory and facilitation practice that help leaders stay grounded, build alignment across difference, and act without having full control. This isn’t about agility as a buzzword – it’s about strategic responsiveness, rooted in trust.
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My work begins where most strategy projects fail: with how teams work together, not just what they work on. I bring senior leadership teams around one table to explore how their culture enables (or hinders) execution. Before we talk strategy, we create a space where teams can feel what real collaboration and psychological safety actually look like.
I draw on systems thinking, lived experience, and organizational psychology to show why culture isn't the “soft stuff” – it’s the operating system. And yes, I’ll bring breakfast metaphors – unless your team has an egg allergy.
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Tension in teams is inevitable – and often invisible. I help leadership teams surface what's not being said, and transform it into productive dialogue. In this talk, I unpack what healthy conflict really looks like, and how leaders can create space for disagreement without derailing momentum.
Whether it’s simmering power struggles, unspoken rivalries, or structural misalignments – I show how to name them early, work with them constructively, and walk out stronger on the other side. Conflict isn’t a problem. Avoiding it is.
What this means for leaders is: you need to surf the waves and, above all, you need to know how and when to exude a sense of calm, grounding and provide orientation.
Top leaders today were socialised with “leadership styles” and “personality tests” and are often looking for the one “right way”. For a lot, there’s some unlearning to do. This can be done both scientifically and highly entertainingly. Your choice.
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Sustainability isn’t just an ESG report – it’s a leadership choice. And often, the hardest part isn’t the emissions tracking, it’s the culture shift. In this keynote, I explore what it means to build truly future-fit organizations: ones that measure success beyond the next quarter and act beyond compliance.
I translate complex systems thinking into plain language and show how courageous leadership, cross-functional trust, and meaningful dialogue are the real levers for change. Spoiler: spreadsheets don’t solve resistance – but conversations might.
DEI is being pushed off the agenda in many organisations and in the case of events, it’s limited to a side stage where female panels happen on what it’s like to be a woman in business.
We think it’s time for a new era. One in which we create inclusive company cultures by looking at the real conditions for high performance.
My goal? To make this topic so fascinating that every white, cis-gender, hetero-sexual person in power drops their double espresso to join the conversation.
