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Michael KollaMK

Michael Kolla

Leadership Coach & Trainer

€1,000/day
Munich, DE
15+ years

Average response time: 1 hour

Freelancer profile translated to English.
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About Michael

For entrepreneurs and leaders who truly want change and are

- ready for clarity and radical honesty about where they unconsciously block themselves
- know they could do more, but are getting in their own way

Experienced leadership reality that hardly anyone talks about.
"Little moves forward without me."
"I want to shape things, but get lost in the operational."
"Lots of meetings, slow decisions, endless follow-ups."

We decode your leadership code and build a management system that brings responsibility into the team. From this, we build a management system of clear decisions, communication, and routines so that responsibility remains within the team.

Why tools often fail
Leadership doesn't fail because of tools, but because of behavior under pressure.
Without a leadership self-image and clear communication, tasks turn into follow-ups and control.

The result
✔ More efficient communication. Clarity and decisions are made faster.
Measurable: Time-to-Decision ↓, Ad-hoc-Pings/Week ↓

✔ Less friction. Resources aren't wasted on micromanagement.
Measurable: Rework/Error Costs ↓, Meeting Hours/Week ↓

✔ More resilient teams take responsibility, even under pressure.
Measurable: Ownership Rate ↑, Escalations/Month ↓

Example from practice
A managing director described it this way: "For the first time, I'm not making every decision myself anymore. My team runs the show even when I'm not there."

Why me
As a leadership coach, trainer, and mentor with over 17 years of leadership experience in startups, SMEs, and corporations, I have not only advised but also led teams, clients, and complex projects. I lived leadership myself, including at the DFB (German Football Association) with team & strategy responsibility.

This practical experience flows into every coaching, training, and mentoring session. Trained in neuroscience, emotion coaching, and resilience work, I combine knowledge competence in strategy and feeling competence in emotional intelligence to create well-founded leadership knowledge with emotional depth.
  • German

    Native or bilingual

  • English

    Fluent

  • Polish

    Fluent

Remote only
Primarily works remotely

Experience

  • Michael Kolla - TRAINING | MENTORING
    TRAINING | MENTORING
    August 2019 - Today (6 years and 10 months)
    München, Germany
    For entrepreneurs and leaders who truly want change and are

    - ready for clarity and radical honesty about where they unconsciously block themselves
    - know they could do more, but are getting in their own way

    Experienced leadership reality that hardly anyone talks about.
    "Little moves forward without me."
    "I want to shape things, but get lost in the operational."
    "Lots of meetings, slow decisions, endless follow-ups."

    We decode your leadership code and build a management system that brings responsibility into the team. From this, we build a management system of clear decisions, communication, and routines so that responsibility remains within the team.

    Why tools often fail
    Leadership doesn't fail because of tools, but because of behavior under pressure.
    Without a leadership self-image and clear communication, tasks turn into follow-ups and control.

    The result
    ✔ More efficient communication. Clarity and decisions are made faster.
    Measurable: Time-to-Decision ↓, Ad-hoc-Pings/Week ↓

    ✔ Less friction. Resources aren't wasted on micromanagement.
    Measurable: Rework/Error Costs ↓, Meeting Hours/Week ↓

    ✔ More resilient teams take responsibility, even under pressure.
    Measurable: Ownership Rate ↑, Escalations/Month ↓

    Example from practice
    A managing director described it this way: "For the first time, I'm not making every decision myself anymore. My team runs the show even when I'm not there."

    Why me
    As a leadership coach, trainer, and mentor with over 17 years of leadership experience in startups, SMEs, and corporations, I have not only advised but also led teams, clients, and complex projects. I lived leadership myself, including at the DFB (German Football Association) with team & strategy responsibility.

    This practical experience flows into every coaching, training, and mentoring session. Trained in neuroscience, emotion coaching, and resilience work, I combine knowledge competence in strategy and feeling competence in emotional intelligence to create well-founded leadership knowledge with emotional depth.
  • Eight Awareness
    EIGHT AWARENESS TRAINER
    July 2021 - Today (4 years and 11 months)
    https://www.eightawareness.com We are Eight Awareness. With our analysis method, we offer you the basis for comprehensive awareness of personality structures and the potential of your employees. The results and insights obtained from this:
    - help you in your daily business development,
    - ensure motivated employees instead of "task completers",
    - improve internal communication,
    - avoid conflict situations and high fluctuation,
    - prevent misplacements,
    - and increase optimal team performance.
  • Cognizant
    Senior Consultant / Lead Test Manager
    October 2014 - April 2026 (11 years and 6 months)
    Industries: Automotive, Telecommunications, Logistics, Insurance

    I have not only advised but also led teams, clients, and complex QA/delivery projects from setup to stable release frequency.
    - Engagement/Program Management: Steering multi-member on/near/offshore teams; project & resource allocation, roadmap alignment, risk management & escalations.
    - QA Strategy & Governance: Test strategy across the entire SDLC, quality goals/KPIs (incl. defect leakage, rework, stability), quality gates, acceptance criteria, release boards.
    - Transformation & Coaching: Introduction/refinement of agile practices (Scrum/SAFe), building test automation & CI/CD integration, ISTQB training & tool training, mentoring test/PO roles.
    - Process Maturity & Security: Maturity/process assessments (e.g., TPI/TMMi), mappings to OWASP SAMM; derivation of concrete improvement measures.
    - Vendor & Budget Management: Service provider management, SOW/RfP contributions, budget planning & cost control.
    - Stakeholder Management: Interface to product, architecture, security & business departments; steering committees, management reporting, decision proposals.

    Impact (typical, measurable in daily work):
    Time-to-Release ↓ • Defect Leakage ↓ • Rework/Error Costs ↓ • Escalations/Month ↓ • Release Stability & Predictability ↑

    Guiding principle: Clarity under pressure, enabling decisions, ensuring quality, empowering teams.

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Education

  • Certified Expert of Applied Neuroscience, Applied Neuroscience
    Eilert Akademie | The Science of Emotions
    2023
    Certified Expert of Applied Neuroscience, Applied Neuroscience
  • emTrace®-Mastercoach, emTrace®
    Eilert Akademie | The Science of Emotions
    2021
    emTrace®-Mastercoach, emTrace®

Skill set

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