Ep. 138: Karsten Drath & Uwe Achterholt, how to transform Exhausted Organizations? (Live)

In this special live episode of Leaders Talk, recorded in Lvivduring a visit to partner NGOs of the Cosmikk-Foundation, Karsten and Uwe explore why so many transformation efforts stall and what organizations can do when energy, trust, and focus are depleted. At the heart of the conversation is a core assumption of Organizational Coaching: exhaustion is not simply a side effect of change, but a systemic signal pointing to deeper misalignments in leadership, culture, and ways of working. They discuss the risks of acceleration traps, corrosive dynamics, andsilent resignation, and explain why a meaningful “North Star” must live in people’s minds, not just on strategy slides. Topics in this episode: • Why transformations fail in exhausted systems (05:30) • Psychological Capital and the HERO model (13:30) • The Executive FiRE Index (17:30) • Organizational Energy and the Acceleration Trap (23:00) • The Two-Loop model and emergent transformation (38:00) • Theory of Change in Organizational Coaching (47:00) Further links:https://www.leadership-choices.com/https://cosmikk-foundation.org/ What are your thoughts? Share your reflections in the comments. If you have suggestions for inspiring guests for Leaders Talk, feel free to write to podcastleaderstalk@leadership-choices.com⁠⁠. Hosts: Karsten Drath & Uwe Achterholt Production & Editing: Antonia Kaiser, Hannah Jandl & Konradin Schuchter