Leading with Intention: Kathrin Schoenborn on Boundaries, Belonging, and Leadership

Hi, Kathrin.

Kathrin Schönborn (00:02)
Hi as a Sabine

It is a pleasure to have you here. And it was interesting when I read your email after I made the big request. I've requested a lot from you recently for you to be part of my book and now to be part of the podcast. You shared your like, hmm, podcast. I'm not so sure. So I feel very happy and privileged that you decided to be a part of this. So thank you. Thank you.

Kathrin Schönborn (00:28)
You're welcome, you're welcome. Thank

you, thank you for having me. Thank you for thinking of me as you developed your book, this wonderful book, and also this podcast series.

Yeah.

You know, Kathrin, and when I think about the book and also what we're going to talk about today, you are definitely top of mind. You know, I've known you for years and we met volunteering and I think that that's such a special way that people get to know each other as well because it's a completely different relationship than when you work with someone. So you've always been a big inspiration to me. I've learned a lot from you and I'm pleased now that to share more of those insights

with others around the world who are going to be able to see this. Yeah, so tell me what have you been up to because you've had a change obviously in your career, not obviously, but you've had a change in your career and...

Kathrin Schönborn (01:16)
Very exciting.

I had a

change in my career after I'm a pharmacist by training after three years of international roles, challenging roles in the pharmaceutical industry. I have decided to switch gears and move into a portfolio career. And so now I'm since two and a half years, I do a mix of activities in.

active as a consultant, as an advisor, particularly for women-founded start-ups, which I love a lot, and also continue to volunteer to support women. So this seems to be a key red thread through my life.

Yeah.

Yeah, and it's fantastic that you have more time to work on that right now as well. So I know that the last group that you also mentored, the feedback was really positive and they really valued that. And people are looking for that, so it's really great that you're building that community also for women leaders and women entrepreneurs.

Kathrin Schönborn (02:13)
Yeah.

Yeah,

I think it's for me it was the perfect time now and I can tell you that also the last years in my let's say a normal employee life I've really tried to focus on things that give me energy that inspire me and that are very dear and near to my heart. So I now have the flexibility to do a little bit more of this.

Great. Well.

As I've shared in a couple of previous videos, this is a mini podcast on three main questions. And so I'm excited to jump in and ask you these questions. And the first one is about big decisions that we all have in our lives. And oftentimes we can maybe have the desire to play it safe and to not maybe take some risks. And we often ask ourselves, what if I do this? What if I do this?

What I take this job?" I've changed that phrase around just a little bit. I like to ask, what if I don't? What happens in our lives if we don't make some of these big decisions? I would love if you could share a moment in your life when you were at that point to make a very significant decision for yourself. You ask yourself, what if I don't do this? What's the impact of not taking the step?

Kathrin Schönborn (03:56)
Yeah.

Very good question, thank you. And I was thinking about this in preparation and I want to share one particularly important moment in my life, which was actually quite early in my life. So as you know, but not everybody here listening to us today, I met my today beloved hubby very early. And actually I met him when I was just finalizing school. So during the Abitur.

as we say in Germany. And so I met him and the normal cause of life would have been to go to university after, let's say, having finalized school and being ready to go to university. And actually he inspired me to think differently and to do this differently and to take a break and...

Mm-hmm.

Kathrin Schönborn (04:55)
to actually travel together. So when I decided that, so as I mentioned before, I'm a pharmacist. So I studied pharmacy, which actually has a quite high hurdle in Germany, or had at that time, I don't know who it is today, to actually get a seat at the university. And I was offered this seat and I then decided, no, I don't

Mm-hmm.

Kathrin Schönborn (05:25)
take it, I'll do a break. And this is more than four decades ago. So many, many younger people today do this gap year, but at that time it was very rare in Germany. So this was a quite brave decision. if, So the question, if I don't do this, I...

was probably mainly driven by the idea of really doing something different, doing, let's say, learning something, getting out of my comfort zone, and in particular also following curiosities. So I then worked for several months to earn enough money to be able to travel, and we then traveled together to Israel, and we both volunteered in a kibbutz.

on the Golan Heights and this was so...

different to where came from. And I met wonderful people from, it was very small kibbutz, I met wonderful people from the US, from Australia, from other countries. And I really was exposed to this international way of thinking, very different surrounding in this area in Israel and in particular with Syria and Lebanon very close. This problem

widened my horizon to the diversity of thinking and of living life in such an amazing way that I think it really influenced me as a person.

That sounds like, because obviously I know you pretty well, Kathrin. So I see that red thread through your life that you and Marc do this often. You've taken sabbaticals and I've always been really impressed actually that you've done that because very few people, large companies offer this to their employees. And the idea is I think to broaden, as you said, to broaden horizons, to broaden thinking. And so often you don't do that because you

Kathrin Schönborn (07:16)
Yeah.

Yeah.

⁓ this is my career I can't if I take this sabbatical time or if I go do do this it'll have a negative impact on my career and I'm and I believe that you've lived completely the opposite of that that's been beneficial

Kathrin Schönborn (07:49)
Yeah, and absolutely,

absolutely. And was also thinking about this as I was reflecting on...

some of these key questions in my life. Probably this first big decision and in particular also going, let's say, to a completely unknown country in a completely unknown setting in Kibbutz, in Israel, in volunteer setting in Golan Heights, an area that had been invaded by Israel. So also something very special and completely new to me,

this because it was such an amazing and long lasting and probably also kind of personality building experience at that time. I was not yet 20. That this gave me the, let's say the courage and the robustness to again and again take some really, let's say quite relevant decisions and also do something that

most people probably would not do. Like taking a sabbatical in a time when it was not yet in, let's say, standard, in particular when you are in a more advanced career position. Or I also took different jobs in the company that, I don't know, they were completely new, so quite some risk related to this.

And it's

shown Your career is a testament that those were definitely thank goodness that you did that you took those steps and it just makes me reflect again just listening to your stories that it's not always just what we learn day to day in our job that these other experiences enrich us and actually make us better and potentially stronger to come back and have different perspectives when we step back into the roles that we have as an organization. So I guess the

The

tip is for people to take on these opportunities if organizations provide it. If you don't work at a company that does, maybe you take some time off anyway and go and do this. I love that.

Kathrin Schönborn (10:01)
Absolutely, yeah.

If you want to hear more about that, I think that's one of the stories that I really love that you shared also in the book, and I won't give too many secrets away, but also that when you do this, you take this seriously and you make sure that you block that time for you. So, very valuable. thanks.

Kathrin Schönborn (10:12)
Mm-hmm.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That leads us to this next ripple, the question that I have around, we meet so many people that shape our lives and that impact our lives. And if you reflect now, back on your career, is there someone in particular that really has stood out for you that you would like to thank? And if they were in front of you right now, how would you thank them for the impact that they've potentially had on you?

Kathrin Schönborn (10:52)
Yeah, so I'm mainly when I think about these questions, I always think about one individual. So I had many different jobs over my career. I had many, many different bosses, men and women, and I learned a lot from all of them. From some of them, I learned how to not do it, which is also important.

That's true.

Kathrin Schönborn (11:21)
And one was my, I still consider her my role model boss and she had this wonderful mix of very empathic and people-oriented way to interact with individuals and also this business view, this business view and always bringing, let's say, the business perspective and what's good for the business together with this very, very individual

approach to persons, people. And she was based in the US, so I was here in Germany. it was also She was my line manager when I had my first leadership position, when I had to build a team, completely new team, build from scratch and also a role that was actually quite challenging and some topics that were not so easy going. So I had to do a lot of stakeholder management and

influencing and she was so far away that I couldn't go to her every day and say, ⁓ tell me what I should do or not do. So this, this and her, let's say her trust in me and what she gave me or that I perceived she was giving me actually gave me a lot of strength and a lot of freedom to operate and do what I, what I thought was the right thing for all these

topics. This is why I learned a lot from her. I learned this wonderful blend of this people orientation and business focus, very clear and sharp business focus and also the

the importance of providing a freedom to operate to people when you are in a leadership position because this is where really people can be themselves, can test or try something new and as long as it's within a given frame then most people will be wonderful.

Do you want to share who it is?

Kathrin Schönborn (13:27)
Yes, her name is Nancy Wysenski She lives, I think, still in North Carolina. And she actually also brought me to the HBA. Yes. Yes. So she was the co-founder of the HBA, the Healthcare Business Women's Association's chapter in North Carolina at that time.

⁓ So the double positive bit there.

Kathrin Schönborn (13:53)
I thought, wow, this is amazing and wonderful, an idea that women support women and come together to do this. And I said, whenever the HBA comes to Europe, I will get involved. And I did. Yeah. Yeah.

And boy did you. And boy did you. Well, yay, that's fantastic.

So Nancy, we'll have to make sure that we that Nancy sees this. And I think it's so impactful that people hear that because you go through your life and you live day to day and you don't necessarily know what an impact you have on individuals. And I think it's so nice and important to share that with them. Yeah.

Kathrin Schönborn (14:30)
Yeah.

And that leads us to our last question, and it's about your legacy. And legacy oftentimes is associated when we're not here anymore. But I think that that's actually not the case. We live our legacy right now. Everything that we do is part of the legacy that people remember us by. And if you had to pick one thing or one ripple that you would like to be remembered by, what would that be?

Kathrin Schönborn (15:04)
I would love to be remembered by the support and encouragement I gave to other women to

be the best version of themselves, find their strength, to build on their strength, identify their path and their priority in life. It doesn't necessarily need to be a career advancement. It can be career advancement, but it can also be something else. So I would love to have contributed to empowering other women. That's my...

my key topic and I feel I have already done a little bit of this legacy building at least some of feedback I've received over the years so and I will continue to do this because it really is so energy and fulfillment rich for me.

Yes.

Yeah,

you certainly have, Kathrin, because I talk to a lot of people that know you and...

I can count on many hands the times that your name has been raised and already the impact that you had, that you opened a door, that you made an introduction. And those are all pieces of our legacy that you've introduced someone that has, that someone could work together or that brought them into the organization or that, ⁓ that they made a change in their life. So that is, you're definitely living your legacy. I can tell you firsthand.

Kathrin Schönborn (16:39)
Wonderful.

And

One other thing that you're doing too is that you recently won an award with the HBA and I think that that's also a very strong signal that you're living that legacy and uplifting other women.

Kathrin Schönborn (16:48)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was very, very, very, very

honored to receive this special award last year.

Well, thank you. And as always, it's a treat to talk to you. And I do always still learn something new, I have to say, every time I talk to you. So that's nice too. Yeah, I do. So always, there's something else that pops into my mind. And actually the beginning, questions, I mean, I knew that you had taken these steps and that you, but I didn't know the details of the first step that you took with Marc when you went on that. So yeah. And how impactful that is to broaden our horizons. It's really important.

Kathrin Schönborn (17:05)
Interesting.

Yeah.

Yeah,

Absolutely. Well, also a big thank you for me. It has been a pleasure to have this chat with you and I wish you all the best on your journey and I'm sure there will be other exciting ripple stories that you already have lined up like a string of birds for yeah.

Yeah. Yeah.

There are a lot of them.

Kathrin Schönborn (17:51)
For all of us to get inspired,

to get inspired and learn from each other and support each other.

Yeah, that's the key

that we continue to do that. So thank you for sharing.

Kathrin Schönborn (17:59)
Yeah,

yeah, Very good. Thank you for having me and have a wonderful day. Bye.

soon. Thanks

Kathrin bye!