Home | Selmin Çalışkan – Coaching Beratung Consulting

What sets me apart from others? I love complexity and support value-driven leaders at the helm of organisations, foundations, companies, institutions and political parties as an executive coach and sparring partner – drawing on my own experience in the top seat of leadership at large, internationally active organisations. I understand the loneliness of big decisions, dealing with power dynamics, conflicts of interest, unflexible governance systems, scarce resources and political conditions. With me, you will find a confidential space to reflect on complex leadership situations, clarify decisions, sharpen your perspective - and define your next steps.

Selmin Çalışkan

Executive coaching for decision-makers – from my own experience as a CEO

Selmin Çalışkan

My Approaches

Clarity Guide

Strategy consulting meets executive coaching – for quick clarity and new perspectives

With me, you get a safe space where you can discuss your concerns in peace. My approach combines strategy consulting and executive coaching into a clearly structured, effective format. This combination provides orientation, opens up new perspectives, and reveals what was previously hidden beneath the surface.

Reality-Checker

Identify bad investments, risks, and blind spots before the consequences become apparent.

Consulting with emotional intelligence and strategic experience in leadership, political processes, positioning, and managing financial growth and organizational development. I offer sparring on equal terms, clear reflection, and a safe space for courageous decisions.

Impact-Designer

What matters now: increasing impact, strengthening organizations.

I use my many years of experience in advocacy and campaigning, as well as my networks in politics, philanthropy, and civil society, to achieve my clients' goals and make their socio-political impact more sustainable from a political and financial perspective.

Selmin Caliskan – It is about understanding presence as an active, strategic decision: Who am I in this role, who do I want to be, and how is that perceived?

Presence-Guide

It is about understanding presence as an active, strategic decision: Who am I in this role, who do I want to be, and how is that perceived?

Many managers believe that their impact is automatic. They assume that their status, expertise, and the importance of their concerns are enough to be perceived as convincing. In reality, impact is often determined independently of what is said. At the subconscious level of perception. In moments when you speak and act—and equally in situations when you do not act.

Thought-Provocateur

Expert in necessary irritation in matters of power, responsibility and impact

I guide audiences to challenge assumptions, reflect deeply, and embrace new perspectives. As a Wise Provocateur, I provoke thought with clarity and courage, offering both reflection and disruption. I create spaces where leaders and thinkers confront the uncomfortable, uncover insights, and act with integrity and purpose."

About me

I have led at the top in international contexts — as Secretary General of Amnesty International Germany, as Director at Open Society Foundations, and for many years as part of the leadership team at medica mondiale. This work has shaped me: in my attitude, clarity, and effectiveness.

My journey began in grassroots work with migrant and refugee women. There I learned that power only comes when we take collective action.

Today, I support executives and organizations in Germany, Europe, and worldwide who work with purpose and seek guidance in complex times. I combine strategic experience with empathy and humor, offering a safe space for genuine development—with real top-leadership experience at your side.

Let's talk!

Blog

13.01.2026

Guest article on Beijing +30

In the fall of 2025, Nora Teuma and I had the wonderful opportunity to publish a guest article on… read

My Topics

Is your calendar bursting at the seams and you can't get the most important things done?
Are there tensions and conflicts that require clear leadership?
Do you need to develop new business models because your sources of funding have dried up?

Back into agency

Through strategic sparring on equal terms, I help you to use your power more consciously—despite political games, internal contradictions, and external expectations. You gain clarity and regain control—over your agenda, your decisions, and your impact as a leader.

Do you feel exhausted and lonely at the top because you have no one to talk to in confidence?
You've already quit internally but don't have a plan B?
Are you being boycotted as a manager by an employee or by the board of directors?

Crisis Navigation

I offer you precise and rapid crisis intervention: as a discreet sparring partner, strategic clarification aid, or operational support—in German or English, on site, digitally, or by phone.

Because when the going gets tough, you need clarity, calm, and the ability to act—and you need it right away.

Are you working in a complex political situation that makes it difficult to position your issues?
Do you have limited resources for political lobbying/advocacy?
You don't want to be “too political,” but you still want to advocate for people and the environment with political leaders?

Strategy & Positioning

I support organizations, foundations, and initiatives in effectively placing political issues on the agenda in Berlin and Brussels. This includes developing tailor-made strategies, targeted networking with relevant political and financial decision-makers, and the intelligent positioning of issues in complex power structures—well thought-out and realistically implementable.

Your funding as a non-profit organization has been cut by the federal or state government, and now you don't know what to do next?
Is the lack of resources slowing down the necessary change?
Do you lack strategic clarity about what really works?

Financial Success

I support you in establishing sustainable financing models, convincing board members and other departments within your organization, tapping into new sources of income, and securing your economic capacity to act—with a clear view of your organizational culture, market, sector, and potential.

Thought-Provocateur

I am regularly invited as a panelist to German and international conferences where key social and political challenges are discussed at a strategic and operational level. My expertise covers in particular gender-equality and anti-discrimination, refugee protection, democracy promotion, rule of law and human rights. I have in depth knowledge in sectors like philanthropy, civil society, development cooperation, armed conflict, security and peace building. All from an gender and intersectional angle.

For many years, I have led large German and international organisations strategically realigned them and represented them at the highest political level – in dialogue with governments, multilateral institutions, foundations, donors and civil society actors. My work takes place equally at the ‘base camp’ of practical implementation as well as at the level of political decision-making, strategy development and international negotiation processes. This combination of leadership experience, political judgement and international practice brings fresh perspectives to the table and in finding new solutions to make this world a better place.