United Strengths: An Evening @CDN
Our United Strengths
Sometimes it takes no grand occasion to feel what holds a network together. A Tuesday evening, a few tiles on a screen – and the willingness to truly listen to one another is enough.
That is what our latest CDN Trainer Call was like. We took the time not to talk about projects and utilisation, but about what makes us strong as a network: our people and their strengths. #PositiveVibes
An evening along the PERMA model
Claudia Eben and Petra Bauhofer guided us through the evening – with a calm hand and a clear thread along the PERMA model from Positive Psychology. Five elements that let us flourish: positive emotions, engagement, good relationships, meaning, and the sense of achieving something.
Instead of a presentation, there were questions, small exercises, and plenty of room for what emerges between us.
Positive emotions opened the evening with the question “What if …?” – a deliberate shift in perspective that replaces negative scenarios with bold, open possibilities. And suddenly there was a whole wall of visions: CDN as a reference for lived community. A trainer day that even clients want to attend. A network you ask before you ask the AI – because here there are people you trust.
Recognise – explore – apply your strengths
At the centre stood a thought that will stay with us: recognise – explore – apply your strengths.
We spontaneously collected in the round which strengths each of us brings in particular. And what emerged was the very image that opens this piece – a puzzle of individual strengths that interlock and together form a whole:
A love of learning and curiosity
Enthusiasm
Letting others shine and creating spaces full of trust
Appreciative and open to the new – shaping and changing
Structure and positivity
Empathy and an eye for preparing content
Connecting the dots – the combination of structure and creativity
These are not labels; they are parts of who we are as a network. Each one stands for a person who works close to what defines them.
An evening with #PositiveVibes using the #PERMA Framework from Positive Psychology
What makes us strong as a network
Looking at the whole, something became clear – beyond the individual strengths:
Reach and substance. Over 55,000 participants in ten years, in around 40 countries and hundreds of companies. Kira Fecher alone facilitates around 450 sessions a year.
Depth of method. IFS, storytelling, LEGO® Serious Play, design thinking, coaching, training – we each bring our own craft. We also use it actively for our own development. And our participants and clients benefit from that in turn.
Community spirit. Genuine mutual support: stepping in as co-trainers and sparring partners, referring one another, active support – “How would you approach this?”
How we will use our strengths more going forward
An evening like this would fade quickly if nothing followed. So we translated it into concrete next steps:
Trainer portraits. We want to introduce ourselves again in a new format. Petra, Andrea and Kira are leading the concept.
Network metrics for our website: participants, countries, sessions, companies – so that what we move together becomes visible.
Nurturing relationships: keeping the quarterly calls, using each other as co-trainers and supervisors, sharing highs and lows.
A warm greeting went out that evening to the network members who could not join – a lovely sign that a network also keeps in mind those who happen to be missing. Also with us were Nicole Hövel and Peter Getzlaff, whose eye for people and organisations shaped the evening.
The real difference
In a world where you can ask AI so much, what sets us apart is deeply human – trust.
That is what emerges when people know, explore, and apply their strengths. Not each on their own. Together. For the network and for our clients.
Frank Busch
This piece was written after the CDN Trainer Call of 21 July 2026. Thanks to everyone who was there – for the openness, the ideas, and the energy.
With us (LinkedIn profiles):
Claudia Eben · Petra Bauhofer · Andrea Hummel · Kira Fecher · Matthias Hanny · Nicole Hövel · Peter Getzlaff · Frank Busch