Markus Draeger

Markus Draeger, born in Hamburg in 1973, is an executive coach and sports psychology expert who combines the worlds of sport and business. He supports coaches and managers in implementing their leadership philosophy based on personal values, motives and strengths and helps teams and organizations to develop a healthy and sustainable performance culture that creates results. He draws on over 20 years of leadership experience in the global corporate world as well as versatile coaching approaches and methods from sports psychology. As a keynote speaker, he inspires his audiences to create a healthy and sustainable performance culture that goes beyond managing results.

After completing a banking apprenticeship and studying business administration, Markus Draeger initially gained valuable experience at a management consultancy before starting his career at an international corporation. For around two decades, he led global teams, was a member of various management teams and was responsible for challenging and group-wide transformations - initially in marketing and later in the in-house consulting group. He deepened this experience in 2014 with an Executive Master's in Change Management at the renowned Said Business School/University of Oxford.

His interest in people and desire to develop potential ultimately led him to leave the typical corporate career path at the end of 2018 and switch to the Human Resources department. From then on, he supported executives and management teams in their personal and professional development as an HR Business Partner. At this time, he also completed his one-year, part-time coaching training in London. Markus Draeger “allowed” himself another change of perspective in 2021. After 20 years of corporate life, he took a one-year “time-out”, which he used to train as a sports psychology expert in Cologne and to found his coaching company. The change in perspective changed his view of leadership and cooperation and opened new thinking spaces. His book owes its title “New thinking spaces for the leadership of tomorrow” to this fact.

He now lives in Schleswig-Holstein/Germany with his wife Svenja and daughter Nike and, in addition to his professional projects, also devotes himself to his hobbies: running, yoga, stand-up paddling. Markus Draeger combines the down-to-earth attitude of a family man with the positive curiosity of a coach. His ability to accompany people and teams on their path to sustainable success makes him a sought-after expert in sport and business.