The entrepreneurial starting point
The Hearts Hotel in Braunlage was approaching its next stage of development. As the company grew, too many operational issues converged on founder and managing director Meik-M. Lindberg. Responsibilities and operating processes needed greater clarity, while the strategic development of the business could not be left to spare moments. The task was therefore not a single workshop, but connecting entrepreneurial direction, a workable organisation and execution in a running business.
The case in brief
My role combined sparring with the entrepreneur, strategy and organisational work, leadership-team development and temporary operational leadership. The focus was what the company needed for its next stage—and how that could become concrete work with the people responsible.
At the start of the mandate, we clarified vision, goals, expectations and roles. Conflicting objectives and different perceptions became visible; the work produced a communication narrative and specific work packages and artefacts for implementation. It also involved organisational structure, internal communication and digital collaboration tools.
The connection to practice became particularly clear when I temporarily led restaurant operations. I worked in the business myself, understood its dependencies and developed a target and solution picture with management. Together with the people involved, we reshaped the team and restaurant strategy—including the decision to open seven days a week.
Alongside this work and in subsequent phases, we developed leadership and collaboration: through townhalls, individual development conversations, a compact business retreat and work on alignment, roles and future planning. The case shows not only how clarity emerges, but also how I take responsibility for translating it into day-to-day work.
My role in the mandate
Today, I see this case as an example of my work as a Fractional Chief of Staff: connecting the perspective of the company leader with leadership, organisation and specific execution tasks. I work with existing owners, not around them. The earlier sparring on entrepreneurial direction relates to my current Next Chapter Sparring offer. Business retreats and process facilitation provide focused development space; an integrated mandate carries the work into operations. Depending on the task, I combine these different areas of work within an appropriate working arrangement.
My contribution—six connected areas of work
Entrepreneurial direction · Next Chapter Sparring
Earlier sparring using a motivation profile connected personal drivers with questions about role and entrepreneurial direction. This relates to my current Next Chapter Sparring: clarity about one’s direction as a basis for deliberate professional decisions.
Strategic sparring & business development
Clarifying vision, goals, assumptions and priorities with the founder and managing director. This included the further direction of the B2B business towards offsites and business retreats.
Organisational design & responsibilities
Adapting structures and responsibilities to the next stage of development. Working on role expectations, conflicting objectives and operational friction, then translating these into concrete implementation tasks.
Internal communication & digital collaboration
Designing and running townhalls, sharpening the change narrative and introducing digital collaboration tools. Connecting management, the leadership team and employees forms part of the organisational work.
Leadership-team development & process facilitation
Connecting individual development conversations with work on the leadership team. A compact business retreat, system-board visualisation and adapted workshop processes supported shared understanding of roles, collaboration and the future.
Interim leadership & restaurant execution
Temporarily leading the restaurant and working in service myself. Implementing a target and solution picture with the team, sharpening restaurant strategy and translating seven-day opening into operations.
Outcomes of the collective work
- Reordered responsibilities and an organisational structure adapted to the company’s development.
- A developed leadership team, established communication formats and digital collaboration tools.
- A reconfigured restaurant team and a sharpened restaurant strategy with seven-day opening.
- Guest and revenue records in the restaurant—described in the published mandate account as outcomes of the collective work. The early January 2025 practice report describes a guest count close to the record at the time after one week.
Basis: public case description · mandate description.
01 · Mandate, strategy and concrete work packages
The opening report shows how a brief mandate clarification became a workable frame for the company’s next stage: goals, roles, communication and implementation steps.
The Hearts Hotel: Clarifying the brief becomes strategy work
A planned short workshop develops into a shared framework for vision, expectations, roles and implementation.
Original on LinkedIn02 · Operational responsibility in a running business
The report connects interim restaurant leadership with a townhall, change measures and individual development conversations. It makes the combined role of organisational work and hands-on leadership tangible.
The Hearts Hotel: Interim leadership, townhall and execution
A practical account of interim restaurant leadership, organisational support, town halls and individual development conversations.
Original on LinkedIn03 · Leadership team, roles and alignment
A compact business retreat and subsequent system-board work show how different leadership perspectives were addressed and connected with future planning.
The Hearts Hotel: What does leadership team mean?
A three-hour retreat connects reflection, nature, movement and different perspectives on collaboration.
Original on LinkedIn
The Hearts Hotel: Alignment needs the right setting
A systemic board and open dialogue connect vision, roles and operational realities in a shared development process.
Original on LinkedIn04 · Process facilitation for the next stage
The report documents work on brand, values, culture, leadership and organisation. Adjusting the agenda, guiding questions and amount of theory was a professional intervention in the development process, not simply meeting moderation.
Process facilitation is more than moderation
A further Hearts Hotel reflection explores how adapting the agenda and reducing theory can support the work that matters.
Original on LinkedInWhat transfers to other mandates
For other entrepreneurs, the relevant point is not this hotel’s particular story, but the way of working: when strategic development, leadership issues and operational bottlenecks overlap, a recommendation alone is often insufficient. I help clarify the task, develop a workable direction with the people responsible and—where the mandate requires it—take responsibility for execution myself. The specific arrangement follows the situation, not a fixed sequence of formats.
What is the task you face?
- Is the first need clarity about your entrepreneurial role and your next step?
- Which strategic task keeps being displaced by daily operations?
- Where are responsibilities, decision spaces or communication routines still unclear?
- Which execution task needs an integrated partner for a period of time—not just an external recommendation?
Where personal direction, the company’s next stage and operational demands overlap, we first clarify what kind of support is actually needed.
Discuss your situation confidentiallySources and limits
The case combines published practice reports with my public description of the mandate. Current offer names are used retrospectively and do not necessarily describe the contractual role at the time. Guest and revenue records are reported outcomes of the collective work in the restaurant, not isolated proof of my contribution. This account contains no independent measurement, specific comparative figures or causal attribution of individual results.
Earlier sparring reference
Earlier sparring with the founder on his drivers and entrepreneurial direction provides the professional context for the subsequent organisational mandate. The reference was published in 2024 and, according to the original post, concerns a conversation that took place five to six years earlier.
Earlier sparring reference on LinkedIn
About the creation of this article
This article was created with the support of AI. I make this visible for transparency and do not see it as a contradiction of personal authorship.
What matters to me is not whether a first draft is produced with the help of a tool. What matters is who sets the direction, sharpens the ideas, leads the iterations, checks the wording and ultimately stands behind the content.
This text is therefore the result of briefings, iterations, professional interpretation and my own revision. In the end, I publish only what fits my thinking and what I personally stand behind.