Born into a war-torn family...
My name is Sylvia Becker-Hill. I was born in 1967 in Düsseldorf, Germany. As an only child, I was brought up by both my parents and my mother's parents who were deeply traumatized by their experiences and suffering as refugees in the second world war. I escaped the confinement and depression of the adults around me by creating my own magical fantasy world, reading widely from an early age.
As a teenager, I started mingling in the art scene of Düsseldorf, home to a world-famous art academy, numerous modern art museums, and avant-garde art galleries. My desire to study art was overridden by my loyalty to my parents and their advice to pursue a safe and secure career in public service. But by doing this I buried my longing for free creative self-expression in a hidden pocket of my soul.
Many years later - in my fifties - after extensive research, education, and two university degrees in philosophy, linguistics, literature, educational science, early childhood development, administrative science, and gender studies, and over twenty-five plus years working as an executive coach and leadership trainer - I had been a pioneer of the coaching industry and the first German coach to get certified by the ICF as a Professional Certified Coach in summer of 2002 - I finally made my way back to my dream of being an artist during the covid lockdown in 2020.
I believe creativity is your birthright and suppressed creativity leads to in-authenticity, depression, and sickness. From a business and economic perspective, a famous global IBM study from 2010 among 1500+ executives worldwide identified creativity as the most important leadership competency. The growing need to manage complexity through innovation made creativity paramount for executive leadership in the current millennium.