Successful in the international top league of business, politics, consulting, science and culture.
Top league guidance from Dorothea Assig + Dorothee Echter
How to Gain Influence and Reputation in the Top League
The top league operates by different rules. Here, it’s all about visibility, what you credibly stand for, influential connections and the unmistakable habitus that signals ‘I belong here’. In the top league community, in the media, in the public discourse, in elite decision-making circles. Here, relationship capital outweighs operational excellence. Reputation becomes strategic currency. Influence determines legacy.
This is exactly where we come in.
How we work.
For 25 years, we have been advising top managers on how to achieve and maintain personal success. From more than 2,000 individual consulting processes, we have developed our own continuously reviewed knowledge base. It is a proprietary knowledge grounded in real decision-making environments, not theory.
We work with people whose decisions shape organisations, markets and social fields, globally:
- CEOs and board members
- Top managers of major corporations
- Entrepreneurs and investors
- Distinguished academics
- Senior partners in global advisory firms
- Political decision-makers and public figures
- Leaders of International Institutions
- Influential voices in culture and media.
You will receive precise answers to your existential career questions:
- What do I stand for — and how do I position myself for enduring relevance?
- How can I expand my influence beyond the confines of formal authority?
- How might I cultivate and safeguard my reputation? Is it at risk?
- Which opportunities and vulnerabilities, rooted in my own personality, remain outside my field of vision?
- Why, despite demonstrable success, do I remain insufficiently recognised?
- How do I assume a new sphere of responsibility worthy of my experience?
- How do I conceive, shape and ultimately bring to completion a life’s work?
This is what makes our Top League advisory distinctive:
We see you in your greatness – and that is how we advise you.
- We do not delegate. Our advisory is always personal: one person in a company, advised in depth, exclusively, discreetly and at the highest level.
- We penetrate the power dynamics at the top in every detail. In doing so, we identify your personal power resources.
On the basis of our Top League career expertise, we uncover widely held mainstream assumptions:
- Outstanding performance is not decisive for a career.
- One does not have to adapt to the most powerful in order to gain influence.
- Popularity and large networks do not lead to success.
You will find further myths in our book (sorry, only in German):
“Eines Tages werden Sie sehen, wie gut ich bin. Wie Karrieremythen Sie blockieren und Sie dennoch weiterkommen.“ Ariston Verlag, 2022.
What we do not offer:
Organisational development, team training, mentoring, psychotherapy, rhetoric or presentation coaching, leadership coaching, psychometric testing, or structured coaching programmes. Equally, our approach does not follow conventional consulting models focused on mainstream advisory services, performance optimisation, or time-management methodologies.
Assig + Echter Coaching for the top league
Codes & rules for the very top – what kind of approach do you need?
Different rules apply to success at the very top — and therefore to coaching at the very top. In middle management, performance, leadership capability and measurable results are formally assessed. Career progression is determined through comparison with peers.
At the top of organisations all individuals are already successful and influential.
- They lead organisations driven by their own original ambition.
- Reputation depends less on performance metrics than on confidence, trust and the goodwill of key stakeholders.
- Influence is strengthened through personal presence and bearing — signalling belonging and ease within the international top tier.
Our top-tier coaching therefore focuses
- not on optimisation, but on personal stature,
- not on assertion, but on enduring impact,
- not on comparison, but on uniqueness,
- not on quarterly results, but on the legacy you intend to create.
What will you achieve with us?
- Your influence expands as you shape strong personal connections — both within your organisation and across the wider external landscape.
- Your personal brand is deliberately structured so that others naturally reinforce it, strengthening and extending your reputation.
- From networks to genuine relationships: you cultivate your own international top-tier community. Trust develops. You are recommended and invited into opportunities.
- The smallest signals can disrupt your sense of belonging. With us, you learn the top league codes and rituals and master the top league habitus. This is how you become at home in the league.
- You will find your new executive position because you know and apply the top league process of being found. At this level, one does not apply — one is recommended.
- You recognise and resolve risks and resistance that lie within your personality.
How are the results achieved?
- Presence: Few hours, high density. We work together in person for one day. Afterwards, we accompany the implementation for several weeks via video conference.
- Documented: You will receive a 10–15-page document with all the results and additional ideas developed specifically for you. Operational details are also included, for example for your social media profile or specific conversations. This documentation is designed to serve as a strategic guide for several years.
- Exclusive. Just for you. Our individual consulting is discreet, direct, top-tier, knowledge-based, psychologically sound and exclusive. We only advise you, no one else in your circle.
For our advisory services, the highest standards of quality apply:
Premier-League Affinity: Up-to-date expertise on top-tier culture culture, codes, rituals, and international networks. First-hand experience in senior executive roles within business or consulting.
Exclusivity, Confidentiality, Loyalty: Advising only a single individual per organisation, to eliminate any conflicts of interest or divided loyalties.
Independence: Focused solely on the client’s inner objectives, wellbeing, and career trajectory. Uncomfortable truths are communicated candidly.
Regular Supervision: Conducted by independent peers, therapists, or academics to prevent loss of perspective, hybris, or a service-driven mindset.
Methodological Expertise: Acquired through university-level education, multiple psychological training programmes with substantial self-reflective components, and annual professional development.
Documentation: Written conceptualisation of all advisory outcomes as a strategic roadmap, provided by the coach to the client to ensure successful implementation.
Credibility: Non-negotiable discretion. Transparent proposal prior to engagement. Strict adherence to compliance rules, ethical conduct, and the highest quality standards.
Who is our top-tier coaching intended for?
Our work is intended for individuals carrying substantial responsibility across business, politics, academia, advisory professions and the cultural sector:
- Board members, C-suite leaders and internationally operating senior executives,
- Presidents and chairs of major professional or industry associations
- Senior political leaders,
- Entrepreneurs and founders,
- Heads of governmental or international institutions,
- Founders and managing leaders of scale-ups,
- Individuals with far-reaching expert authority and public standing,
- Individuals who consciously belong at this level and are pursuing this status with clear intent.
Who our advisory is not ideally suited for
- Individuals at the beginning of their careers,
- independent freelancers or sole practitioners,
- functional experts without leadership responsibility,
- first-line or team-level managers.
Assig + Echter Top League Seminars and Events
Assig + Echter Open: How do you move from middle management to top management?
Release the high-performance mode of your ascent years, and instead feel naturally at home in the Premier League, cultivating influence – this is where you achieve that crucial mindshift. Whether you are on the verge of or already established in the Premier League, this is the right place for you: learning at eye level. Colleagues, family, and friends no longer provide a suitable resonance space for your challenges. Here, you will find it – alongside the necessary intellectual calibre, discretion, and high-level exchange.
Our annual open seminar delivers a pivotal career boost and facilitates community building. Each year, the programme is curated with a changing thematic focus. Invitations are shared in good time via newsletter and on this page. Prior to any confirmed registration, a brief orientation conversation will be conducted.
What topics are covered in the Assig + Echter Open?
- You know you can do more. You are looking for the decisive impetus to move forward.
- You are navigating a conflict or sense a potential career risk.
- You want a new job.
- You require absolute discretion within a carefully curated participant group.
- You thrive on a fast-paced learning environment and seek intellectually demanding input.
- You want to develop your influence, reputation and career more quickly.
- You wish to connect with an elite cohort of peers, fostering long-term relationships and a community where mutual support and endorsement will endure for years to come.
Who is this seminar for?
- For ambitious individuals in senior executive roles or on their way to such positions, from the worlds of business, politics, associations, consultancy, academia and culture
Please note:
This seminar is designed specifically for colleagues who currently hold executive roles, are actively engaged in the organization, and are comfortable working in German.
How do we achieve the results?
- Personalised: We focus on each individual and their specific needs.
- Process-oriented: Our 25 years’ experience with top-tier seminars enables us to provide the right guidance at every stage.
- In-person: It is only in person that the influence of the individual we are working with can truly unfold.
- In short time: Just one or two half-days, depending on the topic.
- Positive: No criticism, no awkward feedback sessions, focused on the individual’s strengths.
- Personal: We, and only we, run our seminars, always as a pair.
Contact Dorothea Assig, assig@assigundechter.de
+49 89 15704175
Preparing your top talent for board-level roles
Within your company or organisation, ambitious high achievers with potential must be prepared for leadership roles at the top. For them, it is not a question of optimising their performance or leadership skills, but of developing the top-tier mindset and habitus. We offer in-house seminars for this purpose.
What results can you expect from our in-house seminars?
Your top high-potential talent, with the potential for far greater responsibilities, will
- expand their range of influence,
- gain in charisma and confidence,
- settle into the mindset of top-tier leadership,
- build their own high-calibre international C-level network,
- refine their conduct as external representatives,
- remain loyal should they not secure any of the positions they are aiming for,
- be well prepared for their board responsibilities.
Contact Dorothee Echter echter@assigundechter.de
+49 89 546621 00.
Assig + Echter Board Workshops
Board members are outstanding, strong personalities – not necessarily good team players. Great ambitions give rise to strong emotions, not just consensus. We advise on:
- Optimal decision-making quality,
- at a fast pace,
- growing trust within the board team,
- and consistent credibility within the company.
We conduct this consultancy ourselves; we do not delegate.
Who benefits from our board workshops?
- Board members and senior management,
- Shareholder groups / owner families,
- Dual leadership teams,
- Executive committees and decision-making bodies,
- Senior project/programme teams,
- Founder teams of successful start-ups or scale-ups in the growth or sale process.
In these situations, we offer advice:
- Staff turnover within your senior management team,
- Your management team is stuck in conflict or unwilling to compromise,
- Your board of directors is suffering a loss of acceptance and credibility,
- Your senior management must navigate a generational transition, impending insolvency, rapid growth or similar challenges.
Contact Dorothee Echter, echter@assigundechter.de
+49 89 546621 00
Assig + Echter Top-league inspirational talks, podcasts, panels and keynote speeches for new, groundbreaking ideas
You’re looking for a powerful spark for your management conference, your off-site meeting, your panel discussion, your top-tier dinner or your podcast. From the unique Assig + Echter perspective, tailored to top management, intellectually stimulating. A powerful stimulus for thought, offering personal insights for every single listener.
- No generic AI lectures
- No mainstream theories
- No slide-based presentations
- No pure entertainment
- No tedious large-group exercises.
Assig + Echter Keynote presentations for board workshops
- More influence as individuals. Greater success as a team.
- The ability to change one’s mindset.
- Influence through credibility.
- There doesn’t have to be a consensus.
Management Conferences
- Personal greatness – crucial for business development.
- Bonding instead of networking – promising alliances and partnerships built on personal connection.
- From ‘I’ success to ‘we’ success.
- It is not leadership, but personal ambition that provides direction.
- Closeness and goodwill. The unknown promises of success as business accelerators.
Business Schools
- Recognise where your ambition is leading you.
- Personal ambition plus closeness = business success.
- From contact to closeness to community – the top-tier system for success.
- The Assig + Echter Top Management Career Agenda.
Consultancies
- From consulting to partnership – with the top-tier mindset.
- Top consultants do not acquire clients. They are recommended. Learn to understand and apply this dynamic.
- Media and personal presence: how it works and leads to contracts.
Universities
- Based on 2,000 cases: How great careers succeed and are shaped from the very beginning.
- It is not networks that determine your career, but personal connections.
- The path to the top and how even unknown high-calibre individuals are found for major assignments.
Contact Dorothea Assig, assig@assigundechter.de
+49 89 15704175
Books
You need career knowledge. We have it.
You want to unlock the secrets of your success, identify your mistakes, and implement highly effective strategies for success?
Learn everything about your career:
- Secrets to success: how great careers are built.
- The most common mistakes and myths about careers.
- How the unique skills of ambitious people stand out in the top league of management.
Continue learning through our articles in German language:
- Fachartikel für renommierte Magazine wie den Harvard Business Manager,
- Beiträge für ZEIT online, Wirtschaftswoche, Wirtschaftswoche online, Süddeutsche Zeitung Karriereführer etc.,
- Beiträge als Kolumnistinnen für DER SPIEGEL online Karriere,
- Assig + Echter Topmanagement Blog Impulse, https://topmanagement.blog
- Impulse und Inspirationen als Linkedin Posts
- Topmanagement Strategie-Impulse, wenn Sie unseren Newsletter abonnieren, info@assigundechter.de
And our career books. Order them. Read them. Benefit from them. Sorry, only in German.
Freiheit für Manager
Wie Kontrollwahn den Unternehmenserfolg verhindert, bei Audible als Hörbuch hier
“Eines Tages werden sie sehen, wie gut ich bin!”
Wie Karrieremythen Ihren Erfolg blockieren und Sie dennoch weiterkommen
topmanagement.blog
We accelerate your success with powerful insights to propel your top-tier career. Strategic and operational insights drawn from our 25 years of experience and research in top management consulting. Presented in a concise format to support your advancement, repositioning, and development of a top-tier mindset.
Assig + Echter Topliga-Erfolg Newsletter
The Assig + Echter Topliga Success Newsletter provides key insights to boost your success as a top manager. You will receive the newsletter at irregular intervals. Subscription is free of charge. Your email address will not be shared with third parties. We store your data and use CleverReach® to send you our Top Management Newsletter and information about our seminars. You can easily unsubscribe from these communications at any time. See also our Privacy Policy.
Please subscribe to our newsletter at: info@assigundechter.de
Press
Assig + Echter in the Media: Learn more…
Kontakt
Dorothea Assig
Jagdstraße 3
D-80639 Munich
Germany
T. +49 89 15 70 41 75
Dorothee Echter
Andréestraße 2
D-80634 Munich
Germany
Tel. +49 89 54 66 21 00
Impressum und Datenschutz
Dorothea Assig
Jagdstraße 3
D-80639 Munich
Germany
T. +49 89 15 70 41 75
Dorothee Echter
Andréestraße 2
D-80634 Munich
Germany
Tel. +49 89 54 66 21 00
Dorothea Assig:
Umsatzsteuer-ID DE234433157
Dorothee Echter:
Umsatzsteuer-ID DE192864831
Webseite-Konzeption und Texte:
Dorothea Assig + Dorothee Echter
Website Inspirationen:
Jasmine Borhan, www.jasmineborhan.com
Eva Müller, www.kunstberatung.de
Gestaltung: kunstmine, Miriam Neff
www.kunstmine.de
Portraits: Magdalena Jooss Fotografie
www.magdalenajooss.com
Visagistin: Alin Köhler, lookademy GmbH
www.look.academy
Programmierung und Betreuung:
kisselkonzept Media Solutions
www.kisselkonzept.de
Lektorat: Brigitte Mende
www.brigittemende.de
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Assig + Echter Datenschutzerklärung: Erfahren Sie mehr…
