What brings out the best in people – and what gets in the way?

There is something in every person that comes alive when their strengths, motivation and sense of purpose come together. We call it the human spark.

It is the inner drive behind good work, courageous decisions and the contribution only that person can make. Sometimes it is clearly visible. At other times, it can become obscured by expectations, uncertainty or ways of working that leave too little room for people to be at their best.

Katharina Gerhardt

Bringing together the realities of business and a deep understanding of people.

I partner with leaders who want to get the most out of themselves, their teams and their organisation.

Professional headshot of human-centric leadership coach Katharina Gerhardt

Katharina founded The Human Spark after working across HR in the FMCG industry and leadership consulting and organisational transformation at YSC Consulting, part of Accenture. Her experience spans leadership assessment and development, executive coaching, human-centred culture work and the people side of major change. She has worked internationally with leaders, teams and organisations across a range of sectors and cultures. 

She works as a sparring partner to senior leaders at moments that require clarity, honest reflection and considered action, combining depth of knowledge with a pragmatic point of view. Clients value her ability to see patterns within complexity, ask the questions that matter and translate insight into practical choices. 

Her work is informed by her expertise in positive psychology, emotional intelligence and human behaviour. She holds a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania, an MSc in Learning and Development from Maastricht University and a BSc in Business Studies from the University of Munster, Germany. 

She is an ICF-accredited Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and is completing her doctoral research on the role of leadership and emotions.

Experience & Qualifications

Katharina’s background includes:

  • 15+ years International HR and people development

  • Master’s of Applied Positive Psychology (University of Pennsylvania)

  • MSc in Learning and Development (Maastricht University)

  • BSc in Business Studies (University of Munster)

  • PhD research on emotional intelligence in leadership (Tilburg University)

  • ICF Professional Certified Coach (PCC)

  • Accreditation in a range of psychometric and leadership-assessment tools (Leadership Circle Profile, Hogan, Gallup Clifton StrengthsFinder, Lumina Spark, Lumina Emotion, FIRO-B, OPQ)

An international consulting partnership network for key moments of growth and change.

Broader expertise where it matters: The Human Spark brings together a trusted network of coaches, facilitators and specialists. We may involve partners when their experience adds significant value to the situation.

Partners of The Human Spark work from a shared understanding of the purpose and context, while bringing in their own depth of experience and point of view. Depending on the engagement, this may include specialist input, additional facilitation or coaching across a larger leadership population.

Meet our Partners

Lea Röcken-Kweider, MSc

Trainer and Coach for Emotional Competence

Lea designs and delivers training programmes in emotional competence and provides one-to-one coaching. With more than 15 years of experience as a coach and trainer, she helps people better understand their emotional patterns and create lasting change in their behaviour. She holds an MSc in International Business from HEC Paris and has international corporate experience.

Location: Siegburg, Germany

Claire Ong, MAPP

Leadership Coach and Facilitator

Claire specializes in designing and creating meaningful learning experiences combining practical application with academic rigour. Topics include psychological safety, managing difficult conversations, creating healthy team dynamics and emotional attunement in the workplace. Claire has a Master’s in Applied Positive Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and has run workshops across various cultures and industries for the last 15 years.

Location: Singapore

Yashi Srivastava, MAPP

Certified Positive Psychology Coach, ICF PCC

While Yashi began her career teaching computer programming, her life-long fascination with the human mind led her to pursue a career in people development. A strong believer in the power people have over their lives, Yashi has helped numerous clients take charge of their lives by overcoming challenges with imposter syndrome, work-life balance, and procrastination on what truly matters to them. Known for her compassionate, no-nonsense approach, Yashi helps her clients show up in life with more courage, confidence, and authenticity. 

Location: Goa, India

Darrah Wolfe, P. Eng, MAPP

Leadership Coach and Facilitator, ICF PCC

Trained as an Industrial Systems Engineer, Darrah found her way to people development after over a decade optimising capital project operations in the Canadian Energy Industry. After discovering that leadership capabilities and culture, rather than equipment, commonly differentiated a well optimised operation, she sought to better understand how to bring out the best in people in the workplace and transitioned her career to help individuals, teams, and organisations work in greater harmony with their values and each other. 

Location: Canmore, Canada