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What will last?
Recently I was hit by a picture on social media: a man being honored by his company for his 85th aniversary within the firm – he being 100 years old, sitting on his desk with a certificate smiling into the camera. Although I get the beauty of the value ‘loyalty’, this picture moved loyalty to a certain level of absurdity. Absurdity because you could see that his tasks were done at a desk – but all the colleagues and people who got to know him along the way were missing. If you look back at the years, you have been working so far: What do you remember? There might have…
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This crisis kills my empathy
Bitter or better?
Resilience through thankfulness
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Leadership is a talent
“I know how to lead a team well.” “I can motivate people to reach a common goal.” “I can write a plan and make it happen.” – … “but this is nothing special. It is just what I do, right?” When I talk to people about their skills and talents, they often don’t get their unique gifting. For them it feels so natural what they are doing that they do not even consider it a talent. Leading a team, structuring a topic, giving people advice how to grow in their talents – it all feels so normal to them that they have a hard time to realize that these habits…
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Why you need to defend your team culture
Your career is fueled by a learner’s mindset
My manager doesn’t care
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“All my team meetings are crap”
She is so disappointed. Although there is a common vision and the team members like each other, another team meeting went down the line without people contributing or a fruitful discussion. Stress is high these days and time is precious. It makes it even worse that the time of the team meeting doesn’t seem to be used well. She sighs. What is going wrong? I am asking, whether I might share my perspective. She nodds. “Do you remember coming on very last minute into the meeting?” – yes, she admits. There are always many topics and she always runs into the meeting in the last moment or sometimes late. Although…
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Toxic! I hate working for you!
The cycle of success
Why does my boss earn so much money?
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What to do when a team member quits
“I need to leave the team”, she sighs. After training her the past year in different roles, I have offered her a leadership position in the team. And while she was thinking about it, she realized that she needed to focus on another role in her life. And that role is not in my team. I have mixed feelings: I am more than proud that she thought deeply and made a decision (these are the type of people I want in my team!) all while I am sad because I will not work with her in the future anymore. Did people quit in your team, too? It is very easy…
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Why being UNHAPPY is actually great
Sometimes life sucks
How to start a consulting career in time of crisis
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How to survive the journey of becoming a cool boss
‘Every boss is an asshole’, she claims loudly. Having several managers at the table, the rebuke comes instantly. A discussion unfolds whether bosses have the capacity to be nice or if a certain career molds people inevitably into assholes. All agree that at least some sort of toughness can be seen in every leader they know and that there is the risk of bad behavior. As I have heard similar statements quite often, I am wondering whether there is a piece of explanation why especially women do not thrive for leadership positions. Might they fear to loose their integrity? And on the scale of ‘being an asshole-type of boss’, I…
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Are you successful?
Turning bad experiences into valuable lessons
Your positive attitude is fake
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Why the next promotion is not a goal
I am chatting with a friend about goals. “My next goal is the promotion in a year from now”, she says. I am nodding. Sounds reasonable. There are these job profiles which make goal-setting easy – there is always an upcoming promotion. A system that mimics the trained sequence of school and university deletes the necessity of finding a ‘why’ for continuing the job. You don’t have to think for yourself. You can just follow the beaten path. I am wondering if this is one of the reasons why you find so many uninspired and uninspiring people in hierarchical companies with clear career paths. I am wondering if this missing…
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Stop limiting yourself
My bonus shows I am undervalued
Why leadership is lacking on partner level
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RoL – return on love
„Ship your grain across the sea; after many days you may receive a return.“ The Bible, Ecclesiastes 11:1 The picture of shipping grain across the sea implies uncertainty. Back in the days, you couldn’t know whether your ship will reach it’s destination. You didn’t know whether the grain was still good when reaching the harbor; or if the goods were valuable at the market. After many weeks, your sailors would return and you would find out what you get in return – Spices? Salt? Fine linen? … or just some average payback? Despite the risk of not getting a return, people continued sending grain over the sea, trusting that…
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Your narrative determines success or failure – but differently what you expect
What I would tell my younger self
Words have power
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Consider LOVE in business
That client with all his problems … the colleague who always speaks negative about his job … the back talk about you that kills your mood … the hustle of being successful (somehow) and getting to the next level … that deal that really requires your weekend to work on … – the list is endless. And you know every shade of it. Memes parodying the extremes of doing a career while every party is filled with the ‘heroic’ stories of self-exploitation. And still, people stay in their careers not really knowing why. Unfortunately, these people become the visionless leaders that every juniors knows and fears. But how can a…
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Putting values on laptop screens is bullshit
Will you regret your success?
Your list of „Why not“ kills your career
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How to handle a missed promotion
Promotion time! And everyone has been promoted except for you! At least, it feels that way. How can you handle such a moment in your career? First of all, stay silent about your disappointment in business – especially if the emotional rollercoaster is still ongoing. In the heat of your emotions you might make statements which you regret once you have thought about it for a while. Therefore, take some time, walk through your emotions with friends and family and let the high peak pass through. Once you feel, you can think clearly again, evaluate your situation. Here are some questions to consider: Why did you miss the promotion? To…
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Bitter or better?
Grief is a sneaky bitch
How to handle pressure
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Who is your heir?
While doing a career we can be so focussed on our own success that we hardly think of the next generation. But this one-way-street thinking incorporates the risk of missing valuable support along your career journey. This support comes two-fold: first of all, you need people who fill in your position once you move on to your next step. And secondly, a hungry next generation pushes you to progress as it generates a healthy competition that ensures that you don’t become lazy (which you don’t want to become anyway). Ideally, this next generation is part of your network and wants to see you bloom as you want to see them…
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Stop limiting yourself
I am in the wrong job
How do I decide what to do first?
