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Your detours write history
Every good storyline evolves around a person who needs to overcome challenges – a big loss, an unfortunate turn in life, a challenge too big to overcome alone. We get intrigued by those kind of stories and suffer with the main cast until the (happy) end. Yet, in our own lives, we are quite upset once even a single little step doesn’t work – the delayed promotion, the reduced bonus, the unfair feedback. In movies, we can acknowledge how obstacles strengthen the hero of the story. In our own lives, we cannot even accept a little hurdle. We feel that the missed chance to get to the one great university…
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Resilience through thankfulness
This crisis kills my empathy
My bonus shows I am undervalued
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Attention: trap ahead!
“I have sooooooo much to do.” I would love to get a dollar each time I hear this sentence of people in leadership roles. Of course I get it: asside from people really having a lot to do, this sentence is a certain way of communicating a level of importance . But as a coach, I’m a bit concerned that a leader is telling this story to himself/herself. Because let’s face it: you are paid for having ‘so much to do’. This is not even your leadership role. Here is what concerns me: If you are telling people around you that you are already packed with topics, you won’t get…
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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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Grief is a sneaky bitch
Sometimes life sucks
My bonus shows I am undervalued
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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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Bitter or better?
Deal with your pain to become a more successful leader
Attention: trap ahead!
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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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My bonus shows I am undervalued
How to handle pressure
Grief is a sneaky bitch
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Your narrative determines success or failure – but differently what you expect
The project is intense. Everyone delivers at their best. You deliver at your best. You walk every extra mile – for the client, for the team, for your career. Mostly, you get positive feedback. But one of your deliverables gets rejected. The feedback feels horrible. Instead of walking on and putting the one negative feedback in perspective to all the affirming ones, your mind plays a trick on you. The feedback regarding your work somehow transfers to you as a person. The sentence „the deliverable is not good enough“ echoes into a „you are not good enough“ – getting louder and louder. If the self-talk isn’t stopped at this point,…
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Attention: trap ahead!
What will last?
Grief is a sneaky bitch
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When life hits hard: continue to walk
Tears fill his eyes as he remembers last November. Everything had been fine. And then … this incredible sadness took over. Colours faded to grey. His life changed. Noone had died. He still got his job. But the demands of an uncertain pandemic clouded his soul. He recalls how he wasn’t able to smile. Getting ready for work was a challenge. Focussing on important tasks seemed insignificant. Until today, he cannot tell where this episode came from and he doesn’t know when it will end. It’s a bit frightening that everyone can be hit by a wave of sadness and feeling of meaninglessness at any point in life. Maybe you…
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How to handle pressure
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You are not good enough
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The best is yet to come
What sounds like a phrase of a fortune cookie, could actually have more impact in your life than you’d think. The headline displays a certain belief towards life which is rooted in an underlying narrative that everyone defines for him/herself. Have you ever heard sentences like “If I just had xy, then I could do/buy/move …”, “I cannot do x because …” or “If my boss/team/client wasn’t that way, then …”. Those narratives attribute responsibility away from the speaker towards other people or circumstances. In short: “If you cannot swim, it’s due to the lousy swimwear.” And although there might be tough life circumstances, attributing all your ‘why nots’ to…
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How to start a consulting career in time of crisis
Your ugly ego kills your career
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Resilience through thankfulness
In 10 years from now – what will your story be about 2020? For sure, it was a special year for everybody. Worldwide. And as reflection of a past year always is a good habit, it seems to be even more important at the end of 2020. Why so? As 2020 contained so much uncertainty, loss and failure, the reflection of this year has the potential to raise your level of resilience. With more resilience in your mental pocket, you can face upcoming challenges with a new inner strength. And this is when you can leave 2020 with a smile. For a start, the human brain loves to store moments…
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My life is f***ed
How to handle a missed promotion
This crisis kills my empathy
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This crisis kills my empathy
Working in virtual teams has been around for years in project management and consulting. But the extend in which we now work remotely is new. And this is why project leads and management members in consulting need to adapt their leadership style accordingly. Before the pandemic, a good portion of the day was already spent at the laptop and in calls. But there were breaks to chat with colleagues over a cup of coffee. Often these talks were work-unrelated and even with people who weren’t on the same project. We just bumped into them by accident when leaving our desk. But in home office or people-reduced corporate offices, we don’t…
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I am not too stupid, I am just grieving
How to start a consulting career in time of crisis
Turning bad experiences into valuable lessons
