• Highheels

    Whose Mountain Are You Climbing?

    Why success only matters after you decide what it means to you Every once in a while, life requires focus. There are seasons when it makes perfect sense to set your navigation system to a specific destination and run towards it with everything you have. Perhaps it is the next promotion. A master’s degree. The first successful year of your own business. A marathon. A leadership role. A major transformation program. Whatever the goal may be, there is nothing wrong with becoming temporarily obsessed with achieving it. In fact, many meaningful accomplishments require exactly that. They require focus, discipline, sacrifice, and the willingness to keep moving when the excitement has…

  • Highheels

    Stop Trying to Make Yourself Smaller

    He was almost two meters tall. For several months, I worked with him on a strategic finance transformation. He was the Head of Finance. The person responsible for shaping the future target operating model of the department. A senior leader. A decision maker. And yet, throughout the project, something felt off. Not in a single meeting. In almost every interaction. His shoulders were rounded. Eye contact was limited. He seemed to physically occupy less space than his height would naturally suggest. The interesting part was that he was not lacking competence. Nor was he lacking opinions. Whenever he spoke, it became clear that he understood the subject matter. He had…

  • Highheels

    “I’m Not That Important.” Or Am I?

    “I’m not that important.” I’ve heard this sentence many times from leaders. Usually said with good intentions. A wish not to appear arrogant. A desire to stay humble. And yet, every time I hear it, something feels slightly off. Because in leadership, it is never really about importance. And at the same time, it absolutely is. One of the most important distinctions we need to make as leaders is this: the difference between the person and the role. You are a person. Whole. Complex. Valuable. Independent of any title you hold. And then there is the role. Team lead. Programme lead. Managing Director. CEO. A role you stepped into —…

  • Highheels

    Bringing Your Whole Self to the Room

    She had been in consulting for five years. High pace. High speed. High impact. Promotions earned, recognition visible, reputation rising. From the outside, everyone could see her success. But inside, she sensed something unspoken — a quiet knowing that there was more of her still waiting to surface. Before consulting, she had lived a different life. A life on courts and fields, not in meeting rooms. A life where she coached professional athletes, where bodies moved with purpose and vision was something you felt, not something you put on a slide. And here she was now — a consultant, a leader in the making, carrying this whole previous chapter inside…

  • Highheels

    Freedom redefined

    She once believed freedom meant palm trees. Warm sand. A laptop in a beach bag and the promise of working from anywhere, anytime. So she chose the travel industry — the world at her fingertips, assignments in sunlit places, pictures that looked like postcards. She moved lightly from team to team, country to country, believing this was the life she had dreamed of. But after a few months in each new role, she noticed something she hadn’t expected: the learning curve flattened. The excitement dimmed. And sometimes, the teams she joined didn’t truly work together — they only occupied the same place. Palm trees can’t fix a team that doesn’t…

  • Highheels

    The Power of Small Things

    It began on a small Danish island. Waves rolling in and out like slow breathing. Soft sand under bare feet. The kind of morning where the world feels gentle, almost quiet enough to hear your own thoughts. He knelt down, opened an empty box, and started filling it — handful by handful — with sand. Nothing rushed. Nothing dramatic. Just a simple, almost childlike act. Someone walked by and asked, “What are you doing with that?” He looked up, smiled, and said, “Preparing for something.” At the time, no one knew he would soon speak on a stage. No one knew this small act would become the heartbeat of his…

  • Highheels

    From Anonymous Notes to Open Appreciation

    It’s more than ten years ago. I can still see the conference room — too dark, too quiet. I had been asked to design the agenda for a department’s off-site. The leaders wanted to lift the mood, to spark something positive in a team that missed a personal touch. So I built a day full of rhythm and light: exercises on collaboration, time for feedback, moments of laughter in between. And at the end, I wanted to close with something small but meaningful — a gesture of appreciation. Each person would write a few kind words for another. A note to take home, a reminder that what we do matters.…

  • Boots,  Highheels

    Why Leadership Can Feel Isolating (and How to Stay Connected)

    Suddenly, I was no longer one of the team. I was leading it. There was a beautiful pride in that moment—but also a quiet void. Meetings changed. Conversations shifted. People started looking to me for answers, but I still had so many questions. And somehow, it felt like I had to figure it all out… alone. If you’ve ever stepped into a leadership role and thought, “Why does no one talk about how lonely this is?”—you’re not alone in that thought either. We often assume that once we’ve “made it” into leadership, everything clicks into place. Especially when we’re surrounded by more experienced leaders who seem calm, composed, and confident.…

  • Highheels

    The Leap: From Senior to Leadership — Why It’s Not Just About the Next Role

    Today, I listened to a podcast from a well-known comedian. Not exactly your typical career guru, but his words hit me with surprising precision. He shared that everything changed for him when he decided to prioritize himself — not his career, not the next gig, not even success. Himself. For him, that meant going to the gym, showing up on time, preparing his material like it really mattered. The result? He didn’t just become physically stronger — he started taking himself more seriously. And in turn, others started doing the same. And I thought: that’s exactly the moment when careers take off — when we stop waiting to be discovered,…

  • Highheels

    From the Sidelines to the Spotlight: What Your First Leadership Role Really Feels Like

    You thought it would feel powerful. Like finally having a seat at the table. Like being the one who decides, not the one who follows. And yes, it does feel different. But probably not in the way you expected. Your first leadership role is rarely the victory lap you imagined when you were still working your way up — delivering results, trying to be seen, and occasionally wondering why your boss acts the way they do. Because the truth is: when you step into leadership for the first time, the world tilts. It doesn’t revolve around you anymore. It revolves around others. And that… can be both humbling and beautiful.…