• Highheels

    When silence kills your team spirit

    I remember a team call that went horrible bad. For some reason the atmosphere already alternated from ignorance to arrogance of the participants and not one idea made it through the devastating critics of the outnumbered naysayers. As a result noone wanted to share any idea, thought or update. It hit climax when the boss asked an important question and noone of the management people in the call wanted to answer. The silence weighted heavier than any argument could have. I was reminded of this call when I recently went into another team call in which one team member ignored the question of the moderator. Even after offering three time…

  • Highheels

    Who is your minister of honor?

    For a few weeks now, there is the role of ‘minister of honor’ in my team. Whoever holds this role is responsible to encourage all team members. And although this sounds somewhat silly or easy-to-do at first sight, it it neither nor. People who have been in this role mentioned that it isn’t easy to find the right words for a chat message to encourage someone. They said that they were wondering how to live this role in a creative way. Actually, these are reflection moments that I cherish. If you hand out responsiblity in your team, you give a person the chance to grow. In this case, the minister…

  • Highheels

    Do I need to leave my job to follow my dream?

    Quite often I hear the perception that one would need to leave the job in order to follow the dream, be happy or however you want to call it. But as the job is paying the bills – and in some cases quite well – leaving the job is a high hurdle. In turn, these people feel like not being able to live their dream. Somehow the feeling stays that they would be happier at another place. If you are at this point in your career, I would like to challenge you a bit. Let’s assume, you will not win in the lottery and you need your regular income to…

  • Highheels

    What is your superpower?

    Everyone is new to the team. Noone knows each other. And as the intro, each person should name his/her superpower. Analytical thinking is joined by encouragement as well as positivity and topped with baking or collaboration. This perspective of a team where everyone brings in a strength that results in a multi-power group, resonantes in the participants. You can see everyone smiling, relaxing and enjoying the moment. What is your superpower? What do you like to bring to your team? And what is it that others love about you being around? Take a moment to reflect and explore. It strengthens your self-perception, resilience and mood. And once you are done…

  • Sneakers

    Happy Easter 2021 – but how?

    Easter 2021 is a chance for recharging, reflection and refocus. Four days in a row given to you – with no special family assignments, official gatherings or even services. At the same time, you cannot rely on any routines as most of your usual Easter activities probably have been canceled. In order to use your time well, some thoughts in advance are needed. Why? If you think back of the past weeks: what particular moments can you remember? Often people refer to this corona time like one endless week in which each day is so similar to all this others that it is hard to tell what happened when. Easter…

  • Highheels

    Screaming at people is not an option

    “Don’t you ever do this again”, the manager screams into the telephone. What sounds like a scene in a 90s wallstreet movie is still happening today in the corporate world. Less frequent for sure – but there are still people around who believe that screaming in business is a valid way of communication. The aggressor surely feels superior using his loud voice to intimidate the oponent (aka the team member or colleague) and stop an unwanted conversation or reply. The consequence almost always is a hurt relationship that soon will break if there is no apology. Let’s examine why someone uses screaming as a communication tool. The effect of having…

  • Highheels

    Why you need to defend your team culture

    Your team culture is important. It is the very reason why people join, perform better than expected or leave once they don’t feel they want to contribute anymore. But did you know that a good team culture needs defense? Let‘s assume, you have established the following team culture: 1. Everyone greets in the morning 2. Everyone helps one another 3. There is no backtalk accepted In order to establish this culture, you will need to speak explicitly about these three points in team meetings. You will give details why these behaviors are important so that everyone in the team understands why they should do the effort of behaving that way.…

  • Highheels

    Are you smarter than a 4-year-old?

    Researchers asked 4-year-olds to do a puzzle. After they succeeded they asked them to choose: either do the same puzzle again or try a harder one. Even at the age of 4, several kids decided to go for the safer option for success and repeated the first puzzle. While you would think that you would most definitely have choosen the harder puzzle, let’s take this game into today‘s reality. What tasks do you pick at work? How often do you face a new problem? And how often do you opt in for a new way of solving the problem instead of repeating successful ways of the past? When it is…

  • Highheels

    What do you want?

    “What do you want?” – the question haunts me ever since my coaching trainer asked it. It seems an easy question at first. You would assume that one knows what he/she wants. But do you really? I want to have a loving family. I want to have a lots of friends. I want to be rich. I want to look healthy. I want to be successful. I want … The list can be continued. But as you dive into just one topic, you soon realize that everything of that list needs a certain investment. Every single aspect requires time, dedication and focus from you. Let’s take one example: A loving…