Lately, I found myself in a room full of young professional women. Bright, talented, ambitious. And yet… the air felt tight. The tension was almost physical—like their shoulders were carrying something invisible but heavy. As I began to share my story, the ups and downs of my own career, I noticed something subtle: the room softened. Eyes lifted. Breaths deepened. Something shifted. Later, over coffee, they told me why. Just before our session, they had sat through a career talk where someone told them, “It doesn’t matter whether you get promoted this year or next. It’ll happen eventually.” Meant to be reassuring, perhaps. But what they heard was: “Your ambition…

The interview is going fine. Questions and answers are meandering like a lovely river – the job offering seems to be certain. This is when the applicant asks her bold last question: „What would you have liked to know when you were in my situation?“ I am smiling. „Always choose the person you are working for and not the topic.“ The applicant pauses. „I didn‘t expect that answer“, she admits. We are both sitting in silence for a moment enjoying our thoughts wandering around the idea in the room. Choosing a person. Not a topic. Selecting a teacher. Not a task. When you think of it, it really makes sense.…