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Am I a leader?
You will get four aspects that are relevant of being a leader.
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What I would tell my younger self
When I listen to people who have done a successful career, it all sounds like a pathway of pre-aligned steps. Even the hard moments contribute to the bigger picture in the retrospective. It feels so natural that all decisions, ups, downs and detours lead to a well assembled storylining. It is hard to believe that the future of these people actually was a blank page waiting for them to write their first paragraph. Recently, I was writing down my own CV with all the projects that I delivered and all the different topics I pursued. While I was writing, I could actually see the same red line in the past…
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The lies you believe
“The grass is greener on the other side” expresses what we often believe – that someone else has a better share in life than we got. When I just recall the talks I had the past weeks…. the university in that other city which managed pandemic-restrictions and classroom-trainings better … that other company that made more deals in these times … that friend who gets better support from the family in caring for the children. We all have the tendencies to compare – and somehow we manage to always loose within the comparison. We actually find reasons and angles in which the grass on the other side really seems to…
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How to find a good coach
Coaching supports change. You might want to bring your career to the next level or you are in need of a decision. Whenever you aspire change, coaching is a helpful tool to support you in the journey. The techniques used will always bring in different perspectives while you keep your freedom of choice without feeling judged. You can think of a coaching session as a think tank where you can throw your ideas on a white canvas and by looking at it from all angles, get new insight and inspiration. The role of the coach is to adjust the light, turn the picture and move your head around by asking thought-provoking questions. Once you have…
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What social work on sunday morning at 6am taught me
It is early sunday morning. Cold. Dark. Rainy. The group of people meets to work together for a few hours for a social cause. ‘How is the energy level’, the leader of the group asks and smiles into the tired faces. You can call a 5 on a 10 scale a good average. One person puts it quite nicely: “Now I am a 5, put I am here because I know that at the end of our session, I will be a 10.” Four hours and a lot of work later, the group gathers for the wrap up. Everyone smiles and is happy. The work ran smoothly, there was time…
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Do you have ‘career DNA’?
Why do some people walk on in their careers while others stop?
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How to start a consulting career in time of crisis
As the the labor market continues to stay put, the next generation of young professionals is entering the workforce looking for their first opportunity to start their careers. Instead of choosing the best offer among many, hundreds of applications are sent without getting the aspired position. In addition, this time cannot be bridged with the next travel experience or gap year abroad as most borders are closed or at least harder to cross. What a fuck! While this is extremely frustrating, there are still options that can be done in order to increase the attractiveness of one’s profile for the consulting market. Here are some thoughts from the other side…
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How to be hated by your team easily
Delegation is key to any management role. Wrongly used, it can break trust and kill the fun at work quickly. Find out how delegation can work in your favour.
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How a ‚well done‘ feedback kills your career
“I only got positive feedback for my slides”, the new joiner smiles at me proudly. He just had the first project weeks with his new manager and the slide deck was the first deliverable he contributed to the project. As much as I am happy for young professionals to get positive affirmation, I am wondering whether feedback should also include the parts what can be changed!? People contributing in projects without getting feedback that puts them on a learning journey, will stay good but won‘t get better. And as the only-positive-feedback continues, they are assuming that they were lucky this time at best – and, at worst they are learning…
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‘Move talk’ – winning the asshole-style
Do you remember the last time you gave a presentation and someone in the room made an inadequate, non-content-related comment? Everyone laughed and you felt overwhelmed. Somehow you got out of concept and your presentation was weakened. Afterwards you were frustrated and you would have loved to say or do anything. In literature you can find this concept being named ‘high talk’ (content related talk) that was hit by a smalltalk comment. It is done by people in the room who cannot challenge your content but who know how to discredit you as a person or in your role – and if you are not prepared, you lose your technical…