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The Most Revealing Sentence a Leader Can Say
“Can recruiting send me three juniors for Project Delta?” I still remember sitting in a recruiting meeting when one partner said exactly that. Not because he needed people – but because of how he spoke about them. The sentence reminded me less of building a team than of ordering supplies. “I need three pallets of water in aisle four.” “I need three graduates for Project Delta.” Different words. The same structure. It made me wonder: When do people stop seeing individuals and start seeing headcount? The strange thing is this: I have never met a graduate who wanted to be treated as interchangeable. We all wanted someone to see us,…
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Doing a career is easy [1/2]
UNFAIR!
When Words Sound Right — But Feel Wrong
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The Hidden Cost of Reinventing Yourself
We live in a world that celebrates reinvention. Everywhere we look, we are told to start over. Find your passion. Follow your purpose. Leave what no longer serves you. Take a leap. Begin again. And sometimes that is exactly the right thing to do. Sometimes a career change is necessary. Sometimes a relationship has run its course. Sometimes a chapter genuinely needs to end. But there is another side to the story that receives far less attention. What if the urge to reinvent yourself appears precisely when your most important contribution is about to begin? Over the years, I have watched many successful professionals reach a surprisingly similar point. The…
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Stop Networking. Start Building Relationships.
For years, young professionals have been told the same piece of career advice: “Build your network.” The advice is right – but the mental picture is often wrong. Many people hear networking and immediately think of conferences, business breakfasts, LinkedIn connection requests or exchanging business cards. But that’s rarely how the relationships that shape careers are actually built. What is a network? A network is not a collection of names on LinkedIn. It’s a collection of people who know you, trust you, have worked with you, and have seen how you think and solve problems. In other words, a network is accumulated trust. Think about something simple. Imagine you suddenly…
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Successful team leads focus on these topics
How a ‚well done‘ feedback kills your career
Am I a leader?
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The Dangerous Romance of Starting Over
Every few years, I have the same conversation. Someone tells me they are thinking about making a major change. Not because they hate their job. Not because they are failing. Not because the situation is unbearable. In fact, most of the time, the opposite is true. They are successful. Respected. Financially secure. They have spent years building expertise and credibility. And yet they find themselves looking over the fence. The conversation usually sounds something like this: „I know how this works now.“ „I don’t want to do the same thing for the next twenty years.“ „Maybe I need something with more purpose.“ „Maybe I should work for an NGO.“ „Maybe…
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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…
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How to Kill Your Career in Five Easy Ways
Over the last almost 20 years in consulting, I have seen careers accelerate faster than anyone expected. I have also seen careers stall, drift, and quietly disappear. The interesting part is that most careers are not destroyed by one dramatic mistake. More often, they are shaped by small decisions, repeated over time. The thoughts below are based on my own observations and experiences. They are neither universal truths nor a complete guide to career success. But if your goal is to limit your opportunities, slow down your growth, and make promotion increasingly unlikely, these five approaches are a surprisingly reliable place to start. 1. Become Reliably Average If you really…
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I am in the wrong job
This is how to build a great team out of nothing
Leadership is a talent
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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…
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My bonus shows I am undervalued
Problems Never Go Away — They Only Change Their Shape
How a ‚well done‘ feedback kills your career
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The Pink Mouse – Keeping Your Soul in Consulting
Early in my career, a mentee left consulting after less than two years. She told me something that stayed with me ever since. “I feel like I have to change too much. If I stay here, I will lose myself.” I remember feeling sad when she said that. She was talented, thoughtful, and clearly capable of building a long career in consulting. At the same time, I wasn’t entirely sure what she meant. Did she mean consulting itself? Or did she mean the quiet, male-tailored behavior that – at least back then – often seemed required to reach leadership roles? I never found out. She left, and I let her…
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Why it’s a good sign when your job feels boring
Build Your Personal C-Suite
Screaming at people is not an option
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How to Say No Nicely (When “Yes” Would Cost You Your Future)
There’s a version of adulthood nobody warns you about: You don’t burn out because of what you’re paid to do.You burn out because of what you do on top – the extra mile, the “quick favor,” the “step-up opportunity,” the “can you just…” that quietly eats your evenings and your nervous system. And in consulting, leadership, and any high-performance environment, the extra mile is currency. Sometimes it buys trust, visibility, sponsorship, promotion.Sometimes it buys you… nothing. Or worse: it buys someone else relief while it buys you a problem. So the real skill isn’t “working hard.” The real skill is discernment – and the ability to say no in a…
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What to do when a team member quits
What will last?
This crisis kills my empathy
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The Most Fun Promotion Strategy No One Teaches You
Become the missing puzzle piece – on purpose. A lot of people think promotions happen because you work harder, longer, louder. Sometimes they do. But often, promotions happen because a senior leader looks at you and thinks: “If this person is in my orbit, my life gets easier — and my outcomes get better.” Not because you’re a helper.Not because you’re “nice.”But because you’re useful in a way that matters. Here’s one action that is both powerful and fun: Find what your leader is missing – and fill that gap with your strengths. Not by guessing what “the business needs.”But by spotting what your boss and seniors struggle with –…
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UNFAIR!
How to Say No Nicely (When “Yes” Would Cost You Your Future)
Why are you such an asshole?
