Tag: leadership

  • Your best development talk ever? How coaching can get you there!

    Your best development talk ever? How coaching can get you there!

    The talk with the manager, best ever!

    In my coaching, I won’t give you advice on how to have a better conversation with your boss. But trust me, I understand your pain, and together we will find a way – I promise you! If I wanted to share stories of bad conversations, oh boy! I could go on for a long time. With 30 years of leadership experience, I’ve had my fair share of conversations, of all kinds, including the bad ones. I understand your desire, your longing for a good conversation. I so wish I had taken help from a coach, years ago.

    What I can promise you is that I will try to be the coach you need right now. Maybe you want to give feedback to your boss but you’re unsure how. Bad experiences give you a bad feeling. This is where a coach can be a great support, helping you go into the conversation well-prepared – simply prepared and curious. How about making that your goal? I still remember a supervisor who recommended that I drink more alcohol during a yearly review. It was a long time ago, but I will never forget it, and I will definitely not conduct a co-worker conversation in that manner. So, do you want to redesign the next conversation as an employee or as a supervisor?

    Can I support you as a coach in that? Just reach out!

    Is support and accountability in a group what you need right now? Check out Mike’s amazing work!

  • Episode 4 – How to handle the challenge like champion

    You have challenge, a presentation, a meeting that makes you nervous. We have all been there, maybe needing to present something at a level that you are not used to, to important stakeholders. If you do it well, it could mean a lot. If not – that makes you nervous, scared…

    Imagine your favourite athlete, maybe it is Muhammad Ali, maybe Wayne Gretzki, right before a game. What is going on inside their heads? Going up against opposition that will try to make them lose, at the very least make their day really hard. Up against a risk to get injured, knowing that this could be the last game of the career.

    Who your favourite athlete could be is less important, what matters is that you can identify yourself with the athlete, picture yourself in the lockerroom, focusing. You know that you are really good at what you do, you play because you love the game. You have chosen it, and you love it. The risks come with the job, you accept the risk. Knowing this, you might not have the possibility to choose if this is your last game. Of course, you will give it your best, and enjoy the game. Accepting the risk disarms the fear, the danger is real. Fear is a choice, and your athlete has chosen not to fear.

    That is exactly how I would prepare for a really important board meeting, the dreaded internal audit or the opportunity to speak in front of 1000 strangers.

    I have worked in leadership positions for almost 30 years, being payed for it. That by any standards is being a proffessional. I am good at what I do, and I love what I do – otherwise, why should I take the stress that comes with the tasks and challenges. Being a proffessional, of course I have to love the important games the most. With respnosibility comes risk, and I need to accept that I will not always be the right player for the team.

    So, I open my eyes, step out of the lockerroom, into the meeting room. Excited, it’s important, but full of joy. Starting with a joke, I give it my best. If this is the last board meeting I get to do, I am going to enjoy it to the fullest. It will be a meeting to remember!