For Leaders Who Don't just Want Success but also Bliss and Balance. Those Who Dare To Be Human & Real and Who Know That Leading Others Starts With Leading Themselves
Today I had a session with a client I've seen for the second time.
We delved into her challenge of how she could get where she absolutely wants to be (which is a particular position in academia) - an idea she had for years!
Now - we could have started working on some strategies or tactics of how to get there.
But that's not what I do.
Working on the surface would totally ignore what's at the core of the challenge and simply mean that a similar situation - based upon the pattern at the basis - will pop up again eventually.
I experienced that SOOO often in my own life until I realized I had to tackle what WAS at the bottom.
So - we went deep.
Arghh…that sounds uncomfortable and like a lot of effort and time.
WRONG.
It just required a couple of the right questions, and - totally not modest here - I'm really good at asking those due to my very well-developed intuition and wham - it always leads to the core quickly.
Within...
It's Sunday. Should be a rest day - at least for me. Smooth, quiet, enjoyable...BUT "there is always something"!
A little story I just experienced that is representative of - as I believe - daily life And sometimes it sucks ...but it's also a bit funny ;-).
FIRST OF ALL - Happy International Women's Day to all the women in my life - to those who might still come there - and to all the women out there doing their best and never give up in a highly complex, complicated and sometimes extremely exhausting world! (scroll to the end for a GREAT offer for - status quo NOW (08.03./1 pm) 2 wonderful female leaders.
So here goes the story:
Yesterday I said NO to someone and declined to work with them.
It does not happen very often - after all this is my business and my income!
At the weekend I was contacted by a woman who was in a great hurry to talk to me - I've never ever met her before in my life - she found me on Linkedin.
I sensed that she was in a pickle and needed support so I took an hour and a half on my Sunday to chat with her. An intelligent, driven woman in the technology sector.
Her main concern was how she was being perceived by others - that she felt excluded by them, not...
Many women are too polite in business.
In fact - often in other areas of their life too.
And if you're happen to be a man and felt this little pang when you read the headline this might be something for you too...and I invite you to read on.
Politeness is great - unless it becomes detrimental to managing your energy, taking your space or speaking up for yourself.
I'm not even British (if you are, you know what I'm talking about ;-)) and still was this woman.
And it showed up in a number of ways:
The feeling I was left with was one of overwhelm when not saying no, and becoming rather resentful...
If you're one of the people who have been following me for a while you might have thought "Huh, I'd actually love to work with Claudia" but - what offer could be the right one for me?
Well, I'll make the decision a bit easier for you while presenting you with the options - after reading you know exactly what is right for you.
Let's start.
If you ask me - that's a must-have for 2 types of leaders - the leader who never experienced coaching and the one who has and wants to make sure to gradually come from great to excellent.
In my last blog I wrote about the year-end-rush and the number one (rather counterintuitive ) tip of how to deal with it differently. What I wrote is still true - while talking to my clients though I realized that it supports even more to have a list of various hands-on ways or measures to pick from. Those that help in your individual situation. Which I guess is different from mine. And the one of the person next door.
Let me know what works/worked best for you - just drop me a quick line at [email protected] - I always love to hear back from anyone reading my blog.
Hard to believe...we're only 8 weeks away from the end of the year! Probably a super busy time for you:
I know that most people will push learning/changing etc out to the beginning of the next year. And put their head down now and sprint through their extensive to-do lists, making sure everything's done, hardly ever looking up, arriving at Christmas exhausted, overdue for a break.
I used to do that A LOT.
It might look like there is no time for anything else - let alone CHANGE.
I disagree.
NOW is EXACTLY the time to hit the brakes, reflect and make some time to consciously decide who to be and what to do.
But HOW - you might say. The real world demands something else from me. That's an idealistic view and not possible.
Again - that's what I thought for a long time.
Because most of...
A lot of people are talking about self-care at the moment.
No wonder - the world has gone crazy in a lot of areas. Many things are getting more extreme - the middle ground seems to get smaller and smaller - and with prices rising and war around the corner many people worry a lot.
The antidote: self-care to not burn out and to make sure that you can be your best self.
A lot of advice goes in the direction of
All good ideas.
Today I'd like to suggest something else.
Something that goes deeper and has the potential to eliminate sources of stress.
That, of course, requires you to KNOW what you are available for and what not, how I tend to phrase it - I found that easier to answer than "what my boundaries are" - the result is the...
Last week a rather frustrated and utterly exhausted client was getting exasperated about their "super difficult" situation: "I have to do all these things NOW as there is only a certain time window and on top of that I have to prepare a presentation - which came around the corner very short notice."
I cautiously asked: "What could you say no to?".
"Nothing," was the answer - "If I don't do it - nobody will. I can't possibly let anyone down."
Phew - no wonder did my client feel overwhelmed and even helpless. In other words - stuck - unable to change the situation nor the feeling.
Sounds familiar? The I-have-so-much-to-do-and-can't-do-anything-about-it-scenario?
With the same feelings coming along?
Well, it was definitely VERY familiar to me years ago running my own business as a single mum.
Now the million-dollar question is; HOW the heck can you get out of that?
Well, the short answer is: TAKING RADICAL RESPONSIBILITY for your life.
The...
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I promise I won't send you daily mails - I might offer you great stuff from time to time though. Of course I'm biased ;-).
Thanks for your trust!
Often they are even labelled as "unprofessional".
Being able to deal with our emotions is a huge part of personal leadership and emotional intelligence - always starts with ourselves.
The bonus: it makes it so much easier to respond to other people's emotions.
Let's start with ourselves though.
In the video I provide you with an explanation why we're so keen on avoiding those emotions - always helpful to understand the dynamics or concepts. Hey, most of us are so head-driven that this is the first thing we do anyway - analysing and understanding.
The thing is - that's only part of the solution. Some of the stuff was rather mind-blowing and eye-opening for me years ago!
And - as I'm a fan of experiential (not just theoretical) learning - I show you 2 practical ways of how to...