This month, I celebrate my 20-year anniversary as a coach!

Workplace wellness- less burnouts

When employees are put in a high-stress situation — whether from unclear expectations, unreasonable deadlines, or a hectic workspace — they are at risk of moving into fight or flight mode. This is something that happens to our bodies when we feel threatened. The primal, more emotional, parts of our brain takes over, and our ability to think long term, strategize, and innovate decreases. If we stay in this mode too long, eventually, we get burned out. Below read the 14 most important tips for managers to help prevent burn-outs.

Why self-reflection works!

I agree with Irvin Yalom, when he says: ‘If we do not fully understand ourselves, we do not fully understand others and cannot create a full relationship, in life and work ‘.

Away Day Theme

I hear very often that the Away Day was boring and not inspirational enough. My suggestion is to talk about what really makes us tick and helps us to develop:

People with mentors perform better.

I advise my clients to find a mentor. Now I read in HBR that research shows that people with mentors perform better, advance in their careers faster, and even experience more work-life satisfaction. And.. the mentors benefit too.
After all, “to teach is to learn twice.” Despite all these benefits, and even though 76% of working professionals believe that a mentor is important to growth, more than 54% do not have such a relationship.
The problem is often that people don’t know how to find a mentor or establish a relationship. The following steps can help.

Leadership isn’t about your job title. You don't need to be the boss to be a leader.

My client says that she is impatient and compelling and does not realize her goals with her team. You don’t need to be the boss to be a leader says this article and I agree.
Here are three actions you can take to hone your leadership skills right now and become a highly respected and influential team member.

6 Reasons to embrace procrastination

Here are six reasons why you shouldn’t worry about putting off to tomorrow what you could do today:

F/M: It makes a difference who conducts the interview.

This article was sent to me and I like to share it because I recognize that we tend to project and ask questions according to our own preferences.

6 Tips for Women Working in Male-Dominated Fields

Very often I discuss with women the imposter syndrome when they are in doubt about making a next career step. Research shows, When it comes to gender equality in the workplace, organizations are keeping a slow — and I do mean a very slow— and steady pace.

10 Signs Your Ego is in Control

We talk about Ego when clients experience issues in collaboration. The first step is awareness – you need to start to become aware of when you’re ego is playing up so you can stop it before it’s too late! 10 signs:

Conflicts and irritations at work

Jumping to conclusions is a common reason for conflicts and irritation. And a very common issue to be discussed during the coaching. When we jump to conclusions, we make unwarranted assumptions based on limited information. This type of thinking allows us to make decisions quickly, but it also means that these decisions are quite often wrong. We think we can tell what others are thinking without having any evidence to back up those often-negative assumptions. Or we are so convinced of our right and beliefs that we project our beliefs onto others. How to Reframe Your Conclusions?

Extrinsic motivation will drain our energy!

My client realized that his burn-out was over the years a result of his extrinsic motivated and driven behavior.

How to Talk About Your Mental Health with Your Employer

I hear from more than one client lately that they find it very difficult to talk about their mental health at work. I read the following:

Breaking the loop of Procrastination & Perfectionisme

My client knows that she irritates others with her procratination. She wants an insight in this habit. We analyzed to see if her perfectionism created a loop. Because she has a fear of being unable to complete a task perfectly, she puts it off as long as possible. Her assumptions and convictions:

Self-doubt after career break? Reframe!

My client was a Stay-at-Home mom for 7 years. She doubted if she could go back into the job market, working at the same level as she did when she left it.  Her doubts were mostly based on assumptions and not based on reality checks.

Why feedback matters and how to receive it.

During an online training last week I heard Young Professionals tell me over and over how difficult it is for them to give and to receive feedback. Research shows that not getting feedback is very often why people leave the job. They say the following:

Leaders, align your team through inspriring questions!

As a coach, I believe, it is through questions that we develop. Especially leaders, when you find yourselves in the midst of crisis and uncertainty, you should ask powerful and inspiring questions. Eventhough you might think that people look to you for answers!
Asking questions well can put you on the path to solving intractable problems and will also help you connect with your team and, counterintuitively, to earn their trust. Those questions should be big in scope: What new opportunities have emerged that we don’t want to miss? How might we use new technologies to change our business model? And you should involve others in answering those questions —employees, stakeholders, and even customers. Doing so can not only help you generate better answers, it can also help you to change your organization’s cult. The kind of questions leaders need to ask are those that invite people to come together to explore major new opportunities that your organization hasn’t identified yet. Rather than on the existing activities of the organization. Here are some examples:

Coachable or non-coachable?

Executive coaching can help you develop your fullest potential, make you aware that there should be an alignment between the company you work for, your personal values and the purpose why you work. Here are seven core characteristics that differentiate leaders who evolve through coaching from those who don’t.
• Openness to experimentation; taking risks.
• Ability to look beyond the rational; like looking at fear, anger, irritations and pride.
• Willingness to take responsibility; you can shape your future.
• Capacity for forgiveness; stop defending that you were right.
• Self-discipline; let go of ways of thinking that made you successful in the past.
• Ability to ask for support; share goals and listen out of curiosity and learn from others through asking feedback.
• Invest in time and effort.

Over-performers, know what makes them tick

My client graduated with the highest honors, and moved up the corporate ladder quickly, and accepted, or should I say was deceived, many large responsibilities through different assignments. Within a couple of years, she was, at the age of 26, advising the board. She was, in everyone's estimation, an "A player"—one of the gifted and productive employees. She consistently overperformed, and her boss said she did great work. She though worked harder and harder. But although she received many compliments, she missed a non-judgemental mentor to learn from. She felt under-appreciated and stressed almost leading to a burn-out. She was already looking for another job. Through coaching, she got an insight that it is not the job but that she is striving to satisfy an inner need for recognition based on low self-esteem. She was working extrinsically instead of intrinsically driven. Certainly, managers aren't therapists or executive coaches, and they don't have to be. But it will help managers if you try to understand what makes these employers tick. If we do not carefully manage the often-unconscious needs of these over-performers for appreciation, they will bum out in a way that is damaging to themselves and unproductive for the company. 

How Different Personality Types Cope with an Always-On Culture

Looking at the four strategies in light of MBTI personality type can help you identify how to use them most effectively to reduce the negative effects of being always on. Especially useful since we are working from home.MBTI test
1. Create time and space to switch off.
If you have extraversion preferences, recharge by doing something active, perhaps with others (even if that happens virtually while you’re social distancing). If working from home, make sure to take breaks. Go for a walk or a run if you can, or do something new and different. Some extraverts find it helpful to leave their devices in another room when they’re de-stressing. Keep in contact with others, and use video, not just voice.