Speerpunt 5
When we lived in Huntersville, North Carolina, I went to the gym twice per week before work. My schedule alternated from cardio to swimming to a good strength session with Mike, my fitness trainer.Â
Life was good.
Except in January.
I remember going to the gym on the first working day in January, and the place was packed.… Read the rest
Yesterday when I drove my daughter Anna to her school, we witnessed a massive flock of birds. Thousands of them gliding through the air with no apparent sense of direction, urgency, or planning.
As we (or predominantly Anna, because I was driving) were admiring the formations and the graciousness of their moves, we started wondering out loud.… Read the rest
There’s still one month to go in 2020, and I’m already in book review mode.
Perhaps a bit early and out of the ordinary, but let’s face it. Things are off this year anyway, so why not talk about book reviews in November?
If you predicted one year ago what 2020 would look like and you expected this mess, you should put some money on the stock exchange immediately.… Read the rest
There are days I can’t wait to get up. Today is such a day. The dots are connecting in my brain. The framework of my offering is becoming visible, and I’m excited about it.
I learned a lot this week from different angles, and a big part of that was your participation in my brief survey.… Read the rest
… Pause.
And ask a question instead. Here’s why.
The book I’m reading this week, “Socrates on sneakers”, discusses the art of asking good questions.
I received the book from a good friend of mine who knows I’m passionate about the power of asking great questions.
We, human beings, don’t like asking questions.… Read the rest
I’m in full lockdown again. From being the best student in class, Prague and the Czech Republic are now the worst student. As I write this story, the numbers continue to rise, and it seems like we’re only days away from a full, second lockdown.
The weather has turned colder, the days have become shorter, and it’s clear that this pandemic is not just going away.… Read the rest
Last week, the Netherlands’ royal family decided to spend the autumn vacation in their summer house in Greece. They departed on Friday with the governmental plane.
Only the prime minister was aware of their plans as he bears the governmental responsibility for the royal family.
While they were in the air on their way to Greece, hell broke loose at home.… Read the rest
If you believe the pace of change will slow down at some point, you’re dreaming. We live in a world where change is constant, and the only person who can make the pace slow down is you. By making change work for you and not vice versa.
If you would have been ahead of change and ensure change works for you, a full-blown transformation is not needed.… Read the rest
Before I elaborate more, a small disclaimer. I realize that the timing may differ depending on your location, and some of you may not have left the first wave yet.
When I watch the news, I hear the same conversations all over again. When I check the Whatsapp groups I’m part of, the discussion seems precisely the same as six months ago.… Read the rest
When you give a TED talk, you get 18 minutes to share your message. You get on your red dot, and when you start your talk, a big clock you can’t miss starts counting down. The good news is that you know this so that you can prepare for it.
When I prepared for my TED talk, I had divided my text into eight blocks.… Read the rest
Showing up matters. Showing up is a critical component of being successful in life and work. Showing up has many components and can be seen both literally and in a symbolic way of speaking.
You can show up in person, with your presence, with the tools you have available to make yourself ‘heard’.… Read the rest
“Most people don’t dream anymore.”
A quote from the book ‘Good leaders ask great questions’ by John C. Maxwell. The author writes about the fact that many people have settled and gave up on the dreams they once had.
My question to you is whether you are still dreaming?
Are there any dreams you have not accomplished in your life that you would like to take on one day?… Read the rest
I love strategy. I studied strategy. I read and learn daily about strategy. I try to understand companies’ strategies and why they succeed or fail. Without a good strategy, you will never be successful. But a good strategy is not a guarantee for success.
Strategy is like playing chess. You’ll need to think a few steps ahead; otherwise, you’ll never win.… Read the rest
Yesterday evening Bayern Munich won the Champions League edition 2020. No worries, I’m not going to talk about football (soccer) in my blog. I’m just starting the blog of this week with a simple statement: the team that plays most like a TEAM wins.
You can build a team of stars, hoping that their quality, in the end, will prevail for the win, but more often than not, it’s the best team and not the group of best players going home with the trophy.… Read the rest
In my last two blog posts, I wrote about conditions that needed to be present for teams to maximize the potential for robust, sustainable, high performance.
First, a team needs to invest time to get to know each other well. Leaders need to build a foundation where team members trust each other.… Read the rest
Are you finding yourself in a healthy debate now and then? A fierce conversation between people who passionately fight for what they believe? Fierce to the extent that it may look to an outsider you’re fighting with your conversation partner. And when the conversation is over, you leave the room shoulder to shoulder as if nothing ever happened.… Read the rest
The past blogs I wrote primarily about self-development and awareness. Understanding self is the critical foundation for building better relationships at work and in our personal lives.
Those relationships only thrive when there’s trust between people. Without trust, no relationship, team, or business performs according to its potential. Billions (pick your currency) are wasted every year because there’s no trust between people.… Read the rest
Mindset is a key differentiator between success or failure. Without the right mindset, it’s highly unlikely that we accomplish our dreams and ambitions. But mindset is not just a matter of ‘just do it’. We can influence our mindset and make it easier to achieve what we’ve set to achieve.
What will not change is that success always starts with a first step.… Read the rest
Why silence is such a powerful leadership tool
When Justin Trudeau, the prime minister of Canada, paused for 21 seconds (check it out here) before answering a question about the racial tensions in the United States, everybody talked about the pause, not the content of his answer. The pause made most people so uncomfortable that it became the focus of attention during the news reports following the press conference.… Read the rest
Moments define our lives. Fractions of seconds that determine how we live our lives. In some cases meaningless choices proving to be monumental decisions. Sometimes deliberate, sometimes pure coincidence. Our days are filled with moments. Most of them never stick. Some create lasting impact. What’s clear is that we remember moments, not days.… Read the rest
