What Do You Really Want From Them?
The Difference Between Forcing, Influencing, Motivating, Inspiring, Building Relationships and Developing People A surprisingly large number of coaching goals are not really about the client. They are about someone else. I want to motivate my son. I need to influence my clients. I want to inspire people. I need this team member to take more […]
The Stability Paradox
Yesterday, during a masterclass with colleagues from Erickson Coaching International Georgia, we were discussing a deceptively simple question: What does leading through uncertainty now require from leaders, organizations and from coaches? At one point, I drew this image In the middle was a person, let’s call her a COO. Around her was the organization: its […]
Why Do You Call It Development When You Mean Results?
In my previous article, I argued that leadership development cannot be reduced to accumulating more knowledge, models and content. If self-awareness is the foundation of leadership, then we need to create the conditions in which it can actually develop (through inner silence, honest feedback, contact with reality and time). Recently, I realized that I had […]
Morpheus May Have Been Shadow-Banned
The research says 13% of senior leaders are self-aware. What actually develops self-awareness — and why more content will not. Last week, I wrote a short LinkedIn article about self-awareness. Any reasonable person would consider the topic covered and move on with their life (and the post performed really badly compared with my other posts). […]
Now Comes the Hard Part
An executive coaching reflection on immunity to change, competing commitments, and the identity questions that surface once success stops simplifying life. The Return Two days ago, we returned from China. The trip exceeded every expectation we had. The trainings were extraordinary, the participants even more so. The conversations were rich and before we had even […]
The Influence Trap
A coaching framework for how to influence people and motivate a team — without sacrificing the relationship in the process. One of the things I enjoy most about teaching Erickson Coaching International‘s The Art & Science of Coaching is that every cohort leaves me with a better explanation of something I’ve been teaching for years. […]
And Now What?
A coaching reflection on achievement, operational excellence, and what remains once success stops being enough. A few weeks after publishing The Applause We Never Question, a thoughtful comment appeared beneath the article: “This all makes sense, but what about organizations? What about KPIs, performance goals, evaluations, targets and competition? How do we stay connected to […]
The Applause We Never Question
A personal reflection on ambition, accomplishment, and what we really celebrate when we applaud a child’s achievement. Yesterday our daughter had her end-of-year kindergarten performance. Like many parents, we spent most of the event smiling, taking photos, occasionally fighting back tears and wondering how it is possible that children grow up so quickly. At the […]
5 More Years
A reflection on midlife transition, delayed gratification, and why the second half of life calls for a renewed sense of identity — not just more time. A few years ago, during one of the sessions, a client of mine said something that stayed with me… “I only need five more years…. … five more years […]
How Pressure Reorganizes People and Systems?
A systems thinking and organizational psychology perspective on why pressure — not poor stress management — is what quietly reorganizes people, teams and families. As life becomes more complex (economic uncertainty, AI disruption, constant change) the pressure to adapt, stay relevant, and perform keeps growing. And at the same time, we are trying to be […]
Why Understanding Is Not Enough?
How Embodied Learning and Behavior Change Actually Happen In the corporate world, cognitive strength is the foundation of success. Managers are valued for their ability to analyze, structure, judge, and decide. It is the skill set that helps them navigate complexity and pressure, and it often becomes the defining element of their identity. But precisely […]
The Rational Study of the Nonrational
I’m currently reading The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge by anthropologist Jeremy Narby. The book is unsettling in the best possible way. Narby spent years living with Amazonian tribes, trying to understand how healers, without microscopes, labs, or formal education, developed highly sophisticated knowledge about plants, ecosystems, and healing systems. Even more […]