What Equilibrium do you want for yourself ?

When last did you take the time to really be with an important person in your life?
Since when have you not been with a loved one, a partner, a spouse, a son, a daughter, your mother, your father .. in a magical moment of peace , connection , love ?
Maybe you live at a fast pace in which you are always running , rushing from one thing to another , with a pace in which you stay on the surface of things...

 Or perhaps it is the other way around...

 When was the last time you were speeded up, full of energy, enthusiastic, with plenty of ongoing projects and things to do ... ?
For how long have you been living in your head , thinking , imagining without getting into action ?
Maybe you live in a slowed down pace, in a routine , and you struggle to get into action, to get started, you live too much in your head, in your thoughts, in your sabotage ...

Where do see yourself most recently?
Where would you rather be?

How to get both ?
How to live a balance, inspired by your projects,  in action , trying , failing and getting on with it, consistently...
But taking moments when you get to stop, totally stop, and recover , nurture yourself , be with people , with your family , intimately, and take the time to enjoy your life.

What are you missing to achieve this balance ?
What do you want for yourself in 2014 ?

How to reconcile personal and professional dimensions?

There are many publications on areas for individual growth like personal development, leadership, personal branding...

Can these areas be compatible with having an stable position / a permanent role in a company?
Can one develop these personal aspects while having specific roles and responsibilities in a company?

Companies do their best at listening, caring, respecting and managing their collaborators. The way they do it does not always bring coherence between the personal and professional dimensions of a person.
Management in companies tends to speak, interact and motivate people just talking to their professional profile...
Is it enough ?

People are evolving and changing beings, their motivations vary with the contexts in which they evolve, the challenges they face, the overall environment that surrounds them...
Nothing is black nor white. Everyone has their ideas, beliefs and personality.
The mission of the company, of the manager, of the HR is to be able to create relationships that flow and contexts that perform. So that ... motivation, commitment and partnership between the company and the person can be win-win, open, flexible, results-oriented... So that it can contribute to both parties ....

This collaborator in front of you ... Have you ever connected with him/her... beyond their professional aspects ...?

Leave space for your collaborators, be curious beyond their current role or career and make an alliance with the whole person, not only with their professional and formatted avatar.

What do you think ?

Is pressure useful ?

 As a Manager or an Executive , do you put pressure on your collaborators ?
Is pressure useful ?

 The pressure that we can feel to achieve things, take challenges we have set to ourselves, win competitions, contests, races , learn, improve ... nourishes us physically and mentally, generates adrenaline. gives us energy .
 This pressure is about doing things that make sense to us, that we care about, that make scare us... This pressure allows us to be present , focused, connected , alive, to surpass ourselves, to go for it, go further. This pressure is healthy ...
 A sound pressure generated by our motivation, our ambition , our passion.
 This pressure is more than positive. It is constructive. It's refreshing. It is vital.

 But what happens if the pressure comes from outside, is "poured" on us?

 What if the pressure that is put on us has unrealistic , confusing goals? What if the environment is highly political , superficial? What if the management putting that pressure lacks confidence, is unable to trust or is manipulative...?
This other pressure is more negative .
Will it make us act? Yes, by coercion, by obligation, through fear.
In this case one has to live with this unhealthy pressure, suffer from it, be a victim of it ... It creates insecurity , anxiety.
It can be twisted , petty, can be malignant , paralysing ...

What do you think ?
Should managers put pressure?
If they do , how should they do it ?

How do you empower?

You are willing to fight for the company. You have always been. And you do fight...

But what about your team? Are they fighting at your side ?
Or you have the feeling that the pressure is mostly on you...

How do you empower people ?
How to get your collaborators to have an entrepreneurial spirit ?

Managing teams is a very subtle and balanced mix of inspiration, confidence , challenge, risk taking, rhythm, fluidity, intimacy, accountability, leadership...

If managers impose their vision and solutions too much on to their teams, it's difficult for them to:
- Fully understand everything that is going on,
- Get feedback, new ideas and innovations,
- Engage people

Team leaders have to accept everything that is going on in the team, everything present ... positive and constructive ... or negative and confrontational ....
Accept it and welcome it as possibly exceptional opportunities for learning, growth and performance...

Accepting uncertainty and risk taking will give them a new potential as leaders...
They will act more as a conductor putting in action everyone's talents rather than a hierarchical boss optimizing resources...

To do so, leaders need to inspire and trust rather than control. They must free rather than imprison.

Leaders need to be with the team, present, accessible, open and flexible, creating intimacy . They must connect with the teams with all their humanity and accept their own vulnerability as they accept their team members'...

What do you think ?
Are you willing to go for it? 
What do you need to do so?

How do you motivate others?

If you try to convince and motivate another person to undertake or do something, they may well not hear you, not pay attention to you and you may end up in a monologue.

If you try to motivate others or force them into action, you create force, generate friction, heating and energy waste. And you generally get the opposite result : tension, stress , stiffness , ... paralysis, or flight.

These tactics remind management models of the past.
Carrot and stick models, models of the industrial age . Models adapted and efficient for repetitive production , where on a daily basis it is not necessary to think , reflect and / or innovate.

In the XXI century, in Europe , this style is maladaptive and inefficient. It becomes anachronistic.

Motivation comes from within.
There is no such thing as Motivation forced from the outside ... this is pressure, coercion.

If you relate to a person and jointly create an alliance on which you can both rely and trust each other , you create the basis of a partnership . This partnership will allow two ( or more )people to exchange , give feedback , learn ,  support and challenge each other to achieve agreed goals. The conditions are met for two people to work in an open , flexible, ambitious , productive , winning alliance to achieve shared goals.

Then there may be motivation.

When we generalize to a team, The leaders needs to create a context for the team to work in confidence , be able to face the difficulties , for it to be open , flexible, motivated , ambitious , successful .

Do you succeed in developing these types of relationships with your employees, shareholders, colleagues , managers , customers, team ...?

How would you describe your working relationship ?
How do you motivate others?

Is uncertainty holding you back?

How do you deal with uncertainty?

How do you perceive it?

In an ideal world, we would all be able to gather all the information in detail, have the time to analyse it thoroughly before taking any decision.

This would allow to be totally cautious, efficient and performing in our decision making.

Unfortunately the outside world and conditions we experience are quite different.

First, it is never possible to gather all the information; some of it is not even rational and is linked with non tangible human, emotional or political aspects.

Second, you will never have time to gather it and analyse it in detail. There will always be a hidden part, an uncertainty in the middle of it...

How do you feel about this?

Are you perfectionist enough to feel bad about it?

Or are you comfortable with having a high level understanding and with acting from there?

In day to day life, there will always be more to it than you can perceive or understand. There will always be uncertainty. It is important to accept it and be cool about it.

Leadership is about getting around and deciding in complex and uncertain environments.

It’s about relying on your intuition, on all of your senses and abilities to do so.

It’s about accepting imperfection. About flowing with the elements.

And last but not least, it’s about acting, deciding, going for it, doing.

What about you?

How do live with uncertainty?  

Is uncertainty holding you back?

How do get on with it?

Quality or Excellence ?

The difference between a good quality of service and an excellent service  is minimal at an operational level but is huge in terms of customer experience.
It is in the attention, in the caring, in a detail, in the unspoken, in the non-verbal.
It is in the balance, in doing the right things without going over.

It is in the discretion, the connection, the intimacy, the respect. No overflow. No overreactions  No exuberance. The service is appropriate, adapted, adjusted, personalized, customized.

It is on being available, open, in proposing, in letting customers decide on their own, at their own pace, in their own way.
Not imposing, not invading, letting and respecting the space, distance, time the customer desires and requires...

The Excellent service listens, is flexible, on demand, is craftsmanship. It is not standard, automated or repetitive.

Excellence comes from within, comes from the people. It can only be delivered by people who are present, motivated, happy to be there, engaged and with values.
Excellence is passion.

How do you see your company's service level ?

Industrial or customized?
Good or Excellent?

How do customers see it?

Email me at info@autenticoach.com for more information on these questions... or to inquire how coaching can help you address your challenges

The executive, aligned with himself?

The ability of a company to be aligned between its strategy, management, organization and teams is essential to provide tangible and lasting results.

People always talk about aligning the organizations but forget an important foundation: that managers themselves need to feel aligned with their own values​​, ambitions and criteria in their role within the organization.

It's Okay to invest on programs for the development of competences and skills. It delivers interesting improvements and short-term results to the business.

But if the fundamentals of the person, if the construction bases of the leader are not identified, not clarified, not aligned for action,we may well miss the real growth potential for the people and for the business.

Let people speak for themselves as individuals, not just their functions or roles.

Allow people to be themselves in their roles, with their sensitivity, their abilities and experiences, their successes and their struggles.

Giving this permission provides added value. It allows each one to find the roles that suit them best and the ways to exercise them that are best aligned with who they are. … Generating better results and learning from it.

Do you get to work on these aspects?

Do you feel aligned in your role, in your position?

What about your team?

Individual and team coaching respond to these questions and needs and bring consistency and alignment to the people within the organization ...

Want to know more? Contact info@autenticoach.com

Leadership : Unclutter your mind

Beginners acquire new theories and techniques until their minds are cluttered with options.

Advanced students forget their many options. They allow the theories and techniques that they have learned to recede into the background.
Learn to unclutter your mind. Learn to simplify your work.

As you rely less on knowing just what to do, your work will become more direct and more powerful. You will discover that the quality of your consciousness is more potent than any technique or theory or interpretation.

Learn how fruitful the blocked group or individual suddenly becomes when you give up trying to do just the right thing.

The Tao of Leadership - Lao Tsu

What do you take away from your summer break?

This month has been a month of disconnection. Of rest. Of relaxation and good life.

You were able to enjoy the sun, nature, the beach ... You have lived quiet, precious moments with loved ones, people you love and who love you.  You were able to share precious, warm and fun moments....
What lessons do you get from these unconcerned and relaxed moments?

What would you choose to keep for your return to work?

These holidays have allowed you to reconnect with your body, relax physically and mentally, feel alive, energized, tonic, open, curious, flowing.

Take care of this energy you have stored. Manage it. Stay with this sensation.

Do not get trapped by pressure. Organize and take care to continue feeling centred, energetic, dynamic, open, flexible.

Stay with the sensation of letting go, of physical and mental lightness.

Although the pace is accelerating again and the pressure is rising, continue to enjoy doing what you do. Do not take yourself too seriously, do not get stiff ... Keep the serenity, flexibility, curiosity and enthusiasm that accompanied you during these summer weeks ...

With this position you will be efficient, productive and proactive ...in addition to having a good time!

What do you think?

Do you have an answer for everything?

Have you ever had conversations with someone, a friend, a colleague, a relative, a person that  knew it all, that had all the answers, had a solution to everything?

How were you feeling during this conversation? How did you feel afterwards?
Did you feel you were listened to, heard, supported, secure, supported, advised? Did you feel that person helped you in any way?

Or did you feel alone, frustrated, denied, violated ... You felt that the other did not listen, stayed in his/her little world of certainty and vanity, a world that had nothing to do with you ... You were left exhausted, demoralized, depressed. ..

What about you? Did it ever happen to you to have all the answers? Think about it... I'm sure it did...

You had certainties, everything seemed so clear, limpid, the issues or problems that were risen were so simple, so obvious, so crystal clear ....!
... So simple and obvious to you, from your point of view... What about the other person in front? Did your posture help him/her in any way? Did your certainties bring any comfort?

Listening is not just about receiving and processing information in order to respond.

It is also empathy, being present in the moment, being in the other’s shoes, understanding, letting the other speak and find his/her way ...
In general, other people do not need your answers, they need to create their own answer...

What about you? Do you prefer to supply solutions...?

Or would you rather help other people out in finding their own answers?

Management on hold?

The current situation and uncertainty are so confusing that in some companies the policy is just to wait-and-see.

It is true that today it is difficult to understand the environment, analyse the data, draw lessons and make he right decisions...

We then prefer not to do anything.

Nevertheless, the answers and solutions are there, in the organization.

They are in the capacity of each and every one to see, to share, to understand and learn to adapt, to experiment, innovate, and continuously adjust to achieve results.

More than ever, the collective success needs to be built day after day, as a team, with openness, humility and flexibility.
Is your team ready for this?

Do they know how to manage this uncertainty, share these concerns, accept their mistakes?

Are they able to move forward, innovate, act, question themselves and adapt to succeed?

And you? Are you ready for this?

Are you open, do you listen?

Do you trust and challenge the team?

Do you know how to share with them, how to decide, mobilize and implement with agility and flexibility?

Management, Customer Service and Sales

All customer-related activities are strategic.

Caring for the customer, maintaining trusting and lasting relationships and developing sales are very demanding activities for employees.

They have more to do with the way they feel, they are and behave than with their knowledge or expertise.

The quality of service and business efficiency of a company require collaborators to be present, motivated and committed day after day.

This directly depends on the styles and types of management that are being performed by middle managers and executives.

When managers relate in cold, indifferent ways, when they demonstrate neither interest nor attention to the team, when they only see employees as resources ... What impact could you expect?...

Customers end up being treated in the same way...as resources ...

If managers rely on the team, let them take initiatives, listen to and empower the people, they will naturally be more present and available with customers, listen to them, at their service, selling more and better, creating connection and retention...

Look for excellence in your relationships with teams, and customers may have memorable experiences with the company.

Do you spend this valuable time with your team?
Do you maintain quality relationships with them?

The Tao of Leadership : Beyond Techniques

An experienced traveller does not need a packaged tour to go places safely.
A good political speech does not need to make promises or antagonize the crowd.
A good mathematician does not need a computer to solve every problem.
A secure home does not have bolts and bars and locks and alarms everywhere, yet a burglar cannot get inside.

The wise leader's ability does not rest on techniques or gimmicks or set exercises. The method of awareness-of-process applies to all people and all situations.
The leader's personal state of consciousness creates a climate of openness. Centre and ground give the leader stability, flexibility, and endurance.
Because The leader sees clearly, the leader can shed light on others.

The group members need the leader for guidance and facilitation. The leader needs people to work with, to serve. If both do not recognize the mutual need to love and respect one another, each misses the point.
They miss the creativity of the student - teacher polarity. They do not see how things happen.

The Tao of Leadership - by Lao Tsu

Listen to the silence

People have many things to say, to comment, to communicate, to shout sometimes.

Talking about important things can be an incredibly powerful therapy to articulate them, verbalize them, understand them or see them differently, to handle them... It may help you to know yourself, to grow, to learn.

Sometimes I meet people whose rhythm and cadence of speech are so speeded up that you feel taken adrift by their verbal flow... like dizzy or drunk ...

You find it difficult to perceive their discourse as a means to understand, advance or learn...

Rather the opposite ...

People who talk a lot, with a sustained and intoxicating pace, are not learning nor discovering new horizons about themselves ...

Their words, their stories have become their prison. The stories they are telling lock them inside their own beliefs, in their interpretations. They become like victims trapped in a dead end...

Their words are like a call for help, a cry of helplessness in front of a situation they cannot assume or respond to.

And it seems that as long as they will remain in their repetitive stories nothing can or will change...

You are not your stories. Your stories are not you. They do not define you as a person.

I see you as a creative, powerful, complete person.

The silence has more to tell you than these stories, these self-justifications.

Do not judge yourself. Do not justify yourself.
Forgive yourself. Have faith in you.

Listen to the silence.

What powers do you leave in the hands of others?

In personal and professional life, there are some people who allow to be defined by others. By their parents, siblings, family, colleagues, bosses, friends ...

Others will say whether you are worth, how you are worth, how much you are worth, what you have to think, what you are good at, the skills and potential you have ... and will say what you are terrible at, what are your weaknesses, your deficiencies, your limitations ...

And you will believe them....

On the other hand, other people will always question or doubt anything that comes from the outside.

And they are right. Judgements and opinions of others often say more about them than about you. In this they generally tend to be useless, of no interest to you.

What is important to you is what you do or do not do. What are your actions, your results and the experience you are having. What are your values, your dreams, your energy and balance. What matters is who you are as a person, who you are being, who you want to be ... and what you do now to already be there.

What do you want for yourself?

Do you accept that others lead or control your life?

Or you create your own opinion and define what you want and do not want in your life ...

On which side are you?

The 3 Key Components in Decision Making.

The way decisions are taken in companies is very linked to their corporate culture, management structure and leadership styles ...

There is an interesting variety of patterns in the way decisions are taken that tell a lot about how companies work and about their competitive context:

- If they are more on the flexible, continuous change ...or the traditional, conservative side..

- if their management structure and style is very flat and straightforward... or very hierarchical and pyramidal

- if the culture is about inspiring and delegating or more about pushing and controlling

Whatever the culture, country or language, there are always three components that always influence decision making.

-The Rational component : what rationally logically analytically justifies decisions

-The Emotional : the non rational dimension, influenced by intuition, feelings, perceptions, mindset or emotions...

-The Political : coming from corporate dos & don'ts, from the influences and powers in the organization, depending on the personalities, relationships, formal or informal high level agreements and engagements.

All three are always present.

They are present in everything that happens...In any decisions taken... or not taken...

Which components are the most present in your company?

Is this bringing value to the business? Is it delivering results?

Are there any changes you would like to create?