“What’s the key to your success?” I asked. “Two things”, John replied, “one was to start the executive coaching with you. Coaching helped me to adopt a much more effective leadership and management style. I am more grounded, and the guys can’t get me out of balance anymore. In addition, my staff shows more initiative, and last week, after our team retreat, they said it was the best meeting we ever had!”

“The other thing was to start exercising regularly and changing my nutrition.” John obviously lost a couple of excess kilos. He looks healthier and much more fit today. “Overall, I feel much more energized these days. Normally at this time of the day [it was 4 p.m.] I would be tired already. Now I enjoy pushing it for a couple of more hours,” he declares with a big smile.

I was glad and impressed to witness the tremendous improvement John made in such a short time. Seeing him so much more energetic and confident lead me to two crucial questions:

In order to improve leadership quality, do we need a more holistic coaching approach which covers nutrition and exercising?

and

Would adjusting my own nutrition and a different exercising routine improve my energy level and performance, too, although I pursue a quite healthy lifestyle already?

The latter question lead me to a self-experiment in which indeed I changed my eating and exercising habits. Six weeks into the trial, my answer is a clear “YES” to both questions!

Here’s what I did wrong in the past, what I changed, and what results I achieved. See what applies to you; you may find the missing links to improve your own leadership performance – and your quality of life!

What I Did (Wrong):

I thought my lifestyle was quite healthy. I favored a vegetarian diet, and I had fresh fruits and  vegetables regularly. Believing that fats make fat I avoided them, particularly the unsaturated ones (e.g. butter). I practiced Yoga  asanas (poses) regularly, and I went to the gym for some cardio exercise and workouts with the “machines”.

How wrong was my approach to a supposedly healthy life! I was not aware I was making  these major mistakes:

• I ate too many carbohydrates and not enough proteins
• I ate too many “bad” carbohydrates (bread (Germans’ favorite!), pasta, hidden sugars)
• Although I exercised regularly, my exercising routine was simply not effective (see below)

What I Changed:

Triggered by John’s positive experience I visited Randall Hatfield from Aspire Fitcorp Asia. Coincidently a “28 Days Body Transformation Challenge” consisting of nutrition talks and group exercises started 2 days later, and that was just ideal for my self-experiment. I signed up.

In addition, I invited my friend Thomas Ehle for lunch. Thomas is a fitness enthusiast, a nutrition expert, and the author of “Easy Body Up-Grade”. He challenged me on my carbohydrate intake and suggested to leave bread and muesli aside for a couple of weeks and to see what happens.

So I did.

• for 4 weeks, 4-5 times/week I did a high intensity interval training (much to my surprise the actual activity phase was sometimes as short as 15 minutes only!)
• in week 4 I added some basic strengths training
• I reduced all “bad” carbohydrates to almost zero (bread, pasta, pizza, refined sugars)
• I started eating proteins like crazy (eggs, meat, fish… very much in contrast to my vegetarian preference)

What I Achieved in Less Than 6 Weeks:

Ok, I am not going to post before-after pictures here. But trust me, only 6 weeks down the road it’s still hard for me to believe how much my body has changed in a ridiculously short time with much less effort than I had expected!

• in less than 4 weeks I reduced 2.3 kg fat and gained 1.7 kg of muscles
• I feel stronger and more energetic
• I don’t have any cravings for chocolate or ice-cream anymore (which I encountered quite regularly before)

It’s somewhat embarrassing to realize that I thought my life-style was quite healthy, but in fact in many ways it wasn’t. What I believed I knew about healthy food and effective physical exercise were to a great extent either just myths or nowadays outdated knowledge.

You may have heard (and believed) similar myths:

• Regular jogging at moderate speed for a minimum of 30 minutes is great for your health. It prevents heart diseases and is ideal for fat loss.
• Moderate exercise is better than exhausting yourself.
• Lifting heavy weights harms your joints. Using expensive machines in expensive gyms is better.
• Fats make fat.
• Your brain needs “sugar” to function well.
• If you are German: bread is what you just have for breakfast and dinner, no questions asked.

Bullshit!

Excuse me but that’s what it is.

What You Must Do

Ok, no musts here. But a couple of shoulds:

If any of these myths above sounds familiar to you, too, it’s time to question your eating habits and exercising routine!

Of course there is not the ideal nutrition, the one size fits all approach. What turns out great in one study may be considered bad in another. However, it is worth reading some recent studies. Be aware of who sponsored the study and choose what you consider credible sources. Then try a few approaches over a couple of weeks, and finally let your body decide what is right for you.

If you don’t exercise, start moving your body. If you exercise, make sure you exercise effectively. Generally exercising may be better than no exercising, but wrong exercise will in best case be a waste of time. Worst case it will cause you harm.

It’s worth spending some time on a more holistic approach in order to improve performance at work. Achievement is not just about working hard or smart. Whilst executive coaching and other personal development activities may help improve your leadership and management skills, you will never achieve your full potential if you do not take care of your physical body. And this requires some basic understanding and experimenting with your diet and workouts.

I strongly encourage you to do some self-experiments! (Disclaimer: consult your physician first blabla…) I look forward to hearing about the positive changes you will experience. Meanwhile, I will continue my own experiment. Looking at the results after merely 6 weeks, I am curious what I will achieve over the next 6 months.

Further recommended reading:

Easy Body Up-Grade by Thomas Ehle
T.J. Murphy’s Book Inside the Box  or his website
Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe
The Scientific 7 Minute Workout - New York Times
Carbohydrates: Good Carbs Guide the Way - Harvard School of Public Health

*John is of course not my client’s real name

What was going on?

I had a coaching assignment for the leadership team of a large corporation. The individual coaching sessions took place in an office at their central training & development center in Bangkok. The employees passing this office attended all sorts of meetings. Observing the migration over a couple of days was bizarre.

Curiously I asked the managers before starting the coaching: “You seem to have a lot of meetings in this company. Are the meetings effective?” An unanimous “no” was the answer, usually accompanied by a sheepish smile or a deep sigh.

Almost all my executive coaching clients complain that their valuable time is eaten up by two insatiable demons: unnecessary meetings and unnecessary emails. “With back to back meetings all day long, there is hardly time to do the real work,” they admit. “At the end of normal working day I feel I haven’t accomplished much – although I have been busy for 12 hours!”

“Managers these days feel they haven’t accomplished much by the end of the working day – although they have been ‘busy’ for 12 hours or more.”

To be clear: meetings can be essential for organizations to make critical decisions, align people, or shape the future. Emails can be a powerful communication tool that places traditional mail into Stone Age. Emphasis in the previous paragraph is on “unnecessary”.

What a relief when I turned from a corporate manager into a self-employed executive coach! From one day to another I did not have to attend daily meetings anymore. My mailbox was not flooded with emails of questionable content. An amazing difference. I suddenly had… time!

And that was weird. Because now I had no more excuses for just another unproductive day at the office but my own ineffectiveness…

How much time and potential do you waste? What would you do if you were suddenly not invited to meetings in which you could spend hours and hours everyday? What would you do if you couldn’t keep yourself busy just reading and responding emails?

Become more productive in the office right away by following three simple steps:

1) Identify the real priorities by asking yourself critically: “Why does the company pay me this humongous salary?” There is someone somewhere who expects a return on investment on your salary. Focus on the big picture and the critical priorities first thing in the morning every day.

2) Before you invite for a meeting or before you write an email, ask yourself: “what will the ROI of this activity be?” If there is none, don’t invite, don’t write.

3) When others invite you for a meeting, challenge them and ask how this meeting will help accomplish the company’s mission and make the vision come true. If it doesn’t, say a “positive no” as Dr. Alexander Paufler, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Thailand, puts it and keep yourself and others from wasting valuable time.

“Learn to say a ‘positive no’ to utilize your creative energy only for what you really think is important. Otherwise you are another good example for what some humorist said: ‘The thing about the rat race is, even if you win you are still a rat.’ In order to avoid this, practice to say ‘no’ with confidence and we find out that it’s okay not to please everyone who is requesting time.” -Dr. Alexander Paufler, “Creativity Gym for Innovative Leaders”, The Nation Media Group, 2013

As you realize how much time you have wasted in the past, it may be embarrassing when initially you don’t know what to do with your newly gained time. It’s a learning experience. Soon you will be so much more productive again, and I promise you’ll love it!

Please share your experience with me!

Related articles:

Why Organizations Are So Afraid to Simplify

The Cult of Busy

Achieve More by Targeting Less

Is Your Hamster Wheel Getting You Anywhere?

Time Management vs. Choice Management – How to achieve more every day consistently

Some moments in coaching can be very touching, surprising, or scary. Let me share some of the events that left a lasting impression:

“For the first time in my life I started thinking about myself.”
–55 years old Senior Vice President who received coaching to improve his ‘perception management’

“Yesterday I used coaching techniques with my 6 years old son. Instead of telling him what to do I asked him ‘Ok, this is not what you wanted, right? How else can you do it?’ I literally saw him thinking, he tried new ways of doing it, succeeded, and gave me this big smile, proud he achieved it all by himself”
–Senior Manager and father of two

A Director from Europe was worried he might get fired during his expat assignment. “And then?” I asked. He thought for a moment. “Then I’ll do something else,” and he bursted into broad laughter, “I’ll just do something else!” he repeated, still laughing. The laughter was contagious, and laughing is healthy, isn’t it?

“Last week I had my annual performance appraisal with my boss. He rated me higher than I rated myself!” a Senior Manager told me with a big grin. (We were woking on time management and enhancing personal effectiveness at work.)

And finally an (initially) scary experience:

“One of my staff resigned after the first coaching session”, said a Managing Partner who started applying ‘coaching skills for leaders.’ “No, no,” he said when he saw me somewhat terrified, “it was a good result after all! We had a very constructive discussion, and for the first time we talked openly about mutual expectations at work. It turned out that there was a big gap between our viewpoints. We concluded that this gap would be too hard to bridge for us, and that it will be better for both him and my organization to go separate ways.”

I never know what to expect in the next coaching session, and I am bursting with curiosity to find out! Next one will be soon.

Want to experience some amazing coaching moments yourself? Feel free to contact me now for your individual Executive Coaching inquiry without any obligations: email hidden; JavaScript is required

Leadership Development and Executive Coaching are some sort of adult learning. One might assume that the more senior – which often equals “older” – a person is, the less receptive to learning they might be. According to my observations as executive coach, that is not the case though.

Willingness to change or lack of intelligence is not an issue either. Executives who receive coaching are smart, ambitious, and ready to change. Overusing these strengths however is what gets into the way of their personal growth. Or more precisely: it makes the their own leadership development less enjoyable and more stressful.

The three major obstacles in the leadership development of executives are

• a lack of understanding what specifically needs to be developed
• a lack of understanding how learning processes really work, and
• a lack of measurement of progress.

The frustration starts with not knowing what needs to be developed, often referred to as the stage of unconscious incompetence: a manager wants to deliver better results, he/she wants the team to work more autonomously, or he/she may prepare to take the next career step – but he/she has not identified yet what exactly needs to be improved.

Tools like 360 degree feedbacks, stake holder interviews, or an MBTI assessment may easily give you the answer to what gaps need to be closed. Once people have understood what has been keeping them from being more successful, they have moved to the next stage of competence development: conscious incompetence. They know now what has been holding them back, and they understand what they have to do to improve. And so they also get to the next stage of frustration because their ambition gets into the way: once they know what needs to be done, they want change to happen instantly. That’s good as far as motivation is concerned. However, lacking the understanding how learning processes work, the leadership development process turns out frustrating and tedious. Ambitious managers want to achieve perfection in a new skill overnight but this is just not going to happen.

Strangely though, everyone seems to accept that skill development in other areas need time: running a marathon, playing the piano, or learning a new language. But when it comes to leadership development, managers give in to the reality distortion field, and they want to change the whole world in a week. Or less.

It’s amazing how adaptable we humans are – but we need to accept that any serious adaptation takes a considerable amount of time. Latest since Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers  we know that “the magic number for true expertise (is) ten thousand hours.”

Relax, you may not need 10,000 hours to get rid of an unproductive habit, improve your time management, or become better at motivation your team members. But you want to be patient and not set yourself up for unnecessary frustration along the way.

Patient now? Ok, here’s your third reason for frustration in your leadership development: you are not acknowledging your progress.

Have you ever been on a diet to lose weight? Then you have probably experienced that you were making daily incremental changes, too small for you to notice. Maybe you didn’t see how your appearance changed until your pants were suddenly too wide, or an old pal who you hadn’t met for a while told you how slim you suddenly were. (Sometimes we may very well hear the opposite comments though…)

The same applies for learning processes: if you don’t measure your progress, you may not be aware of any progress at all. And thinking you’re not making progress is frustrating.

I was working with one coaching client on time management and effectiveness at work. He only realized his tremendous progress once the time for the annual appraisal had come, and his boss rated him much higher than he had rated himself. What a nice surprise! But imagine how being aware of this progress earlier would have been so much more enjoyable and how it would have boosted his self-confidence. Constantly underestimating your own capabilities is not only frustrating; it may lead to unnecessary and unhealthy anxiety and self-doubts.

For people on a diet monitoring progress objectively is quite easy: they get on a balance on a daily basis. Monitoring your leadership skills may need a bit more creativity, but it’s possible: think of KPIs that are linked to these skills or simply ask people for feedback.

In summary, here are three simple steps to make your personal growth much more enjoyable and rewarding:

1. Explore what gaps you need to close to take the next step. Very helpful tools for that are 360 degree feedbacks, stake holder interviews, or assessments like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. A confidant like a coach or mentor can help you plan specific development steps.
2. Accept that every learning process takes time. Rome wasn’t built in a day. No one was born a master. Etc.
3. Measure progress objectively by monitoring KPIs or getting feedback from others regularly. Take one step at a time and acknowledge small wins.

Have fun learning!

Recently I was asked to hold a change management workshop for a major multi-national corporation. One of the objectives was “to understand the importance of change.”

Really? I was wondering what I could tell participants about the “importance of change”. Isn’t it obvious?

Are you still using mechanical typewriters?
Do you still send the majority of your messages by snail mail?
And when you have tooth pain, do you go to the barber’s shop?

Does a company really need to hire someone to tell their employees that change is important while it is so obvious?

Change just happens every minute, every second. Whether you like it or not, the world is constantly changing. While you are reading this, you have already changed. Cells in your body have died, others grew, and your brain has probably made some new connections.

You can either adjust to permanently changing circumstances or ignore them – good luck.

However, despite the obvious need for change, a certain reluctance to change is human. Change often requires to stretch or even leave our comfort zone, and we don’t necessarily like this in the first place.

Today I once again recognized my own Immunity to Change - or should I say laziness? With all the New Year Greetings popping up on Facebook, I felt I should also post something on my page. First thing that came to my mind was to just repost the ebook I wrote last Year “Why You Should not Have New Year Resolutions.” Quick and easy. Second thing I noticed was that the ebook was actually already two years old, not just one… Third, when browsing my own pamphlet I realized that so much has changed over the last two years, that I did not feel very comfortable with the content anymore. I have learned new things, I have a different view on the world, and I even found that the “about me” page was no longer valid.

Like it or not, change is inevitable. And laziness does not work. I simply couldn’t re-post a two year old message, I didn’t want to do without New Year Greetings at all, and so I had to invest some time in writing this short 400-or-so words post. If it triggers a new thought or helps you change just one thing in the New Year it has served its purpose well.

Live long and prosper, may the force be with you, and may you make some amazing changes in 2013 and 2556!

December already. Do you also feel that time just flew by, and it’s hard to believe another year has passed again?

Wasn’t it just recently that I spent some quiet time with my parents during New Year? I still remember vividly how we escaped Bangkok’s huzzle and buzzle, and how I enjoyed reflecting and planning for this year in the serenity of Chiangmai. It feels like this was just a few months ago…

Now it is this time of the year again. What I like about it is that we get another chance to close a chapter in the book of life and compose another one.

The insight that time passes so quickly is a gentle reminder that time is our most precious resource. Whether you like it or not, with each year less is at your disposal.

How has this year been for you so far? How would you like next year to be?

In a seminar many years ago, my teacher and friend Gerhard Huhn advised participants to make regular appointments with themselves. At least once a year. It is astonishing though how few people in fact act upon such valuable advice. They fill every working day with all kinds of meetings and struggle to keep on top of their emails and whatever else is on their agendas. They even have a very busy schedule during their “free time” doing all sorts of more or less important things.

But do they take time to sit down for just one day in a whole year to start thinking about what really matters in their personal and professional lives? Then one day they regret they still have not done what they always wanted to do, and no more time is left.

Just last week I worked with a client, and he was stunned when he figured out that in the remaining weeks of the year, he will hardly be able to squeeze in just two hours to reflect on the passing year and his achievements at work.

If you want to accomplish more and add more quality to your professional & personal life, then make this appointment with yourself right now. Put it in your calendar, and commit to it like you commit to your most important business meetings.

Take at least half a day off for this appointment. Find a quiet space in an inspiring environment. LOOK BACK and ask yourself these questions:

• What am I most proud of this year?
• What is my biggest accomplishment?
• What are the things I can be grateful for?

You will probably realize that you have accomplished a lot of which you can be proud of. You can be grateful for many things that happened or were given to you. Perhaps your busy and hectic day-to-day life prevented you from realizing all the good things in your life.

Indulge consciously for a few minutes in these good feelings. Take your journal and write down what you have achieved and what you are grateful for. It is scientifically proven that regularly Taking in the Good will transform your brain.

And perhaps you have learned already that from now on you will pay more attention to the good things in your life and your accomplishments on a daily basis.

You also want to ask yourself:

• What was left undone?
• What have I been putting off?
• Is there anything I always wanted to change but still haven’t done yet?

There are three main reasons for not having accomplished your goals:

• You didn’t really want it
• You allowed “the circumstances” or other people to take control of your life
• You suffer from immunity to change

The sole purpose for looking at the “darker side” of this year and yourself is to ultimately answer the question:

What can I learn form this? What will I do differently next year?

After completing your review it’s time to LOOK FORWARD:

• What do I want to accomplish next year personally and professionally?
• What matters most?
• What do I want to change?

In order to achieve your goals how will you spend your time? What kind of person do you need to become to accomplish these goals?

Clarity about what matters most in your personal & professional life is the key to success in the office and at home. Choose how you spend your daily 24 hours wisely.

How do you need to grow? Perhaps you have to learn some new skills to become a better leader or to take the next step in your career. Maybe your time management needs to become more effective in order to achieve a better work-life balance.

Most importantly, how do you overcome your immunity to change to get done what you have been putting off for too long already?

Maybe working your way through the book of the same title Immunity to Change by Robert Keagan is what you need. Or you partner with a buddy who wants to change as well, and you healthily challenge each other to keep on track.

I have chosen to work with a personal coach to help me get my first book on leadership published next year. (By the way public commitments can also help holding yourself accountable…) Maybe that’s what you want to do, too.

For my clients and subscribers I offer complimentary tools that are useful to get started, e.g. the Wheel of Life Exercise, the Management & Leadership Wheel, or the Job Performance Wheel. Just drop me a note and I’ll send it to you.

I wish you and your families a wonderful holiday season and all the best for the New Year!

Dedicated to Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Keim on the occasion of his 78th Birthday today
Special thanks to Coach Steve Mitten for valuable input on this article

When you search for a coach using the Coach Referral Service of the International Coach Federation, the world’s leading coaching organization, you can choose from the following categories:

• Corporate Coaching
• Small Business Coaching
• Personal Coaching
• Career Coaching

In each of the categories you will find different coaches, e.g. Executive Coaches, Business Coaches, Life Coaches, Health & Wellness Coaches, … As an Executive Coach, you will find me in the first category “corporate coaching”. Nevertheless, I am also a kind of Personal Coach for many Executives.

So, what’s the difference between an Executive Coach and a Business Coach?

As an Executive Coach, I am hired by corporations to coach their Directors, Vice Presidents, Managing Directors, or other senior leaders. Of course these corporations want to see a return on investment for the coaching. Obviously an attractive ROI will only be achieved when the coaching results in improved business performance.

However, I never work with my clients on business performance directly, at least not as the top priority. This would be the arena of the Business Coaches. A Business Coach will most likely focus on strategy, financial results, or the like. Often a business coaching client expects the coach to have expertise in their particular industry.

For my clients it is important that I have corporate experience, that I have been in the coachee’s shoes so to say. An understanding of their specific business may be a nice add-on, but it is not required. The reason is that I focus on personal development rather than on business results. As an Executive Coach I facilitate change in the coachee’s behavior. This behavioral change often involves personal effectiveness as well as interaction with others.

Ultimately these changes will lead to improved individual performance, improved team performance, and, as a consequence, to improved organizational performance. In summary, executive coaching is expected to deliver better business results just like business coaching; the executive coaching approach however is more indirect than in business coaching. Executive Coaching focuses on people and their development. Better business results will follow.

Why do people hire an Executive Coach?

The challenges senior managers are facing in today’s hectic business world are innumerable, and accordingly there are many reasons why executives are working with professional coaches. Most of my coaching assignments are designed to support managers in the following areas:

• developing leadership & management skills
• facilitating transition to a higher management level/new assignment
• building successful teams
• managing & inspiring people
• improving personal effectiveness & time management
• communicating with impact
• improving work-life balance

All in all one could say that my Executive Coaching is about harnessing the full potential of leaders and their teams in an effective, ethical, and respectful way. As a result, individuals improve performance, and teams achieve sustainable success.

Any questions? Want to learn more about Executive Coaching? Contact me now: email hidden; JavaScript is required

Recently I coached John*, the owner of a small business. John’s primary goal was to grow the business. Early on in the executive coaching program he realized that he wanted to let go of his “telling people what to do” style and use more of an “autonomy supporter” approach.

The insight was that in order take his business to the next level he would need to build on and leverage the potential of the great people in his team. Thus we agreed that I would equip him with some essential “coaching skills for leaders” that would enable him to start implementing a coaching culture in his company.

We elaborated on a number of ways how he could encourage and empower his team members with the objective of having them demonstrate more initiative and be more accountable.

…then off he went to apply his newly learned coaching techniques at work.

In the next coaching session with John I was curious to hear how using the coaching approach worked out. He was quite excited, and told me that he had done three 1:1 “coaching sessions” already, and that they went great. “One of my staff resigned after the first meeting”, he said.

What? I was shocked and didn’t know what to say. This was not quite what I had intended, and my first impression was that things went terribly wrong.

“No, no,” John calmed me down as he sensed I got slightly terrified, “it was a good result after all. We had a very constructive discussion, and for the first time we talked openly about mutual expectations at work. It turned out that there was a big gap between our viewpoints. We concluded that this gap would be too hard to bridge for us, and that it will be better for both him and my organization to go separate ways.”

Having an employee resign from a company or even getting fired is not necessarily a bad thing. As we see in this example the open discussion that lead to the resignation turned out to be a win-win situation. Going separate ways was better than having both parties endure frustration day in and day out at the workplace.

When we observe a lack of progress or underperformance of individuals in an organization, often times there is simply not a good match between the person and the position they fill. I do not believe that there are many “bad” or “lazy” people in companies. But I do believe that a lot of people are simply in the wrong job.

As a team leader, ask yourself:

• What do I know about the true motivation of the individuals in my team?
• What are their skills and aspirations, and how do they match with the job requirements?
• How can I create an atmosphere of trust where we can discuss these topics openly and constructively so that we can move forward effectively and in everyone’s best interest?

Applying coaching skills as a leader or creating a coaching culture in an organization can help you to have more open discussions about what really matters to your organization and the people working for it. Be honest and clear in your communication. Focus on what’s positive but do not avoid conflicts. Do not be afraid if people leave the organization as a result. In the long run it may be better for everyone involved.

*not his real name

Quality sells? Not really. Quality is a necessity for long term success, but quality alone does not suffice to guarantee success. This is not only true for products or services, but also for yourself at work.

Let me ask you: who gets promoted in your organization? The people who deliver the best performance or those who are perceived to deliver the best performance?

“Do good things and talk about it,” said a former boss of mine. Although I was not very excited about the idea of self-promotion, I had to admit that he was right. At that time I worked with a large multi-national company. At headquarters the company was divided by a public road into the North site, where manufacturing and engineering were located, and the South site, with the marketing & sales functions. My colleagues at the North site often complained that the people on the other side of the road got better paid. That was neither a joke nor a coincidence: people who are good at marketing and selling products are also good at marketing and selling themselves.

Today, I still make these experiences in my executive coaching practice. I work with some brilliant people who have outstanding technical and professional skills. Unfortunately, outside their teams others are often not aware of their performance. Mostly this is the case for people in typical technical jobs with a background in natural sciences or engineering.

If you are among these people who are doing a great job but who are not great at marketing themselves, be aware of the consequences: if the decision makers in your organization are not aware of you and what you are doing, you will be skipped when it comes to the next promotion. You will also struggle during your salary increase negotiations, and you have to keep in mind that in many industries the next round of headcount reduction is inevitable…

Producing great quality work behind closed doors is not enough in a competitive business environment. Part of your job description is to make your work visible. If I pay you a high salary, I want to see a return on investment for that salary. And it’s your task to convince me that you are worth the investment.

One of my executive coaching clients put it into a simple formula:

Success = Performance x Perception

Isn’t that true? The good news is perception management is a skill that can be learned!

Here are three key actions for you to take that will help you position yourself better in salary negotiations and to make sure you’re next to be promoted:

1. Build Powerful Networks and Expand them

Whereas networks are crucial for everybody, I noticed that particularly expats underestimate the importance of networking. They make the mistake of not nurturing and nourishing the connections with their home-countries. Yes, during your expat assignment you are very busy and there is little time for small talks. But neglecting network maintenance comes at a significant risk: in global organizations you are initially told that an assignment abroad is a prerequisite for your career advancement. In reality, many expats are simply forgotten at headquarters, and the dreams of a great corporate career turn into a nightmare. As an American Vice President in Korea put it: “out of sight out of mind.”

When you are on an assignment abroad, make sure you keep contact with your network in your home-country. Expand your network to key decision makers. Use opportunities to meet them in person and let them know about your and your team’s achievements. Copy them on emails with your success stories. Keep them informed about what’s going on, and provide them with some local insights they were not aware of before.

2. Turn your Monthly Report into Effective Sales Brochures

Annual reports of global players are excellent sales brochures from which you can learn. According to a Harvard Business Review article  managers spend up to 40% of their time writing reports. Learn to communicate with impact and turn your reports into sales brochures. Look at how data are presented in great annual reports and adopt this style to spice up your numbers. Pay attention to what is said and what isn’t. This is not about manipulating or hiding. It’s about highlighting what matters and present yourself and your great results in the proper light.

3. Boost Your Presentation Skills and Impress Your Audience

“99% of presentations suck”, says Guy Kawasaki  in the foreword to “Presentation Zen” by Garr Reynolds. Unfortunately, I can confirm this number. That’s a shame, because hardly anything else can have a more positive impact on your self-promotion than a great presentation or speech in front of the right audience. “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” says Maya Angelou. So, invest some time and sweat to improve your presentation skills. Look actively for opportunities to present your and your team’s results to the decison makers in your organization – and make them feel impressed about you!

How do you do this? Work your way through “Presentation Zen“ and “The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs: How to Be Insanely Great in Front of Any Audience” or join your local Toastmasters club to practice and improve your public speaking skills.

Remember that “performance” remains part of the success equation. We are talking about adding effective perception management to the great results you produce anyway.

Remain authentic and ethical, and enjoy the process of turning yourself into a marketer of yourself!

Happy 94th Birthday, Nelson Mandela! Thank you for teaching me essential lessons about life & leadership!

It is crucial for every manager to develop their distinct leadership style. Every person is unique, and leaders become their personal best when they are authentic and generate their style based on their individual strengths. Merely copying somebody else’s leadership style can in fact be disastrous for managers – and their teams.

To improve your leadership skills however, it makes sense to look at role models and see what you can learn from them. When discussing such role models with my executive coaching clients, there is always the same name that comes to my mind first: Nelson Mandela!

Although it is impossible to summarize what we can learn from this outstanding man in a single blog post, here is my personal essence:

 1. Greater Good over Ego

What impresses me most about Mandela is how he always put the greater good over his ego. Imagine you were imprisoned for 27 years under harsh conditions, wouldn’t you be craving for retaliation upon your release? Mandela had many opportunities to take revenge when he became the president of South Africa. To the surprise of the black population, he did not make use of these opportunities and instead lead the country to peace.

2. Incredible Discipline

Mandela had an incredible discipline. His daily morning routine in prison started with running in place for 45 minutes, followed by 200 sit-ups and 100 finger-tips push-ups. “Discipline is Remembering What You Want,” said David Campbell. Obviously Mandela knew what he wanted and remembered it.

3. Inspiring People through Acknowledgment

Nelson Mandela inspired people because he valued them. He would learn as much as he could about a person before meeting them. It is said that he learned all the names and talents of the Springboks team when he brought the rugby world cup to South Africa in 1995. Although Mandela was very focused when at work, he would interrupt whatever he was doing for impromptu meetings or greetings, and he always saw the good in others.

“This was the beauty of Nelson. Just the way he walked, the way he carried himself. It lifted up the other prisoners. It lifted me up. Just to see him walk confidently.”
–Eddie Daniels

How can you apply Mandela’s lessons for your on leadership development?

Contribute to the well-being of others. Often leaders have a big ego. However, contributing to individuals or society is so much more rewarding than running after money or status symbols. Value and acknowledge other people.

Remember what you want. Discipline has nothing to do with forcing yourself to do certain things. Discipline means having a vision and then consistently execute the actions that will turn your vision into a reality.

Value others. What do you know about the people you work with except their names? (In large organizations, often we do not even know the names…) Find out about the families of your staff, what hobbies they have, or what their life vision is.

Want more inspiration?

Recommended reading: “Mandela’s Way” by Richard Stengel

Recommended viewing: “Invictus” with Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as Springboks’ captain Francois Pienaar, directed by Clint Eastwood.