During this year of practice my clients have come with the following topics: ✨1️⃣ Develop self-confidence: most regular topic.2️⃣ Make an important business decision: a cold “business case” is usually a lot more than that.3️⃣ Relationships at work: bring vulnerability that requires a strong collaboration between me and my client.4️⃣ Preparation for an important conversation: worth exploring with creativity, only for brave clients.5️⃣ Find greater fulfillment at work: an intimidating topic that brings the most rewarding results.6️⃣ Work-life balance: recurring theme for the client who needs to be reminded.7️⃣ Dilemmas: effective, fun, and easy, with creativity.8️⃣ Clarity about a situation: a good structure to analyze the current reality and it’s done!9️⃣ How to become a coaching leader: train the trainer.🔟 Impostor syndrome: being compassionate with oneself had proved to be key.I don’t mind about the topic and enjoy supporting my clients reaching their goals, whatever they are.What I care about is the collaboration between us as we are both co-creators and the quality of the coaching depends on that.

A friend just got promoted to the position of her dreams.We worked together, so I know her commitment and value. But the company she worked for was unable to see her worth.She worked really hard and went from one position to another, at times to places where she was clearly overqualified. But even then, she continued trying, hoping for the company to change its perspective.Then the pandemic crisis hit, and she was fired.She was devastated until she applied for what looked like a great opportunity. She got the job and her manager-to-be never started in the position. The founders had straight away seen her value, so they promoted her for that role! She felt aligned with the universe and flourished!Now she is working as hard as always but is happier than ever. She is in control of her life and destiny, full of energy and motivation.Make sure you are not losing yourself in a relationship where you are not appreciated, and remember:You are worth it! ✨

An old corporate mindset marketer told me the other day that I should say I discovered coaching many years ago, so my potential clients perceive me as more experienced.I don’t agree with this as I believe:✔ Being real you attract the right people. It is incredible how much I feel that each one of my clients is a good fit for me.✔ It would be very difficult to share my journey if I have to follow up and build on something that is not true.And I found the best example today as I discovered that according to the new book “What works in executive coaching” by Erik de Haan :The effectiveness of the coach seems inversely related to the years of experience because they are less directive and therefore better at enabling the coachee’s own learning journey.There you go! A quantitative piece of research shows that I don’t need a decade of coaching experience to deliver the best quality service. Plus I haven't done anything else in a year; I am obsessed and loving this new profession.The new marketing backs up your honesty so don’t be afraid of being authentic!

I have two friends whose talent is above average. One is an artist, the other one is incredibly competent at what she does and lives on referrals, good but not enough for her business.They are interested in exposing themselves to start building their personal brand, but these two things are blocking them:

- fear of being judged

- strive for perfection

This is what I told them:

• Trying to be liked by everybody blocks you. The moment you stop worrying about what other people think, magic happe
• If you wait until everything is perfect, it might never happen. Come to life and communicate, you can start by presenting your imperfect journey.

They seem to agree with me, but will they commit and take the risks they need to take?

Coming back from vacation can be difficult. During a good holiday you are able to change your routines; you feel rested and you connect with yourself. Inspiration and creative ideas might arise and by the end of the holiday, you have more clarity and are a more effective person.Then on the first day back to work we take all that energy and fill our calendar with meetings; we want to be productive.The truth is that when you don’t take the chance to explore those new ways of looking at things, you miss out on a tremendous opportunity.Perspective is a key element in any coaching session. A lot of hard work goes into exploring other ways of approaching the topic that the client brings.When the client manages to detach from a specific point of view, they can discover different solutions to achieve their goals.After a holiday break:✔ Give yourself an easy start and take the opportunity to play with new interpretations of reality✔ Work on your internal awareness; perspective is a muscle, exercise itYour perspective is what determines your experience, not your circumstances. A new positive perspective might bring you a new great attitude.If this doesn’t work. . . You can also start planning your next vacation! 😂

The past few months I’ve invested a great amount of time, energy and (some) money on LinkedIn. I’ve learned about its algorithm, content creation, hashtags, best time for posting, social selling, sales navigator, the importance of consistency, a good profile, about section, recommendations. . .✔ But by far the best tip I have ever been given is to make LinkedIn a place you enjoy being. First step. Because understanding and applying all those learnings takes time. And some days I love it but there are days where I’m exhausted and feel I need a break.At least connect with people you like, who make you feel good, and inspire you! At least you’ll have than on the bad days.

On the first day in my last corporate role, I was asked to do a Strengthfinder test. After 15 years in crazy-hectic-sales I found it very strange to spend 1 hour analyzing my personality and I wondered if HR was really something for me.The results of the test showed my 5 natural talents and the discovery created a huge impression on me.I learned that there are parts of everyone’s brain that work better than average and differ tremendously from one another. The combination of your strengths is like a fingerprint, a powerful description. I realized I was not always putting my energy into those aspects, even though that was a space I loved.That was my introduction to the Personal Development world.Successful people build on their natural talents and convert them into strengths. Having a deep understanding of the strengths you bring to the table gives you confidence and determination.A year after that test, I hired a coach. A year after, I studied to be a coach. Now I help others to raise their self-awareness, the starting point for change.Don’t underestimate your level of self-awareness. That’s how we improve!(My strengths: activator-achiever-context-positivity-learner).

Some of my closest friends make fun of me:“Youtuber at 50”“This summer I’m going to be your party saboteur because on Fridays I have the imposter syndrome”They think it’s hilarious that I’m launching a Youtube channel at 45 (not 50 by the way), and they make fun of the fluffy conversations that we sometimes have here on LinkedIn. The motivational tone that we use to inspire others, the coaching concepts like “the impostor syndrome”, “your inner critic”, etc…They say that this is a platform of coaches talking to each other.And I LOVE it. It grounds me and make me even more real. I admit sometimes I get a little bit angry with these ignorant people but I can't wait to see them again and self-sabotage together with a drink!How do your good friends keep you grounded?

Recently a potential client told me that he was unsure if coaching was for him. He is a senior executive of a big corporation, and wanted to know what kind of topics are usually brought to business coaching. I told him not to worry as I thought “he was coachable enough.”There is a big misconception that coaching is for individuals with performance problems. Well, I have proved through my practice that it’s actually the opposite. Coaching is a lot more effective with HIGH PERFORMERS.So if you:✔ set high standards for yourself✔ are committed to self-develop✔ take everything that is out there to reach your goals✔ are not afraid of feedback✔ are capable of learning from your own mistakes✔ are open-minded enough to absorb every piece of useful advice for your purposesCongratulations! You are in the “excellent coachability group”.The "coachability levels" are brilliantly explained by Peter Bluckert in his book Pshycological Dimensions of Executive Coaching.