How do you stay sharp?

As a leader, you are responsible for your business and the first point of contact for those around you. You face complex issues related to your role, your personality, or the context you operate in. But how do you stay sharp? How do you continue to develop yourself? At Yet, we understand the challenges you face. Our leadership coaches are ready to support you and help you move forward with what’s happening right now.

Positioning, vision, personal and business Issues

This could involve a specific question, like how to handle a conflict, looming absenteeism, or a reorganization. It might be personal issues that throw you off balance, affecting your reactions and judgment. You might have questions you want to discuss, such as “How can I increase my influence with key stakeholders?” or “How do I position myself?” or “How do I formulate a clear vision and set priorities?”

Reflection and action

It can also be a periodic reflection moment that you might otherwise miss in the daily rush. By organizing your thoughts and looking at the situation from different perspectives, you can come up with refreshing ideas and new approaches. Whether you’re facing organizational challenges or want to unravel personal issues, we offer the guidance you need.

Our coaches provide the opportunity to evaluate your role as a leader, improve your communication style, gain tools for team development, and handle difficult situations or other current issues. Using the Single Session Method, we help you get to the heart of your question in one intensive session and take a clear, goal-oriented step forward.

Maud van Aalderen

Leadership coach, Psychologist

Leading is complex, especially in a rapidly changing environment.

This demands a lot from leaders; complex situations require style flexibility, resilience, and adaptability. Leaders come to Yet for self-reflection and help with their own positioning. Collaborating in a management team or board with strong personalities can also be challenging. In a session, we make the issue clear. The coach helps pinpoint exactly where things are going wrong. Is it your own insecurity or perfectionism? Or are you just starting and need to gain more knowledge? Especially if you’re new, finding support in the content can be very reassuring. The goal is to clarify the problem, uncover any patterns, and determine where you can begin.

Can you still see the bigger picture?

Diminished job satisfaction is a signal you need to take seriously. What are the signs? Loss of energy, dread, and a bit of cynicism. When you enjoy your work less, you think more in problems than in opportunities. Everything seems to pile up; a reorganization, a lot of resistance in your team, vacancies. Under pressure, you can’t think as clearly about solutions, which limits your creativity. Your mind is simply too crowded. You can’t rise above the problems, you lose the overview.

That overview is crucial as a leader. Seeing connections, understanding the bigger picture, and knowing who the key stakeholders are. When this becomes difficult, you engage less, spend less time on conversations, and collaborate less on finding solutions.

You start doing more on your own, which can lead to a downward spiral. You take on more work, receive less social support, and have a limited perspective because you get less input from others. Additionally, you show less empathy for others. Research shows that leaders under stress exhibit less empathy. They are too busy to consider what others need. However, good collaboration is essential for achieving goals and enjoying your work. Therefore, it’s crucial to make time for self-reflection. This way, you can maintain an overview and stay effective in your role as a leader.

Self-reflection is essential for development

The bottom line is that being alone limits your perspective. You can’t do everything by yourself. Self-reflection is vital and easier with someone else. A coach can help with their knowledge and experience, and their independent position. As a leader and manager, you often stand alone, caught between pressure and demands on one side and responsibility for your people on the other. You won’t always completely agree with the policies you need to support for the organization’s sake. How do you handle this? What are your values and boundaries? These are questions you usually can’t discuss internally.

And the higher up you go, the less feedback you receive. So, you need to organize that. A coach with no vested interest in the situation can hold up an honest mirror.

It’s difficult to take time to reflect on what’s happening when you’re under a lot of pressure and feel you have no time. Regaining that overview can make all the difference. Especially when you think you can’t handle any more, when it’s tough, you have the opportunity to grow and learn. A conversation can have a significant impact at these times.

Want to experience the impact of one conversation? Take the time to see the difference one hour can make.