The DOs and DON'Ts of Delegating from a Distance 

November 24, 2020

I am sure you agree with me that the pandemic has in many ways added extra pressure on leaders. Put in another way: Leaders have the opportunity to enhance and leverage specific skills more intensively now, simply because we have to. One of these skills is the art of delegation.

Now, when we need to manage from a distance to a larger extent than previously, this skill might be one of the single most important ones to pay attention to not only survive in business, but even to be able to scale business up.

This month I celebrated the fact that it has been 10 years since my dedicated Virtual Assistant (VA), Aimee Sadler, started working with me. Back in 2010, I hardly knew what a VA was, and I certainly didn’t believe that I needed one. My mentor added 30 hours of VA services to my contract, and I had nothing to lose by testing it out. Since then, I never looked back and with a few exceptions, Aimee and I have worked together on a weekly basis ever since.

Aimee has helped me with technical set-ups of numerous digital services and events, taken care of my VIP clients and customer inquiries, and been instrumental in doing research and drafting content for my seminars, webinars, workshops and social media presence.

If you would like to learn more about how to improve your delegating skills and what Aimee has helped me do in my business from across the ocean, I strongly recommend you watch the recorded interview. We are diving into the DOs and DON’Ts of delegation, our lessons learned over the last 10 years, and some of the great resources available for becoming better at delegating.

Perfect timing to launch a Portfolio Career 

October 8, 2020

Are you, or someone you care about, thinking about assuming a portfolio career?

Every week I meet professionals who are considering launching a portfolio career as a response to the challenges and high degree of uncertainty in the current job market. You might have stumbled upon this term even if you find yourself pursuing a more traditional career within corporate. When pursuing a portfolio career, you are combining multiple streams of income instead of one income stream through one contract of employment only. This could include interim job positions, freelancing assignments, board positions, and studies fully or partly in parallel.

For portfolio careerists, there are no traditional career paths. Each professional assumes different roles in unique ways, and they totally rely on their professional reputation and positioning efforts to establish themselves as leaders and professionals in demand. There is no doubt, that an increasing number of employers want to capitalize on the unique profile and skills set by professionals in this way. In times of crisis and high degree of uncertainty, many employers will look for more flexible workforce with specific skills and capabilities to contribute to short term solutions. Often, these solutions may turn in to longer term opportunities.

To the professionals, there are several advantages of going in this direction: More control of work-life balance decisions, diverse skills development, additional cash flow, pursue of professional passion, and a diverse network. There are also obvious downsides to the portfolio career opportunity as well, such as variations in work load, lack of benefits and challenges to clear advancements.

10 years ago, I left corporate to start building my own portfolio career, and my key takeaway is that my intrinsic motivational factors; mastery, flexibility and contribution; have been instrumental in bringing new energy and joy into my own career. Now, I’m looking for other professionals who might be considering a similar transition and who would like to learn more about the DOs and DON’Ts when kicking it off. If this is interesting to you or someone you care about, feel free to click here to learn more about this learning event coming up shortly!

A minute to learn...

September 3, 2020

If you, like me, used to play the board game "Othello", you will be familiar with the tagline "A minute to learn, a lifetime to master". This notion is also very true for one thing that has proven extremely helpful during the first half of 2020 when encountering the direct and indirect implications of the pandemic. 

I'm talking about the activity of conscious and unconscious reflection of small and huge changes to our daily lives. Maybe we are struggling with social distancing, remote work or travel restrictions. Maybe we have lost someone we love, our job or faced serious illness ourselves.

No matter small or huge, we still do not know for how long it will last, or what it will look like at the other end. The only thing we can control is what we learn from what has happened, our attitudes and perspectives obtained via reflection and our willingness to step up to the occasion. 

My experience is that more people than ever before are spending time reflecting on their values, priorities and decisions, coming from a more peaceful state of mind. What is really important to us, and why? How can we remain resourceful even though we can't control what is happening and for how long it will last? I see people making big decisions about their personal and professional lives based upon these key questions. Building self-leadership skills and capabilities seem vital to enduring this time and age. 

During the spring season, I conducted a series of webinars on various self-leadership topics that remain relevant upon the fall season. I strongly encourage you to check in my webinar hub to see which topics resonate with you. Shortly, there will be more resources available on similar topics.

Happy reflecting!

Masterminding Hot Seat - How to make the most of it

June 30, 2020

As you probably know by now, I have been a huge fan of Masterminding for many years. In my last newsletter, I shared some of the advantages of participating in a masterminding group to get access to other professionals' experiences, recommendations, and resources in a very affordable way. Some of my most vital decisions in both my career and businesses were made by the support from my masterminding buddies. 

 The quality of these groups has varied a lot, mainly due to one factor: How well prepared are the participants upon taking their Hot Seat? Sometimes, the sessions have turned into nice meetings with occasional results only. The most effective ones generating the best results and clarity about actions, boldness, and accountability, occur when the group members agree to show up prepared. This allows more focus and action orientation, often catapulting the members into those vital decisions and actions.  

This is why I have created a short 15-minute on-demand webinar on the topic of "How to make the most of your Masterminding Hot Seat". The webinar is relevant to anyone considering joining a masterminding group or is looking to up the game in their current group. And...for the bold ones among you, you will get an opportunity to test it out for yourself in a 30-minute  session with me as the facilitator. Over the next 6-8 weeks, I will offer a limited number of these test sessions for free, just so you can try it out for yourself. So, if you are considering making key decisions about your career or business this year, what have you got to lose? I really love engaging with brave professionals and would be delighted to put you in the Hot Seat. The only thing you need to do is to prepare yourself according to the short webinar here...hope to see you soon!

Employer Branding in Times of Corona

June 1, 2020

It might not be part of your job title, but as a formal or informal leader, I am sure you are engaged in one or more Employer Branding activities. I have always been fascinated by how successful organisations are in attracting, developing and retaining talent to match the requirements long term. 

So, when the crisis occurs and continues beyond yearly plans, what is the right strategy: Should we proactively communicate or does it make sense to cave until there is more certainty allowing us to manage according to plans? 

I am delighted to invite you to this webinar to learn from renowned Author and Keynote Speaker on Employer Branding topics, Anna Dyhre. Anna has written three books on this topic, and her most recent book won the Marketing Book of the Year in 2018 (Sweden).   

Anna is not only sharing her experience and trend spotting in her books, she is also giving inspiring speeches and facilitating panel discussions on Employer Branding topics IRL as well as virtually. She is well known for mixing facts with humor, and you should be expecting nothing less this time. Bring your pen and paper for reflections and insights on how to communicate Employer Branding initiatives effectively in times of crisis!

For the brave among us looking to grow exponentially

June 17, 2020

Are you, like me, procrastinating some of the really important decisions in your career or business? Do you sometimes feel stuck, telling yourself "it's too late", "it's too early", or "it's not for me"? Are you unconsciously holding yourself back because of limiting beliefs?

We all have limiting beliefs! Unless addressed and challenged, we are likely to miss out on significant opportunities in our professional lives. Over the years, I have come to appreciate the effectiveness, resourcefulness and affordability of Masterminding groups to become braver and make those key decisions.
In fact, some of the most distinct, important and bold decisions in my career and role as a small business owner,  have emerged from participating in facilitator-led masterminding sessions. With the support of the facilitator and other participants, I have gained clarity, insights and resources to catapult myself into my next big thing. I benefited from this when making bold decisions about taking on new leadership roles with more responsibility, or when building and discontinuing own businesses. The brave part is about taking on the Hot Seat challenge to initiate the snow ball effect...the rest is a great learning and sharing experience...

 Masterminding is an affordable solution to gain access to group synergies. If this topic is relevant to you or someone you care about, feel free to watch the video and associated Hot Seat Challenge and learn more via the link below! 

The Analog Brain in the Digital Workplace

May 18, 2020

There are courses, and there are COURSES. The most memorable courses are packed with aha-moments and insights you can bring directly into your daily (work)life with a profound impact on your well-being. In the spring of 2019, I attended the first course with author and keynote speaker, Anna Tebelius Bodin. Her teaching on the topic of the brain, learning and motivation was very intriguing and inspirational. She was the first person who managed to share complex brain-related topics in a fairly simple way, and in a way that was possible to continue to explore on my own.  

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending her latest course on the topic of our analog brain in the digital workplace. I just knew that I wanted more people to gain similar insights the way I did, so I am delighted to have the opportunity to interview Anna on this very topic. I hope you will join us by signing up for one of the May 18 events below! Bring your pen and paper and take your chance to ask your question directly to Anna at the end of the webinar. 

Anna Tebelius Bodin has a Master's Degree from Harvard University where she also assisted brain scientists. She has written several books and is a renowned keynote speaker and course facilitator.

View the webinar here.

The Three Things Deciding Your Professional Future

May 4, 2020

Sometimes you can feel the gravity when you meet people who you know will play a significant role in your career. I met one of them back in the summer of 2010, and I can still recall the conversation. He asked me if I knew how I was perceived by others, and if I had an idea of my professional reputation. 

A decade later, I have had the pleasure of having him analyze my professional reputation three times, and I am also teaming up with him to help other professionals learn and advance in their own careers based upon their learning and insights.  

Per Frykman is a well established author and a pioneer in the area of professional reputation management. Over the years, he has inspired thousands and he has been of service to countless professionals who learn about their true professional assets and potential from his unique work. 

I hope you will join me in this special webinar where I am interviewing Per on the key trends in reputation management and what we should consider zooming in on to excel in our own careers. You should expect new perspectives and an insight or two to build upon...

Package Your Expertise - How to deliver your services online

April 20, 2020

You might be a small business owner yourself, you might consider becoming one, or you might know small business owners in your community. Given the extraordinary times we are experiencing, I want to share something that I believe might be of value to small business owners now facing difficulties in delivering their services as consultants, coaches or trainers.

I started delivering my own services online back in 2010, and this decade has offered significant experiences in what works...and what does not work in this space. This is why I really want this webinar event to focus on my key insights and learnings on what is adding value and can be delivered online. I will also include my 5 best tips on how to get started with packaging your expertise, as well as my rolodex of supportive and affordable tools to make it happen quickly and in co-creation mode with the market. 

I hope you will join me in this special webinar to add to the flexible offering portfolio for yourself or someone else you care about. 

When #c19 strikes at home - Managing@YourBest

April 6, 2020

This is a webinar topic I never imagined would be on my agenda. On March 19, my husband tested positive for #c19 and serious lung inflammation. For obvious reasons, we were not allowed to visit him in the hospital. For 3 days, we experienced an intense and emotionally difficult roller coaster journey. Luckily, he responded well to the treatment and could come home for aftercare in our house. 

Now, he is recovering in isolation as I work from home in quarantine. This webinar will be more personal than usual, rather than providing checklists, I would like to share my own insights and reflections from this experience as I'm aware many more will experience a similar situation.

In this webinar, I will cover what I learned from my own reactions when the crisis emerged. I will also share tips on how to stay connected with family, friends and colleagues despite the distant socializing challenges. Finally, I will also share what I would have done differently if I could go back in time. 

I hope you will join me in this special, and very personal webinar to add to your own preparedness for yourself or someone else you care about. 

How to avoid pitfalls as a leader on LinkedIn

March 2, 2020

I can't believe it's already 10 years since I left corporate to start my first business. Throughout these years, LinkedIn has proven vital to my own positioning and attraction of business opportunities. 

Today, I'm privileged to work with leaders on all levels to help them build trust, stand out, and attract the professional opportunities they deserve, either in corporate or when starting their own business. LinkedIn remains THE KEY PLATFORM to make this happen.  

During 2020, I have decided to share some of my key insights and best recommendations as a small business owner with a larger audience in a monthly, 30-minute webinar. The topics will include some of my key findings and exercises for leaders focusing on distinction, innovation and positioning. Feel free to share the invite to somebody you believe would benefit from this, and I hope to see you on the inside as well...welcome!