CASE STUDIES
PAST + CURRENT
We hope that you can identify yourself with either one of the following three stories.
The Olympic athlete, the young adult finding true calling and the CEO mastering the most difficult decisions in 2020.
We provide 100% confidentiality in all of our coaching sessions and with our clients. Please understand that I have no names attached and no pictures showing the individuals. They are all real. Very real.
HOW TO MAKE
THE OLYMPICS
A REALITY IN SEVEN MONTHS.
Summary:
If you have only seven months to the Olympics and only five months to qualify, the MICROS are crucial to achieve the MACRO goal. No time to test a plan – the plan had to work or you are faced with a four year waiting period to the next Olympics. I like those ‘all or nothing scenarios’. It means all in, or out. For my client and me it was ‘All In’.
The Story:
It was a good friend of my next client who recommended me and my services. This friend witnessed me working with a National Team during the 2015 PanAm Games in Toronto. She had insight into the team spirit and how the collective focus helped the team to compete successfully at the most prestigious event of the year.
The client called me in January 2016. We were seven month away from the Olympic Summer Games in Rio. Her MACRO goal was clear: Making the team for the Olympics and competing successfully in Rio. What we had to tackle was identifying the MICROS.
First, we established a plan that included training and competition requirements, personal commitments and time to recharge physical and emotional energy. No need to go to the Olympics with an empty battery.
My client had access to a well functioning environment that promoted excellence and a high level of achievement. However, my client had to balance a family business and a young family while on the road for more than 70% of the next seven months.
Early on we identified the seven fundamentals which became essential in the months ahead. As for every athlete, the physical and emotional well-being has a priority, but also the relationship to the family and friends, the intellectual decisions that had to be made for the business and abilities to keep an eye on the financials while being on the road as part of my client’s career.
While most individuals plan forward, I choose a different strategy and reverse engineered it to the ‘Plan Backwards’. If you know the launching date of your new product, or the day and time of the Olympic semi-finals and the final, you have the ability to plan backwards and to make sure you’re not running out of valuable time. Because one thing is clear, the Olympics will not be postponed because you need another week to prepare.
We looked at all available competitions and filtered it by the following:
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Is it relevant to compete in X-town (nomination criteria)?
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Is it timely smart compete there?
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Is it exciting for you to compete there?
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Is it building up to the peak competition (Olympics)?
Traditional competitions “I am always going there …” were scratched and high value events were put into the competition calendar always considering the 4 aspects that I mentioned before.
My client made the team and traveled overseas to get the final touches to be prepared for the Olympics. My client made it with ‘full batteries’ and therefore competed at her best when it was ‘Go Time’ in Rio.
During the year, we had 1-2 scheduled calls per week, during the Olympics, I was on stand-by and we had daily calls as part of the MICROS to brief and debrief to make the MACRO happen.
The mission was successful.
I FINISHED COLLEGE.
WHAT SHOULD I DO NEXT?
I AM FEELING LOST.
Summary:
Is there an universal concept that can give us answers to the thousand questions we have? A graduated college student needed a road map and a compass.
The Story:
I started coaching this client six years ago while she was an active and very successful athlete. She was 19 years old at the time and asked to become more emotionally resilient for the competitions ahead of her. She won National Championships and competed overseas at the highest level.
Six years later she contacted me with a bachelor degree behind her name. Her athletic career taught her values and how to get on the podium. Her academic career was not exception; she achieved high accolades and international recognition for her achievements.
Now what?
She contacted me and asked to help her finding her true passion in the arena of life.
We spend 2 hours on the phone to identify four aspects that became her eye-opener.
She needed immediate help to put her compass in the direction to what she is truly made for and be able to follow it. My job was not to tell her where to apply for a job with her degree. My job was to find out what she is made for in life.
We established a map that clearly showed her:
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Passion (What you love …)
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Mission (What you’re good at …)
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Profession (What pays well …) and
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Vocation (What you can do for the world …)
Some of her answers overlapped from all four areas and it became immanent to her where her strength is and what would be most suitable to look for in her research and finally to send her resume in.
It’s not easy when you have all the opportunities in the world and you’re equipped with tremendous talents and now you have to find the next move into your professional career.
WHEN THE WORLD STANDS STILL
WHILE WE HAVE TO RUN A BUSINESS,
WE MUST MOVE!
Summary:
Business coaching during covid-19. A year to remember and what we learned (and still learn).
The Story:
I was contacted by my next client for a business coaching. She felt that she needed advice and skills to be ready to take over the family business from her parents. The family business was in place for 20+ years and was run very successfully but a generational transition was on the horizon requiring her to take the baton from her parents.
We established the MACRO and went into each department of the company to identify the future needs and the strength of my client. The business had four core arteries.
We agreed that all aspects of the business had to be understood before one or more of the core aspect could be delegated to a manager.
We established a plan to acquire knowledge from the best in the industry. It was related to marketing, social media and customer relationships. Four months into the coaching, my client had her first breakthrough, two months later the next one with significant and measurable results related to the bottom line.
We decided after 4 months that in order to make the company bullet proof, the marketing had to move from traditional marketing to a social media presence with an online e-commerce presence to display the company globally. Four months later in March 2020, the world was hit by a pandemic and retail business (among the many other ones) came to a complete halt.
Luckily enough, the online store was up and running. The company decided to focus even more on the e-commerce side of the business and to make it recession proof for the years ahead.
The company was still moving. My client was still moving but the industries were hurt on a global scale. Frustration and anger, disappointment and fear was addressed in our weekly calls.
Perspective is important.
It helped to tell my client that the virus was responsible for the difficult times we were facing, and we as business owners could not be made responsible for the dilemma we’re all in. However, we have to become really good in dealing with the consequences.
And because my client was still moving and forced to be innovative and creative, new connections and collaborations were built, new products developed and the portfolio became a new look and grew.
We are not through the global dilemma but the coaching gave my client a way to discuss ideas, changes and challenges in our weekly schedule 1-2 hrs sessions so that difficult decisions could be made which were vital for the company to survive those difficult times.
The company is positioning itself for the future, driven by a CEO who can control her response to the global dilemma and at the same time looking tirelessly for solutions and ways to move forward.
NEXT, YOU CAN BE HERE.
Your story can be here next. There are big stories and small ones and many hundreds in the middle. Most important, each and every story has made a massive difference for my clients. It has transformed their life and the lives of others.
My mission is to help you to achieve what you want.
You will hear from me what you have to hear to achieve goal completion - that's not always what you want to hear.
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We like the challenge.
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We want a positive outcome for you.
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We strive for results that have impact on you and others.
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We service you with 100% professionalism.
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You pick up the award while we enjoy watching you.