THINKING
Ideas worth carrying into the next room.
Reflections on people, decisions and what happens when knowledge meets real life.
Not answers.
Stories, observations and questions worth sitting with for a little longer.
THINKING
Ideas worth carrying into the next room.
Reflections on people, decisions and what happens when knowledge meets real life.
Not answers.
Stories, observations and questions worth sitting with for a little longer.
THINKING
Ideas worth carrying into the next room.
Reflections on people, decisions and what happens when knowledge meets real life.
Not answers.
Stories, observations and questions worth sitting with for a little longer.
A MOMENT OF TRUTH
Culture is written in what you allow.
A few years ago, I was sitting in a CEO's office.
One of his salespeople was nearby, speaking loudly on the phone. The conversation was inappropriate. The language was unprofessional.
The CEO could hear everything.
He did nothing
When the call ended, I asked him why.
His answer was simple.
"He brings the money."
That moment stayed with me.
Not because of what the salesperson did.
Because of what the leader allowed.
We talk about culture through values, behaviours and statements on walls.
But culture becomes real in smaller moments.
The behaviour we challenge.
The behaviour we ignore.
The exception we make because someone performs.
The moment everyone notices what the leader chooses to do.
Actions are louder than words.
And sometimes, doing nothing is an action too.
A MOMENT OF TRUTH
Culture is written in what you allow.
A few years ago, I was sitting in a CEO's office.
One of his salespeople was nearby, speaking loudly on the phone. The conversation was inappropriate. The language was unprofessional.
The CEO could hear everything.
He did nothing
When the call ended, I asked him why.
His answer was simple.
"He brings the money."
That moment stayed with me.
Not because of what the salesperson did.
Because of what the leader allowed.
We talk about culture through values, behaviours and statements on walls.
But culture becomes real in smaller moments.
The behaviour we challenge.
The behaviour we ignore.
The exception we make because someone performs.
The moment everyone notices what the leader chooses to do.
Actions are louder than words.
And sometimes, doing nothing is an action too.
A MOMENT OF TRUTH
Culture is written in what you allow.
A few years ago, I was sitting in a CEO's office.
One of his salespeople was nearby, speaking loudly on the phone. The conversation was inappropriate. The language was unprofessional.
The CEO could hear everything.
He did nothing
When the call ended, I asked him why.
His answer was simple.
"He brings the money."
That moment stayed with me.
Not because of what the salesperson did.
Because of what the leader allowed.
We talk about culture through values, behaviours and statements on walls.
But culture becomes real in smaller moments.
The behaviour we challenge.
The behaviour we ignore.
The exception we make because someone performs.
The moment everyone notices what the leader chooses to do.
Actions are louder than words.
And sometimes, doing nothing is an action too.
WATCH
Some ideas are better spoken than written.
A reflection on the moments that shape how we think, decide and show up.
WATCH
Some ideas are better spoken than written.
A reflection on the moments that shape how we think, decide and show up.
WATCH
Some ideas are better spoken than written.
A reflection on the moments that shape how we think, decide and show up.
THE CONVERSATION
Do the difficult conversations.
Most of us know when a conversation needs to happen.
We feel it.
Something has been left unsaid. A behaviour needs to be challenged. An expectation needs to be clarified.
And still, we postpone it.
Not because we don't know what to do.
Because we don't know what will happen when we do it.
How will they react?
Will they understand?
Will the relationship change?
What if it becomes uncomfortable?
That uncertainty is exactly what makes the moment difficult.
But avoiding it doesn't remove the issue.
It simply allows the issue to continue without a conversation around it.
Trust is not built through silence.
Sometimes the conversation we least want to have is the one the relationship most needs.
THE CONVERSATION
Do the difficult conversations.
Most of us know when a conversation needs to happen.
We feel it.
Something has been left unsaid. A behaviour needs to be challenged. An expectation needs to be clarified.
And still, we postpone it.
Not because we don't know what to do.
Because we don't know what will happen when we do it.
How will they react?
Will they understand?
Will the relationship change?
What if it becomes uncomfortable?
That uncertainty is exactly what makes the moment difficult.
But avoiding it doesn't remove the issue.
It simply allows the issue to continue without a conversation around it.
Trust is not built through silence.
Sometimes the conversation we least want to have is the one the relationship most needs.
THE CONVERSATION
Do the difficult conversations.
Most of us know when a conversation needs to happen.
We feel it.
Something has been left unsaid. A behaviour needs to be challenged. An expectation needs to be clarified.
And still, we postpone it.
Not because we don't know what to do.
Because we don't know what will happen when we do it.
How will they react?
Will they understand?
Will the relationship change?
What if it becomes uncomfortable?
That uncertainty is exactly what makes the moment difficult.
But avoiding it doesn't remove the issue.
It simply allows the issue to continue without a conversation around it.
Trust is not built through silence.
Sometimes the conversation we least want to have is the one the relationship most needs.
PERFORMANCE
When do people act at their best?
When they have to?
Or when they want to?
We spend enormous amounts of time designing performance systems, targets, processes and measurements.
All of them have a place.
But sometimes we look so closely at the person that we forget to look at what surrounds them.
The manager.
The team.
The expectations.
The trust.
The freedom to speak.
The consequences of getting something wrong.
Before asking:
"Why isn't this person performing?"
Perhaps there is another question worth asking.
What did we build around them?
Because sometimes the environment is the performance.
PERFORMANCE
When do people act at their best?
When they have to?
Or when they want to?
We spend enormous amounts of time designing performance systems, targets, processes and measurements.
All of them have a place.
But sometimes we look so closely at the person that we forget to look at what surrounds them.
The manager.
The team.
The expectations.
The trust.
The freedom to speak.
The consequences of getting something wrong.
Before asking
"Why isn't this person performing?"
Perhaps there is another question worth asking.
What did we build around them?
Because sometimes the environment is the performance.
PERFORMANCE
When do people act at their best?
When they have to?
Or when they want to?
We spend enormous amounts of time designing performance systems, targets, processes and measurements.
All of them have a place.
But sometimes we look so closely at the person that we forget to look at what surrounds them.
The manager.
The team.
The expectations.
The trust.
The freedom to speak.
The consequences of getting something wrong.
Before asking:
"Why isn't this person performing?"
Perhaps there is another question worth asking.
What did we build around them?
Because sometimes the environment is the performance.
DISAGREEMENT
What happens when someone challenges you?
During an experience I was facilitating, someone challenged me.
Openly..
For a moment, the room changed.
Everyone was watching.
There were many ways I could have responded.
Defend the idea.
Explain why I was right.
Move on quickly.
Treat the challenge as resistance.
Instead, we stayed with it.
We explored the disagreement.
And something interesting happened.
The challenge didn't weaken the conversation.
It made it better.
That moment reminded me that disagreement isn't necessarily something to resolve or avoid.
Sometimes it is something to use.
Disagreement is raw material for growth.
What matters is what we do with it.
DISAGREEMENT
What happens when someone challenges you?
During an experience I was facilitating, someone challenged me.
Openly.
For a moment, the room changed.
Everyone was watching.
There were many ways I could have responded.
Defend the idea.
Explain why I was right.
Move on quickly.
Treat the challenge as resistance.
Instead, we stayed with it.
We explored the disagreement.
And something interesting happened.
The challenge didn't weaken the conversation.
It made it better.
That moment reminded me that disagreement isn't necessarily something to resolve or avoid.
Sometimes it is something to use.
Disagreement is raw material for growth.
What matters is what we do with it.
DISAGREEMENT
What happens when someone challenges you?
During an experience I was facilitating, someone challenged me.
Openly.
For a moment, the room changed.
Everyone was watching.
There were many ways I could have responded.
Defend the idea.
Explain why I was right.
Move on quickly.
Treat the challenge as resistance.
Instead, we stayed with it.
We explored the disagreement.
And something interesting happened.
The challenge didn't weaken the conversation.
It made it better.
That moment reminded me that disagreement isn't necessarily something to resolve or avoid.
Sometimes it is something to use.
Disagreement is raw material for growth.
What matters is what we do with it.
REFLECTION
Don't fall in love with your ideas.
Ideas need conviction.
Without it, very little gets built.
But conviction can quietly become attachment.
And once an idea becomes my idea, something changes.
A challenge to the idea can start feeling like a challenge to me.
That's dangerous.
Because good ideas deserve to be questioned.
Create some distance.
Invite the uncomfortable perspective.
Ask what you might be missing.
Test the assumptions.
Let someone try to break it.
The goal isn't to protect the idea.
The goal is to make it better.
REFLECTION
Don't fall in love with your ideas.
Ideas need conviction.
Without it, very little gets built.
But conviction can quietly become attachment.
And once an idea becomes my idea, something changes.
A challenge to the idea can start feeling like a challenge to me.
That's dangerous.
Because good ideas deserve to be questioned.
Create some distance.
Invite the uncomfortable perspective.
Ask what you might be missing.
Test the assumptions.
Let someone try to break it.
The goal isn't to protect the idea.
The goal is to make it better.
REFLECTION
Don't fall in love with your ideas.
Ideas need conviction.
Without it, very little gets built.
But conviction can quietly become attachment.
And once an idea becomes my idea, something changes.
A challenge to the idea can start feeling like a challenge to me.
That's dangerous.
Because good ideas deserve to be questioned.
Create some distance.
Invite the uncomfortable perspective.
Ask what you might be missing.
Test the assumptions.
Let someone try to break it.
The goal isn't to protect the idea.
The goal is to make it better.
KNOWLEDGE
Is training always the solution?
Something isn't working.
The instinctive response is often:
"We need training."
Sometimes we do.
But sometimes people already know.
They know the conversation they should have.
They know what good leadership looks like.
They know the decision they keep postponing.
More knowledge won't necessarily change what happens next.
Because the issue may not be knowledge.
It may be culture.
Environment.
Leadership.
Confidence.
Consequences.
Practice.
You cannot train your way out of every problem.
Sometimes the real work begins where knowledge ends.
KNOWLEDGE
Is training always the solution?
Something isn't working.
The instinctive response is often:
"We need training."
Sometimes we do.
But sometimes people already know.
They know the conversation they should have.
They know what good leadership looks like.
They know the decision they keep postponing.
More knowledge won't necessarily change what happens next.
Because the issue may not be knowledge.
It may be culture.
Environment.
Leadership.
Confidence.
Consequences.
Practice.
You cannot train your way out of every problem.
Sometimes the real work begins where knowledge ends.
KNOWLEDGE
Is training always the solution?
Something isn't working.
The instinctive response is often:
"We need training."
Sometimes we do.
But sometimes people already know.
They know the conversation they should have.
They know what good leadership looks like.
They know the decision they keep postponing.
More knowledge won't necessarily change what happens next.
Because the issue may not be knowledge.
It may be culture.
Environment.
Leadership.
Confidence.
Consequences.
Practice.
You cannot train your way out of every problem.
Sometimes the real work begins where knowledge ends.
QUESTIONS WORTH CARRYING
No answers required.
Just take one with you.
Is life more like chess or poker?
What is the real role of a manager?
Can we really measure everything?
Do you choose your fights, or do your fights choose you?
What evidence do you have about the culture in your workplace?
When do people act at their best?
QUESTIONS WORTH CARRYING
No answers required.
Just take one with you.
Is life more like chess or poker?
What is the real role of a manager?
Can we really measure everything?
Do you choose your fights, or do your fights choose you?
What evidence do you have about the culture in your workplace?
When do people act at their best?
QUESTIONS WORTH CARRYING
No answers required.
Just take one with you.
Is life more like chess or poker?
What is the real role of a manager?
Can we really measure everything?
Do you choose your fights, or do your fights choose you?
What evidence do you have about the culture in your workplace?
When do people act at their best?
WHY I WRITE
Some thoughts need somewhere to go.
It started with notebooks.
Years of underlined pages, handwritten thoughts, stories, questions and moments I didn't want to forget.
Writing became a way to give them somewhere to go.
Not because I have the answers.
I don't.
But because reflection changes what you notice the next time you enter the room.
There is a story in almost everything.
Stories create emotion.
Emotion becomes experience.
Reflection decides what we carry forward.
Maybe that's why writing became part of ERSX.
Emotion · Reflection · Story · eXperience
WHY I WRITE
Some thoughts need somewhere to go.
It started with notebooks.
Years of underlined pages, handwritten thoughts, stories, questions and moments I didn't want to forget.
Writing became a way to give them somewhere to go.
Not because I have the answers.
I don't.
But because reflection changes what you notice the next time you enter the room.
There is a story in almost everything.
Stories create emotion.
Emotion becomes experience.
Reflection decides what we carry forward.
Maybe that's why writing became part of ERSX.
Emotion · Reflection · Story · eXperience
WHY I WRITE
Some thoughts need somewhere to go.
It started with notebooks.
Years of underlined pages, handwritten thoughts, stories, questions and moments I didn't want to forget.
Writing became a way to give them somewhere to go.
Not because I have the answers.
I don't.
But because reflection changes what you notice the next time you enter the room.
There is a story in almost everything.
Stories create emotion.
Emotion becomes experience.
Reflection decides what we carry forward.
Maybe that's why writing became part of ERSX.
Emotion · Reflection · Story · eXperience
ONE LAST QUESTION
What will you notice differently in the next room?
Thinking matters.
What we do with it matters more.
ONE LAST QUESTION
What will you notice differently in the next room?
Thinking matters.
What we do with it matters more.
ONE LAST QUESTION
What will you notice differently in the next room?
Thinking matters.
What we do with it matters more.
Emotion · Reflection · Story · eXperience
Think. Decide. Work. 1% better when it counts..
CONTACT:
info@ersx.eu
emilios@ersx.eu
anastasia@ersx.eu
Emotion · Reflection · Story · eXperience
Think. Decide. Work. 1% better when it counts..
CONTACT:
info@ersx.eu
emilios@ersx.eu
anastasia@ersx.eu
Emotion · Reflection · Story · eXperience
Think. Decide. Work. 1% better when it counts..
CONTACT:
info@ersx.eu
emilios@ersx.eu
anastasia@ersx.eu