5 Questions to Kick-Start Your 2025
As I sat down at my desk one chilly December evening, the soft glow of the lamp casting long shadows across the room, I felt a familiar sense of anticipation. The year had been a whirlwind—full of challenges, successes, and moments of growth. With a hot cup of tea in hand and my notebook open, I began my annual ritual: asking myself five simple questions to reflect on the past year and prepare for the next. This isn’t just a routine exercise for me. It’s a way to integrate the learnings from 2024 into my 2025. Over the years, these five questions have become my compass—guiding me to reset, refocus, and make intentional choices about where I spend my time and energy. Let me walk you through these questions, along with some personal reflections from this year. Perhaps they can help you find clarity as well. 1. What do I want to stop? The first question forces me to confront habits or commitments that no longer serve my goals. It’s about saying goodbye to things that, while once useful,...
One word for 2025
Every December, I take a quiet moment to reflect—not on resolutions, but on one word. One word that will guide me through the next 365 days. I’ve embraced this tradition for years, and it has proven far more impactful than any fleeting list of New Year’s resolutions. John Maxwell first shared this idea with me many years ago. At the time, I didn’t fully grasp its power. But later, especially after seeing what it did for me and for others like Eric, I came to appreciate its transformative potential. In 2019, when I pivoted from my corporate career to pursue leadership excellence as an entrepreneur, I was all over the place. I transitioned from having a boss to being my own boss. There were so many things to do, and my efforts were scattered. That’s when I was reminded of the word of the year. In 2020 (yes, the year of the COVID pandemic), my word of the year was "strategic." Everything I did that year had to align with my focus areas. It became my filter for decisions, actions, and...
It’s beginning to look a lot like… reflection time
As the first snowflakes fall and the smell of freshly baked pepparkakor fills the air, I’m reminded of how quickly the year slips away. The season of lights and gatherings is upon us, but for leaders like you and me, it’s also a season that whispers: Pause. Reflect. Learn. If I’m honest, reflection has never come naturally to me. Like many leaders, I thrive on action. Movement feels productive. Planning for the future feels exciting. By this time of year, I’m already sketching out my goals for 2025—new ideas, new opportunities, new horizons. But here’s what I’ve learned the hard way: if I don’t slow down to capture the lessons of 2024, I risk carrying old mistakes into the new year. And that’s not leadership—it’s just motion. A Lesson in Reflection Let me take you back to a December not too long ago. It was a crisp Nordic winter, and my calendar was packed: workshops to wrap up, projects to finalize, and holiday plans to coordinate. The smell of glögg and cinnamon wafted through the...
Mastering the 3 Pillars of Effective Performance Management
Performance management is often perceived as a rigid process: setting goals, checking boxes, and moving on. But the reality is far more dynamic. At its core, performance management is about fostering alignment, driving growth, and unlocking potential—not just for the individual but for the entire team. However, one of the most common challenges leaders face in this process is addressing underperformance. Too often, the gap between what leaders expect and what their team members deliver isn’t due to lack of effort or capability—it’s a lack of clarity. In this article, I’ll outline the three foundational pillars of effective performance management: clarity, feedback, and support. By mastering these, leaders can bridge expectation gaps, tackle underperformance constructively, and empower their teams to thrive. 1. Clarity: Setting Clear Expectations Imagine starting a journey without knowing the destination. That’s how many team members feel when expectations aren’t explicitly...
From Pleasing to Challenging: The Leadership Shift That Drives Real Growth
Not long ago, I had a conversation with a manager in the tech industry. Let’s call him Adrian. He led a high-performing engineering team, the kind of group where expertise ran deep, but so did the resistance to change. Adrian shared his frustration over a coffee break. “I don’t get it,” he admitted, his voice laced with weariness. “I do everything I can to keep the team happy. I approve their ideas, stay out of their way, and avoid any feedback that might come across as harsh. But it feels like we’re stuck. The team isn’t hitting the goals we need.” He paused, searching for the right words. “I feel like I’m on their side, but it’s like they’re not on mine.” Adrian’s words hit on a common struggle: the tension between being a leader and being liked. Why Pleasing Doesn't Work Many managers see themselves as advocates for their team, and there’s truth in that. A good leader does support their people. But when the desire to be liked takes priority, it comes at a cost. When we need...
Why Your 1:1s Might Be Missing the Mark (And How to Fix Them)
When I started my career, I expected my 1:1 meetings with my manager to be insightful, growth-focused, and engaging. But what I got instead was far from that vision. We didn’t meet often—weeks, sometimes months, would pass without a conversation. And when we did sit down, the focus was solely on the projects. What was on my plate, where the bottlenecks were, and how close we were to deadlines. I never felt like the conversations were about me. My challenges, goals, or development were never on the agenda. Worse, my manager always positioned himself behind his computer screen, typing away as I spoke. That screen felt like a wall—literally and figuratively—blocking real connection. I didn’t know what he was writing, and I never saw any follow-up. It felt less like a conversation and more like an evaluation. It was frustrating. I wasn’t being coached; I was being monitored. That experience stuck with me. And when I became a leader, I promised myself I’d never let my team feel the way I...
Winning the Room: What Every New Leader Needs to Know
I recently worked with a leader who had just stepped into a challenging new role. Let’s call him John. John was excited. He had inherited a high-performing engineering team tasked with delivering a critical product launch. But the honeymoon phase didn’t last long. John had big ideas and a clear vision for how to lead the team. He was eager to make his John. However, in his enthusiasm to get started, he skipped an important step: understanding the team dynamics before walking into his first big meeting. The result? A disaster. The Meeting That Went Sideways John’s first team meeting was meant to set the tone. He walked in confident, ready to share his vision and expectations. But almost immediately, the atmosphere shifted. A few vocal team members hijacked the discussion, steering it toward past frustrations. Their passive-aggressive comments weren’t overtly disrespectful, but they undermined John’s authority. Other team members sat quietly, arms crossed, offering little engagement....
How to Give Feedback That Drives Real Change
I remember coaching a team leader who was struggling to get results from one of his engineers. Let's call him Marcus. Marcus led a small, high-performing team in a fast-paced tech startup, but one team member wasn’t pulling his weight. Let's call him Johan. Deadlines slipped, details were missed, and frustration was bubbling beneath the surface. Marcus had tried addressing it in their weekly one-on-ones, but nothing changed. “I feel like I’m saying the same thing every week, and it’s just not landing,” Marcus told me during one of our coaching sessions. Sound familiar? Feedback is one of the most powerful tools in a leader’s arsenal. But if it’s not delivered effectively, it can feel like you’re speaking into the void—or worse, like you’re creating tension without results. Let me share the approach I coached Marcus to adopt, which helped him turn things around with Johan. The Problem with Most Feedback The truth is, Most feedback fails because it’s too vague or too personal. Think...
Bridging the Motivation Gap in Leadership
Picture this: You’re leading a critical project during a major organizational shift. Deadlines are moving targets, new priorities emerge daily, and your inbox is overflowing with “urgent” updates. You’re pushing hard, expecting your team to do the same. But instead of the energy and focus you hoped for, you sense hesitation. You think, Why aren’t they as driven as I am? Don’t they see what’s at stake? From the team’s side, the view is very different. They hear you emphasizing urgency, but to them, it sounds like noise. They see priorities constantly shifting, but not a clear path forward. They think, If everything is important, nothing is. The result? Frustration builds on both sides. Work slows. Motivation dips. And the gap between your expectations and their actions widens. This is the motivation gap—a disconnect between leadership goals and team performance, often fueled by uncertainty and overwhelm in times of change. But here’s the truth: this gap isn’t a failure. It’s a sign...
Navigating Leadership in Multicultural Teams: A Guide for International Leaders in the Nordics
Stepping into a leadership role in a multicultural team is like walking into a bustling market square. Imagine the blend of aromas from a dozen different food stalls, each representing a different culture and tradition. The colors are vibrant, the sounds diverse—a cacophony of voices in a dozen languages. Leading in this space is exciting, but also overwhelming. You want to savor the richness, but you need a plan to navigate the complexity. That’s what leadership feels like in Denmark’s multicultural environment. There’s so much opportunity for growth, innovation, and creativity, but also the challenge of managing differing expectations, communication styles, and values. It can feel like walking a tightrope. Let me share a story that brings this to life. The New Team I was coaching an expat leader, let’s call him Jacob, who had recently taken over a team in Copenhagen. His background was in tech, and he had led teams across Asia and the U.S. before coming to Denmark. Jacob was...
The Future of Leadership in an AI World
Today, I want to take you back to a project from my days in the automotive sector, where technology and efficiency were the name of the game. We were working on a complex integration of new systems—parts, software, logistics—everything had to sync perfectly, down to the smallest detail. Imagine the sound of machinery humming, the smell of freshly oiled parts, and the soft hum of servers in the control room. Data was flying across screens, algorithms predicting the next best move, and automated systems handling routine tasks with surgical precision. In short, the environment was buzzing with machine-driven efficiency. But here’s where things took a turn. One of the engineers, let’s call her Sarah, came to me with a problem. Her team was struggling. Not technically— the machines were handling the technical side. The issue was in communication, collaboration, and morale. Automated schedules and process optimizations were great, but they couldn’t build trust, resolve conflicts, or...
Why Leaders Need to Invest in Live2Lead: A Personal Reflection
I get it. As leaders, we're swamped. Meetings, deadlines, and decisions. It feels like there’s never enough time to attend leadership events like Live2Lead. But here’s the thing—these are exactly the moments that pull us ahead of the learning curve. The space we create to step back, reflect, and soak in new perspectives is often the very thing that propels us forward. I know this firsthand. Years ago, I attended a leadership conference just like Live2Lead. I picked up a book by John Maxwell, and that event became the catalyst for my own leadership journey. It wasn’t a big, earth-shattering moment, but a spark that set me on a path I could never have imagined at the time. Let me share some key takeaways from this year's Live2Lead in Gothenburg. These insights have the power to shift how you approach your leadership, your team, and even yourself. John C. Maxwell: The Abundance Mindset John Maxwell kicked things off with a powerful reminder about the importance of an abundance mindset....
Stop Chasing Shiny Leadership Strategies: The Basics Still Win Every Time
I’ve seen it happen so many times. A leader hears about a new app, tool, or framework, and suddenly, it’s the silver bullet. The one thing that’s going to transform the way they lead. The excitement is palpable. They sign up. They onboard their teams. They start tracking, measuring, and analyzing all sorts of engagement scores and sentiment metrics. But here’s the catch. They’re still not getting what they want from their teams. The results don’t match the promise. I worked with a company that got caught up in this exact cycle. They introduced a feedback app to “boost engagement” and “understand how people really felt.” It was a great tool on paper—sleek interface, easy to use, and promised all sorts of insights. They set it up, rolled it out, and started seeing positive Net Manager Promoter Scores (NMPS) and employee satisfaction rates. Leaders were happy. Everything looked good. But when I spoke with them, they were frustrated. They were seeing high scores in the app but struggling...
When Delegation Goes Wrong: How to Lead When You’re Still Accountable
A few weeks ago, I was attending the CBS Leadership Think Tank in Copenhagen. The room buzzed with energy. Around me were leaders and managers from various sectors—tech, engineering, pharmaceuticals—all gathered to discuss the challenges and strategies of effective leadership. I listened to questions from executives and felt the excitement of leaders coming together to share insights. In the middle of the discussion, a question caught my attention. Yvette, a VP from a leading pharmaceutical company, stood up and asked, “How do you handle the situation when you have empowered your team, delegated responsibilities, and things still go wrong—knowing that, as a leader, you’re still accountable for the outcome?” The room fell silent for a moment. It was the kind of question that cuts right through to the heart of leadership. I could see heads nodding in agreement as the panel took in her words. I’ve encountered this scenario many times in my coaching practice. It’s a question that haunts...
Leadership for the Future: Eight Simple Lessons from CBS Leadership Think Tank
Walking into the CBS Leadership Think Tank felt like stepping into a space buzzing with energy. You could feel the pulse of conversation, the sharp exchange of ideas, and the weight of big questions about leadership in today’s fast-changing world. The air was thick with curiosity and challenge. I came away with powerful insights that I believe every leader and manager in any sector can put to work right away. Let’s break them down, and I’ll guide you through simple, actionable steps you can take to make these ideas your own. 1. Embrace Complexity Without Overwhelm The world isn’t slowing down. Geopolitical tensions, sustainability pressures, and tech advancements are all accelerating. It’s easy to feel like you’re drowning in complexity. But here’s the thing: as leaders, we must swim in these waters. Instead of resisting the tide, we can learn to ride it. 💡 Implementation Tip: Start small. When things feel chaotic, take 10 minutes at the start of each day to write down just three...
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