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How to follow your own path when life is pulling you in all directions...
Nanco Vrijland talks about personal leadership and the power of generosity in times of crisis. Nanco is an executive coach and the founder of Coachcenter in The Hague - a special place for me because this is where I received my training as a professional coach.
In this episode, Nanco shares lessons on how to deal with uncertainty and live a more examined life. He also reflects on what the world of leadership could look like when we eventually go back to work.
The original conversation was recorded in Dutch and appeared as Ep. 16 of the Meeting Strategist podcast series.
In a short recap episode for international listeners, my wife Marlies Zegelaar and I reflect on Nanco’s lessons about personal leadership and how it relates to us. We also discuss what it means to be proactive in these uncertain times, the possible silver lining of the crisis and the importance of building community.
My wife Marlies and my daughter Lente during a socially distant dancing session, which she talks about in the recap episode.
Resources to Help You Build Personal Leadership
As promised in the recap episode, here are a few tools and resources to help you build personal leadership and resilience:
‘Man’s Search for Meaning’ is Viktor Frankl’s memoir of the three years he spent in Auschwitz. The Austrian psychiatrist reminds us that even in the worst circumstances imaginable humans still have a choice. Or as he puts it “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.”
In this video, Alan Seale explains the Four Levels of Engagement. If you’re more into reading, here’s a good explainer. My podcast guest Nanco Vrijland also wrote a very helpful hand-out on the Four Levels of Engagement and, more specifically, how it relates to the corona crisis. It’s in Dutch. You can request a download at the bottom of this page.
As I discuss in the recap episode, the challenge is to move from the reactive side of Seale’s framework to the proactive side. No wonder that Stephen Covey categorised ‘being proactive’ as one of the most important habits for highly effective people. In this context, it’s also worth reading about Covey’s concept of the Circle of Influence and the Circle of Concern.
In this video, Jim Collins (‘Good to Great’) reminds us of Stockdale’s paradox of realistic optimism and how it can bring solace in these uncertain times. "You need, on the one hand, unwavering faith that you can and will prevail… and at the same time you need the discipline to confront the brutal facts as they actually are."
This is the infographic story from The New York Times that I mentioned: “Is obsessing over news coverage the best way to support your community?”
Another infographic to help you determine where you are in this crisis: in the fear, learning or growth zone? (via LinkedIn)
My guest on Ep. 16: Nanco Vrijland, executive coach and founder of Coachcenter.
Links to people mentioned in the original and the recap episode
To learn more about Nanco's work and the topics we discussed, visit the website of Coachcenter or his personal LinkedIn profile. Here’s a link to Nanco’s LinkedIn post about the empty chairs (Dutch), which we talk about in the original episode.
To learn more about Marlies Zegelaar, here’s her profile on LinkedIn.