Philia Lijdsman
Executive Leadership Program - Amsterdam Class 14
It's 9 AM. I'm in the office sitting behind my computer watching the rain put a wet veil over the streets. I'm thinking about the two happy faces that will excitingly scream my name while jumping up and down the chair when I pick them up from daycare that afternoon. And with that feeling comes sadness – for I'm leaving them with "strangers" every day to do something that, if I'm completely honest, doesn't fill me with the same kind of pleasure and sense of fulfillment I get from being with them.
It took me 36 years, a great career at some great companies like Unilever and SHV, and most importantly, a set of twins to come to the realization that I was doing the wrong kind of job and could do so much more. I could really make an impact and help others to become better and, most importantly, happier with what they are doing. I was blessed with some great gifts and talents, but I wasn't using them to their full potential. I was brought up learning that everything is possible as long as you connect the right dots. And having both an analytical, creative, and energetic mind as well as experience in all layers of an organization, I can help companies connect those dots.
We spend more than half our waking hours at work, in one or more teams. Working well together is crucial for both the health of your company as well as for your people. You can have an amazing product but if your personnel cannot work together, it will be useless.
It has been found that patterns of communication are the most important predictor of a team's success. We will overcome the limits of observation and make the elusive group dynamics that characterize high-performing and happy teams observable, quantifiable, and measurable by creating communication badges that measure engagement, exploration, and energy within a team. We will transform this data into visual and useful insights. We will then connect those insights to the team composition (individual assessment) and current state of the team (questionnaire) and see how this impacts results (both business results as well as personal well-being). With this, we can define what makes up a great and happy team, and based on the team composition can create tailored and structured programs to steer a team towards the desired behavior.