Leadership beginnt bei dir

00:00:15: Welcome to Sakotnik and Flucher.

00:00:18: Champagne for the soul, clarity for the mind. We combine intelligent conversation with poise, wit and genuine substance.

00:00:25: We talk about leadership and self-leadership, about freedom and power, about joie de vivre, success, meaning and depth. And also about how we can live and lead consciously, effectively and with ease.

00:00:39: A programme for people seeking clarity, embracing responsibility and longing for more substance in conversation. Sakotnik and Flucher. For everyone who loves depth, thinks big and wants to remain fully human. Great to have you here. We’re back. A warm welcome to Sakotnik and Flucher! And as we promised last time, today we’ll be chatting a bit about ourselves, leadership tools and tricks.

00:01:12: Exactly, and as we mentioned last time, there are a few tricks of the trade when it comes to managing and leading yourself effectively, as well as how to lead your team and your business well, and what impact this has on the various aspects of your life. And we want to get straight down to business today so that we can really make the most of our time and you can get the best possible benefit from the whole thing. Last time, we touched on timeboxing, which involves setting aside specific time slots for specific projects, so to speak, during which you won’t be disturbed, in order to become more efficient and effective, to have the opportunity to delve deeper into the work, and to get into the flow more easily. But I think we’ll do a separate episode on the flow at some point.

00:02:11: Flow is good, yes, that’ll be a separate episode.

00:02:15: But today we’d like to share a few tips with you, and we’ll start, so to speak, with the morning – how you can start your day in a meaningful way, if you’d like. When it comes to self-leadership, I’m a big fan of ‘morning pages’. It’s, so to speak, an opportunity to simply jot down your thoughts by hand in the morning, shortly after getting up, if you like. Just take a sheet of paper, a nice book – an empty one – or a notebook, grab a pen that suits you, and simply write down everything that’s going through your mind. Whether these are to-dos that need doing during the day, or perhaps some random thoughts, like needing to top up the coffee, or that something in yesterday’s meeting didn’t quite go to plan, or whether it’s something you’ve got ahead of you today, just set yourself a timer for 10 or 15 minutes, if you like. You can, of course, make it shorter or longer, depending on how much time you have tomorrow. Personally, for me, I try to make sure I get my 15 minutes in.

00:03:25: I’ll say straight away that I don’t manage it every day. As I mentioned, I now have a son who’s almost six, and I admit that my mornings don’t always go the way I’d like them to; from time to time, he tends to have a mind of his own, shall we say, and our schedules get pushed back. But I do my best to make it happen as often as possible, to simply take those 15 minutes in the morning for myself, where I pour myself my favourite drink. That can be whatever you like. For me, I’ll admit, it’s usually a coffee in the morning. Even as a yoga teacher and an Ayurveda expert, I still find that I simply enjoy having a coffee in the morning. But you’re allowed to—

00:04:07: May I let you in on a secret? She likes croissants too.

00:04:09: Exactly, yes, a little digression on croissants. And yes, then I just sit down comfortably and have the chance to write down my thoughts for 15 minutes. And it’s not about writing something meaningful; it’s really just about writing down the thoughts that are there, so that they’re down on paper. And then at the end, there’s a technique, if you like, where you ‘harvest’ your thoughts, so to speak: you simply read through the whole thing at your leisure, if you wish, and then pick out a sentence or two that make sense to you on that particular day, and then consciously set your mind for the day ahead.

00:04:52: And now I’ll take over again. We agreed to do this on a weekday, as I’ve got a few things to cover, and today’s focus will be on communication and what that all entails. By the way, since we talked about AI in the other episode, this would be the point where I can feed what I write down every day into my AI assistant and then ask every now and then: Do you recognise your blind spot? Do you see anything I could add? AI is unbeatable for that. So recognising blind spots, saying: ‘You’ve still got potential here, have a look over there, you’re not paying enough attention to that.’ It’s truly amazing. But as I said, then we carry on with the day. And what’s becoming increasingly relevant for me in leadership and in this leadership role is: how do I speak to people? How can I address them, in terms of communication, that is? How can I address them so that they feel seen, that they feel heard, and that they consequently become more productive? Because that’s what I want. Becoming more productive doesn’t mean I want to increase productivity ad infinitum, but it simply means that what we do well—and here I’d like to mention the 90% rule from my colleague Rainer Petek; he puts it this way, I would never have put it that way, but it’s quite clear—if I give 120% every day, then I won’t have the energy when I need it; instead, I’ll simply be burnt out.

00:06:29: If I work at 90% capacity every day now – or even 80% for the brave – then, when I need it, I’ll have the remaining 20% available in the longer term. And by ‘longer term’, I mean up to three months, not up to seven years. That’s really important.

00:06:47: The classic scenario, isn’t it?

00:06:48: The classic one. Well, I loved giving 120%, and we all know there’s simply no more than 100%. That’s why I say that, but we know that sometimes you can surpass yourself. Yes, in the short term it’s no problem at all – in fact, it’s important, otherwise nothing will come of it.

00:07:04: Can I chime in too? I always find it quite fascinating in leadership and entrepreneurship that we believe we can give 120% every day. I’m guilty of that myself from time to time.

00:07:13: I’m just so into it.

00:07:14: In elite sport, it goes without saying that recovery periods and rest days are just as much a part of training as the training sessions themselves. And during my time in elite sport, when I was fortunate enough to be involved as a support staff member, I learnt for myself just how important these recovery periods are, so that when it really matters and is necessary, you can give 100%.

00:07:35: So there’s a sort of ratio to it. I’m in a relationship with a former top athlete, and he said that performance time accounts for about 10%, and the rest is recovery and training, split roughly fifty-fifty. That’s actually quite astonishing to me, yes, for someone who always likes to give it their all. Why I still need that, which is why I’m telling this story about energy, about pacing myself, about recovering: The more uncertain this world is – and it is uncertain right now – the more time I need to reflect, to reflect on what crossed my path today, who crossed my path today, and what upset me, what triggered me, but also what energised me. And I’m saying this deliberately: I prefer to think in positive terms rather than negative ones. So not just analysing what bothered me today, but rather, what is it that has enriched me, what has fulfilled me? Because that is what I want to repeat, and that is what I can repeat, and that is what I should repeat. Because what we have to give, what we have to discover – when things are uncertain, yes, I might feel threatened, or I might say, ‘Oh, I’m curious; there’s so much new stuff there.’

00:08:53: I only discover that when my mindset is focused on growth – that is, on possibilities. I like the term ‘growth’ in this context, though I always have to take it with a pinch of salt because it’s not about growth in the conventional sense. ‘Growth’ doesn’t just mean expansion; it’s about thinking in terms of possibilities, about openness – perhaps an openness to seeing what might be in there. So, let’s say, my childlike joy of discovery. And I allow myself to ask that question first thing in the morning: What do I feel like doing today? What am I curious about? And what would I like to achieve, experience, or explore? And I communicate that to my colleagues too. As a manager, I am the one who sets this example, who goes through the day full of good cheer and confidence. Even when things aren’t so clear.

00:09:52: I can only agree with that. I always find it helpful to ask myself: What mindset do I want to start the day with? And what is my current mindset? What do I want to set an example of today? What contribution do I want to make? And what do I want to achieve today? That sort of thing. So this: I think beforehand about the mood and mindset with which I’ll start the day, so that my attitude and the energy I radiate spill over to my team, so to speak. I’m not always responsible for keeping the team’s energy levels high. So, I find the image of the campfire quite lovely, so to speak, that we’re all responsible for it. If we imagine we’re all sitting round the campfire, it’s not about just one person always bringing the good cheer and the good atmosphere to the team. It’s simply about the fact that when we’re all together round the campfire, so to speak, and the fire’s already lit – which we’ll assume is the case in most companies, that there’s a good culture and a good atmosphere – that everyone in the team is responsible, from time to time, for throwing a piece of wood – a ‘Scheitel’ in good Styrian – onto the fire, so that the fire and the embers continue to be fuelled and can keep glowing, and the fire can keep burning.

00:11:02: And this space – I am allowed to create this space. So, on the one hand, I create this space by preparing myself for what needs to be done, but also by inviting others to do the same. As you so aptly put it, it’s not just one person who’s in charge. Yes, the clown on duty – hooray, everything’s great today. No, together we create a space in which we enjoy working, in which we enjoy making a difference, in which we enjoy living. I’ll repeat my story once again: there is no work-life balance, there is only a life balance, and work is part of that. And we humans simply function better when our minds are open, when we can be curious, when we can laugh, because then we are in touch with ourselves. And the reason why this is so important is this: there is a wisdom within us, and the world needs this wisdom that we possess, this very deep wisdom. My slogan is ‘Bold, Wise, Brave’ – which I translate as cheeky, wise and courageous. So, feel free to challenge a bit what needs to be done, question the rules from time to time, and then act on that basis.

00:12:12: That doesn’t mean throwing something in someone’s face. It simply means not being unfriendly by being cheeky, but just daring to think differently. Because with what’s coming our way right now, every day is a step along a path we don’t yet know. So I can be the one who leads the way with a machete and clears the path for everyone else. I can also be the one sitting alone on the horse, and the others are welcome to follow me. These, too, are images of leadership that I have encountered before. Or I might say, hey, I’m a leader because, on the one hand, I have the courage; on the other, the wisdom to bring everyone along; and on the third, the audacity to question something at the right moment, or to recognise when someone else does so appropriately.

00:13:05: Yes, I can only agree. I like the idea of being bold in a positive sense – simply questioning old ways of thinking, rethinking things, thinking differently. I also like the idea of being a pioneer – simply daring to try something new and different. And just ask yourself: What leadership style do I embody? What does that look like for me? Am I the one who leads the way and everyone else, so to speak, comes along and follows me, or am I the one who gets everyone on board? ‘Put everybody on your team’, as the saying goes, is one of the greatest leadership tools of all, which all the great leaders of this world have fully recognised for themselves. That means I get everyone on board and I have the opportunity to delegate tasks. I have the opportunity to make it clear what tasks there are within the team and that we are all jointly responsible for achieving our goals and our visions. But that we do all this in an appreciative way, that we make this contribution—which I think we discussed last time on the podcast—what contribution have I made, so to speak, overall for society and for the world?

00:14:25: There’s a management principle I love. It’s simply called management or leadership. Yes, there are plenty of people who confuse the two. I tell myself that it only works when we work together. There’s a part of management that will become smaller. Leadership will grow thanks to AI. This principle is: create spaces where people enjoy being. Create spaces where people enjoy being. If you succeed in that, efficiency is no longer an issue. There is effectiveness, there is joy, and efficiency follows from that. That means we create success. And now we can move on to the next point that is still important to me today: What do I do when it comes to decision-making, and what do I do when it comes to conflict? And for me, decision-making is a management issue that goes hand in hand with leadership. Because how can I make decisions? And here I must be very clear: Which decisions must I make by virtue of my position? I have the power, which means I have the responsibility; I must also bear the consequences, and I do so. I am not in favour of watering down these aspects; I have very little time for that.

00:15:46: I couldn’t agree more. I think certain decisions need to be made by leadership or management. And taking responsibility for them, even in hindsight, whether things go well or not, is a different matter altogether. But I believe that certain decisions can and must be made at precisely this level, because that is exactly what this level is for.

00:16:08: Exactly. And then there are the decisions I have to make with the team. And those are the ones that, of course, directly affect the team – not just in terms of work instructions, but in areas where the team has the expertise. And if I’m so clumsy as not to make those decisions with the team, I’ve only got myself to blame. Well, in Austria, people might say – in a negative way – that you’re being overconfident, because that doesn’t achieve anything. Sometimes you have to be brave and say, ‘I’m going to give it a go; we’ll find out the answer anyway.’ But deciding everything together? No. And if that happens, then there’s the added factor – and we soon enter the conflict-and-fear zone – that as soon as these discussions arise, it pays off as a manager to learn how to lead decision-making processes, that is, to be able to facilitate them. Because if I reach the point where I say, ‘I can only reach a conclusion through a vote’, then I’ve already done something wrong. A vote on these decisions – where the team has the expertise – only makes sense if everyone is in agreement, so that we can really double-check: have we understood each other correctly?

00:17:26: Everything else: If I have 3, 4, 5 out of 15, or even 25, who are against it, then please do one thing: listen to those 3, 4, 5, listen to what resistance they have, and take that on board. Because these people, who – when we have a good mood, a good atmosphere – aren’t against it because they want to undermine us, but because they have a good reason. And hearing that reason, taking that on board, is worth its weight in gold.

00:17:59: Above all, this naturally helps to rebuild a connection with the team, because we all want to be heard. And it’s absolutely vital for restoring a positive atmosphere within the team; particularly when decision-making processes are on the horizon, it’s absolutely vital to have listened to everyone and taken their views into account to some extent. And then, of course, so that you can confidently decide what is the right decision and what isn’t. And yes, to take this a step further, there is fundamentally no right or wrong decision. There is only one decision at that moment. And whether the decision went in the right direction or not, we will most likely only find out the answer in the future.

00:18:42: Exactly, and that’s one way of looking at it. Yes, what’s important in any vote is to realise that even if the result is 40 to 60, you still have 40 opponents on your side, and it makes little sense to have them against you during the working process.

00:18:59: Above all, it won’t be any fun in the future.

00:19:00: Well, that’s exactly the point. So they’re simply working against it. Which means it pays to listen to the objections. Just a quick word on conflict. I think conflict actually deserves its own episode. I like conflict, but I don’t like escalating conflicts. I mean, I don’t like hostility. I also prefer to call it – I prefer to call the whole thing a difference of opinion, because for me, conflict comes later. So just because someone doesn’t agree with me, that doesn’t mean there’s a conflict. What’s important is simply to look at these different perspectives, these different approaches or opinions – aren’t they perhaps an enrichment for the whole?

00:19:43: Absolutely, because it always brings a fresh perspective that I might not have considered myself. New perspectives open up new possibilities, spark new ideas, and more often than not, the people who challenge us the most are the ones who help us grow the most.

00:20:00: And I think, yes, it’s time to call it a night. For me, it’s a glass of champagne, and I’m sure you’ve got something else in mind when it comes to self-leadership, haven’t you?

00:20:11: Sure, of course. I’m certainly not averse to a glass of champagne myself, but having it every evening might not be the best idea. We don’t want to focus on alcoholism here, but I do think it’s lovely to raise a glass of champagne to toast a successful day and celebrate a little. And apart from that, I have a tip – one that applies to me personally, and to many of my clients – that I’d like to share with you. I always find it quite lovely to ask myself three questions in the evening before going to sleep. The first question is: Did I really live today? And if so, how did I live? How can I define that for myself? And what does life actually mean to me? The second question is: How did I love today? Or did I love at all today? Are there people in my life, animals, beings, that I love? Or a job that I love? You’re allowed to love your work, after all. I think the two of us, if I may say so, are among those who love our work too. And what did I achieve today? Is there anything in my life that I’ve made progress with? Have I perhaps been able to sow a seed somewhere that can grow, that I can water and tend to in the future so that it becomes a very strong tree, or perhaps just a kind word to a colleague, perhaps also a smile that I received from my child, or from a stranger on the street, because I perhaps said a kind word to them.

00:21:39: It doesn’t always have to be the big things. With these things, it’s often the many little things that lead to the big ones in our lives.

00:21:47: And with that, we’ll say goodbye for today and look forward to next time, when we’ll be discussing conflict. Sakkotnik and Flucher. Yes, and if you enjoyed this podcast, please help us grow by subscribing and sharing it with someone. We’ve got big plans, and you can book us for talks and workshops, and you can join our Community of Practice. Coming soon here on this channel. Sakkotnik Flucher: Champagne for the soul, clarity for the mind.