Why am I a coach?

I am a teacher at heart, and this has come out in every job I have ever had. I first realized my passion for teaching in high school as a ski and whitewater kayak instructor, as well as math tutor. This continued into university and when I started working as an Applications Engineer at NI I transitioned to teaching programming to professionals and communication to my colleagues. When I moved to Stockholm to become a manager my focus shifted to teaching Emotional Intelligence along with communication. The challenge of finding a new way to explain a concept that resonates with someone is what motivates me and how I learn best.

In my years as an engineering manager the main focus I had was on the Emotional Intelligence of my employees. I see this as one of my callings as the difference that focusing on Emotional Intelligence made on their performance and job satisfaction was clear. Since my time as a manager I have found emotional intelligence concepts in everything I have done. I teach these concepts in a way that is both understandable and applicable. 

In my 15+ years of guiding and instructing outdoor activities seeing people being pushed and challenging themselves in outdoor activities has been a common occurrence. The emotion someone is feeling while skiing down moguls or rafting down a difficult rapid is clear, and the importance of that emotion can’t be overstated. This is the case in an extreme sport as it is in communicating with colleagues. Managing those emotions in a healthy productive way involves first understanding them. This is something that I can help with.