Interview by etextera about leadership and the world of work

The Swiss agency etextera, agency for text and design interviewed me for their corporate blog.

Enjoy reading!

Project: etextera blog, 7 questions
Interview partner: Gabriela Abado
Publication date: 2022
(English translation from German original)

Category 7 Questions

In the “7 questions” section, we regularly ask interesting people seven questions. We are delighted that you are taking part. The choice is yours:

• Either: You select your seven favorite questions below and answer them.
• Or: You select three or four questions below and define the remaining questions yourself in relation to your core competencies. Important: Your answers should offer the reader added value.

1. If you could turn back the clock: What would you do differently?
I would act more quickly when things go wrong. It takes a lot of strength and energy to hold on to a deadlocked situation. With the same strength and energy, I could have brought about a positive change much earlier. I have learned to trust in my strengths and get help if necessary.

2. How do you go about achieving your professional and private goals?
I ask myself: “What is really important to me?”
Clarity about my motivation helps me to keep going when things get difficult. I have dropped the habit of making strict time and action plans – instead, I pay attention to changes on the road and review and adapt my behavior.

3. When do you get the best ideas?
When I’m alone. For example, when I do nordic walking along the river near my house. Funnily enough, that’s when my thoughts start to run, too. That’s why I also like to go for walks with coachees. That’s when many a knot comes loose.

4. What skills does a manager need to be successful?
Number one: Courage – see yourself as an enabler and supporter. Trusting people and having confidence in them – that motivates them and bundles their strengths.
Number two: Self-reflection – recognizing your own fallibility, allowing other opinions and being willing to learn. This broadens perspectives and promotes innovation.
Number 3: Inspiration and passion – inspiring the team for a common goal and taking them on a journey.

5. Should managers be the coaches of their employees?
A coach is only committed to the coachee. Managers are committed to corporate goals, which could lead to conflicts of interest. What managers need is a coaching mindset, a supportive and appreciative attitude. They should also be familiar with
selected coaching techniques and know when they can use them in collaboration. This helps everyone move forward.

6. How can we learn to deal better with constant change?
People don’t like change. But we can transform our resistance to curiosity. Resisting change takes strength and energy – which we can just as easily put into shaping change. How can we make the best possible use of change? What options do we have? We can deal with change well if we have the feeling that we are self-determined and can act.

7. You were in a top management position. What advice do you have for women to get to the top?
Women need to set themselves clear goals and develop a strategy on how they want to achieve them. They need to become visible. For example, by taking on a difficult task and creating a network. They need to have confidence in themselves, instead of saying “I don’t have the qualifications”, they need to say “I know how to do it.” Also important: endure failure – get up, put the crown back on your head and move on.

About
Gabriela Abado, owner and managing director of Abado Business Coaching

Gabriela Abado has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and is a certified business coach. She founded her company at the beginning of 2019. Abado Business Coaching ( www.abado-coaching.com ) supports professionals and managers to lead themselves and their employees effectively. The focus is on the transformation of leadership in today’s working world.
In her work, Gabriela Abado draws on her extensive coaching knowledge and her international leadership experience with a wide range of people. She offers her services in German and English.

Target group: Managers, professionals, high potentials.
Target area: DACH region and international