Coachingpartner London

18/11/2025

Balancing polarities – the art transformational leadership!
⭐ Monthly leadership development tips #24 ⭐

The core of my work with leaders is working on polarities. When I meet with leaders, I usually challenge them to reflect on the balance between their softer and harder leadership sides.

Most leaders are naturally leaning on either the softer or the harder side of this spectrum.

The softer leaders are typically the servant leaders, the leaders who are the people first, conscious leaders and the ones who like asking many questions and ensuring broad involvement of their team and peers before going into action mode.

Leaders on the harder side of the continuum, on the other hand, like to have control, are driven by action and getting things done, like to get involved in the details of the operations and to give and get feedback from their team frequently.

Leadership growth from my experience is about creating a better equilibrium between these seemingly polar opposites.

👉 The growth and learning journey for leaders who are naturally on the softer side is usually to become slightly more action oriented, setting clearer expectations earlier on, spending more time strategic thinking and giving more training and direct feedback rather than just coaching or mentoring. This will help them be more effective and to better manage colleagues who are less open and less coachable.

👉 Leaders who are naturally more on the harder side, often leaders with an SME (Subject Matter Expertise) background, usually need to learn to step back, hold their horses more, asking another question before taking action, focusing more on listening before acting and giving more trust to their colleagues. This will typically help them balance their driven approach with getting buy-in from their team and ensuring alignment with the goals of the organisation.

My experience as a leadership developer over the past 14 years is the following:
💡 It is in the balancing of seemingly polar opposites that alignment, flow and creativity reach their peak. This is where real growth happens and goals are achieved both professionally and professionally!

So..
If you’re naturally a visionary you might benefit from being more of a realist

If you’re naturally a strategist you might benefit from being more of a pragmatist

And if you’re naturally a technical you might benefit from working more on the softer sides or work and leadership

When leaders get stuck, exploring and being curious about their polar opposites is usually what most effectively can help them learn, grow and unstuck themselves when faced with a challenge.

🥕 Over to you:
1) What are some of your seemingly polar opposites as a leader?
2) How might allowing a small degree of any of these opposites help you with one of your biggest challenges as a leader at the moment?

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲?
You are welcome to book a free 30 min session with me via the link in the comments 👇

13/11/2025

👌

I credit a good deal of my success – not to mention my marriage – to being a good listener. When I’m sitting in a business meeting and someone doesn’t respond to a suggestion I’ve made, I know immediately they disagree… I know this because I use this tactic myself! When it happens, I say, ‘I can tell by the fact you haven’t responded that you see it differently. What do you think?’

Too many people presume they are right, and they don’t listen to other points of view. They speak categorically and then close their ears. This is the most disadvantageous thing you can do for yourself. Some leaders and entrepreneurs surround themselves with brilliant people and then ignore them. Most people who behave in this autocratic way get their comeuppance. You need to be a genius, like Steve Jobs, for that to work. I know I am not better than anyone else, and so I take a different road!

29/10/2025

What are you definitely not as a leader and how might that be an area of growth for you?

⚖️A lot of my work in leadership development revolves around balance. Balance between harder and softer sides of leadership. Between masculine and feminine. Between the leader and the boss, the micromanager and the coach.

No matter the situation leaders are faced with, a balanced approach is usually required. This balance will be different for each situation, context and industry and will to a large extent be shaped by expectations within their environment.

The important thing is to reflect on what this balance ideally should be for you as a leader, and to assess where your balance is currently at and what could do to strengthen it.

👉During my 14 years in leadership development work I have observed the following: It is the contrasting characteristics within us that creates balance. Exploring and working with these contrasts, create better and more resilient leaders, more effective relationship builders, better problem solvers and better strategists.

Take a look at this list of personal and leadership characteristics:
Trusting - Controlling
Realistic - Intuitive
Authoritative - Inclusive
Open - Closed
Confident - Insecure
Intelligent – Stupid

👉 We often think that these qualities can´t coexist. But what if they can?
What if a little bit of stupidity is what turns intelligence into wisdom - daring not to know and asking a ´stupid´ question can often bring more knowledge and understanding to the table.

Or take my client “Andy” as another example. As an experienced leader he had strong beliefs about the importance of showing up confident and in control as a leader.
One of the key topics he wanted to work on was building stronger relationships and trust with his peers.
I asked him what this opposite of confident and in control would be, to which he responded insecure and vulnerable.
I then asked him to reflect on how it might be good for him to be somewhat more insecure and vulnerable in his role, and in particular with his peers?
He could not see much value in that.
I then asked him – ´how about friends and colleagues you get along with at work or outside, what can sometimes be the value of being insecure and vulnerable? ´
He instantly answered that it helps to build stronger trust and connection.
And there he had his answer.

🥕 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂:
- Think about one of your core strengths as a leader. What is the opposite of this strength?
- Think about one of the biggest challenges you are facing as a leader at the moment. Could it be that allowing somewhat more of this characteristic could help you with this challenge right now?

𝗪𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲?
You are welcome to book a free 30 min session with me via the link in the comments 👇

31/07/2025

The cost of success
- are you growing people in your team?
Reflections after having worked with truly inspiring leaders who are leveling up their game 💪🚀🕺🏼💃

04/06/2025

It´s been a while since I shared actively here so I wanted to take the opportunity to present myself to new followers on this page.

I’ve always had a big passion for collaboration and teamwork. This has been the case ever since Primary school where our innovative teachers organised the majority of our classes as group and team work. I learned from a very early age that through great teamwork you learn so much more and also have a lot more fun.

In my studies, marketing and leadership were my passion topics.
My first role as a leader was at Statoil ASA (now Equinor) where I was head of research for a big international rebranding project for the company. I got the chance to lead a team of internal peers as well as many external agencies across key markets internationally.

Early on in this role I was keen to learn more about how to best motivate my team as a leader. I took a course in team and leadership coaching in Norway and was amazed by how well the team responded to some of the key principles and techniques I applied. I could literally see the team rolling up their sleeves, step up their game and also challenge me back more.

After 3 years at Statoil ASA I was at a cross road. I was 31, single and felt like now was the time to try something new and completely different.

And after thinking long and hard I took the difficult decision of leaving a good corporate role and jump into starting my own team, leadership and coaching practice back in 2011.

The first couple of years I was running on a lot of passion and excitement for my new work, but I really missed having close colleagues to collaborate and spar with. That’s when I started coachingpartner 13 years ago. I have collaborated with more than 15 team and leadership coaches over the years and still collaborate with some of these today.

Looking back it has certainly been very challenging setting up a small business and make it sustainable. We have had many wins and also many losses on the way. But 14 years later we are still going strong! 💪

In addition to working with teams I have also developed a big passion for self learning. I’ve had a lot of coaching and therapy over the years and also attended many courses within the personal development domain.

Today I love running courses in leadership revolving around self leadership, balance and leadership styles. And my passion for working with teams remains just as strong.

It’s amazing to see what happens with teams when they get to know each other a lot better, have fun and connect in a deeper way. The insights, motivation and drive help the team to design a stronger team unit that works a lot better towards their goals and ambitions.

If you are an experienced leader wanting to level up your leadership or a professional who aim to step into a leadership role in the future, do get in touch with me here or via our website and you can try a free coaching session with me and I can tell you more about my work.

And if you are a team leader who want to do something for your team, have fun, learn more and take your work to the next level - get in touch and I would love to tell you about proven ways that you as a team leader can build a new and stronger culture and performance in your leadership group, team or department.

Warm regards,
Vegard Olsen,
Founder of Coachingpartner London

23/04/2025

𝗖𝗢𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗘𝗧 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗘

Dear all Coachingpartner London followers, , I hope you all enjoying the wonderful energy of spring which lift us, challenges us to let go of what no longer serves us and encourages us to embrace new beginnings.

At coachingpartner we support people in taking their career to the next level by gaining clarity of career direction and designing a career in alignment with who they truly are.

We also work with leaders and small businesses to help them reconnect with their purpose, gain clarity of vision and help them take their work and business to the next level.

This month we invite you to take our 𝗖𝗢𝗔𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗡𝗘𝗥 𝗦𝗣𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗦𝗘𝗧 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗡𝗚𝗘 to elevate yourself and support the energy of spring to work its magic on you.

Please do share with colleagues and friends. The more people who are inspired, energised and lifted, the better!

Here´s your mindset challenge consisting of powerful 3 reflection exercises:

Find a quite space with a notebook or ´notes´ on your phone and reflect on the following:
1 - What am I not allowing myself to let go of as a leader and person right now, that if I did would make a big difference?
Keep probing by asking yourself ´and what else´ until nothing more comes up for you

2 - What am I not allowing myself to embrace as a person and leader right now, that if I did, would make a huge difference?
Again, keep probing and asking yourself ´and what else´ until nothing more comes up for you

3 - Which new behaviours or practices can you implement based on insight from 1) or 2) in your work of life this week or next week?

We would love to hear from you - you are welcome to share any insights, reflections or committed new actions in the comments below 👇

𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡!

26/02/2025

It will be so good once we get there!
But where is ´𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚´, really?

One of the things that keep astounding me in my work is the power of intention and goals.
But not just any intention and goals. Good and clear intention and goals. Where we really know where we are trying to get to, and where we can clearly understand that we have reached the target once we get there.

There are many great powers of the facilitation skills that great coaching and mentoring represent. One of the biggest ones is leveraging the powers of intentions and goals.

✅ Early in engagement, after we´ve explored and identified some key topics of interest for the leader or team, often 2 or 3 topics, I ask them
- 𝘀𝗼 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝗼𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲?

✅ We often spend a full session describing this in detail. What is truly the evidence of ´getting there´? What is the feeling of it, and what is different in real life once you have made great progress with this topic. What´s the smell, the sensation, how does it look different, how do others notice it? What´s the measurable change?

The more details and the more clearly we can describe this, the better.

✅ I often say that good goals are half the job done. And a good long paragraph or two to describe your goal is a good start to achieving that.

💡 The mind has an incredible ability to organise itself towards where we want to get to once we are clear about that.
Just like when you want to buy a new car, or if you just bought one. Now, all of a sudden, you are seeing it everywhere. Before you didn´t even noticed the car or very seldom. Now it´s literally on every street corner.

This is the power of setting clear goals.
💡 We start to notice the people, resources and knowledge that can help us towards it - literally on every street corner!

And this is truly the power of well designed goals.

🥕 Over to you:
- What is one topic you want to improve significantly on as leader this year?
- What would be a good evidence of significant growth within this area for you at the end of this year? What would it feel like, look like, how would behaviours be different and how would others notice it (quantify in numbers if you can)?
- Where are you currently at with this goal on a scale from 1 to 10
- And where would you like to be end of this year?
Focus on a realistic but stretched target for yourself at the end of this year
You can also reflect on the key milestone that will help you get there and the first microstep you can take this week to move towards this



📸 Picture: From a funky hair day at Waterloo bridge, London

04/02/2025

New year and time for a vision/strategy refresh for your work or business?

Happy new year dear followers. I hope the new year has started well for you.

At the start of a new year many leaders, founders and entrepreneurs realize it’s time for a change. In weeks 3-5 of a new year reality can often hit hard. New year, but the business or work is facing the same problems, whether it´s lack or clients, unstable income, too long working hours or a lack of vision for their leadership learning journey and career going forward.

Although these problems are hard to face they also represent an opportunity. It’s the future knocking on the door and saying it’a time for a change. It’s time to make some meaningful changes.

I’ve been there myself on several occasions. And what helped me every time to find a new and and better direction was sparring with a good coach, mentor and good colleagues to gain stronger clarity of my current problems and desires, and reflect on how I can start to carve out a new and better path for my work, one step at a time.

I have 14 years´ experience as a team, leadership and career coach and have supported many people in their growth journeys and many entrepreneurs to make meaningful changes to improve their business and work.

👉 I´ve got some available capacity in February and offer a free coaching sessions for 3 new or previous clients. Comment with ´Yes please´ in the comment and you will be in the draw for one of these sessions. You can also DM us or send an email to [email protected].

I look forward to connecting with some of you and hope to inspire you to make 2025 a game changing year for your leadership, work and business!

14/05/2024

👉 Dealing with barrieres to growth

Important decisions are often difficult decisions. And important and difficult decisions are often the key to overcoming barriers to growth.

We all face them. People, situations, topics or events that hinder us from growing. Events that stop us, hold us back and do not allow for us to move forward with something that is truly important to us as leaders or as entrepreneurs.

I’ve talked about the importance of leaders learning to be comfortable being uncomfortable on several occasions.
This is a crucial muscle for leaders to develop, and is an integral part of leadership and self leadership.

When you are faced with that draining situation or relation which time and time again gets in the way of you growing in your work, you are left with a choice. Either you can continue doing as you usually are, or you can make the decision to start taking some form of new action.

💡 The questions is how long are you going to wait until you start doing so?

The leaders I coach often bring up obvious problems in their team or department.
People not treating each other with the respect they deserve, or not taking any responsibilities outside of their immediate tasks.

Yes, it’s uncomfortable addressing it. But it is so much more uncomfortable NOT doing so.

Not dealing with it, means it’s uncomfortable AND you feel drained, loose spirit and muscle.
Dealing with it, means you still feel uncomfortable, but now you are taking measure. You are saying to yourself ´enough if enough´ and ´time to draw the line´. You are deciding to respect yourself, trust your instinct and do what´s right, even if it's difficult. And that has huge value in and off itself.
It nurtures self respect and lifts your spirit, even if the situation is still difficult to address.

Preparing well is a key factor to facing the barrier successfully. In coaching, we usually talk through the different ways you can address the topic, any fears or worries you have and how they can best be managed, and setting clear intention for how you want to address the situation.

And when the leaders I speak to put this into practice, it works every time. The team respect the leader for calling out the clear and obvious. And the leader is reminded they have the authority, power and skills to step into the courage of their leadership.

🥕 Over to you:
- What is one recurring draining topic or situation in your work or life which negatively impacts your growth as a leader or entrepreneur?
- What is one step you can take to address this, without having to do it all in one go?
- Who can you speak to, or what can you do to prepare in the best possible way and bring clarity and confidence before addressing the situation?

10/04/2024

👉 The money purpose balance

- Weekly leadership development tips #15
by Vegard Olsen -

Money without purpose is a struggle.
Purpose without money is a struggle.
Balancing the two is an art!

From my experience, both personally and working with clients, this is at the core of many career and leadership journeys.

There is not a leader I’ve worked with that does not want to have an impact of some sort. Whether that’s an immediate impact in terms of working with certain projects or their team, or a larger purpose and impact of their work on the market place.

Also, there is not a leader I’ve worked with, being it purpose driven entrepreneurs or leaders in multinational companies, that does not want to have the financial fairness and freedom that allows them go on exciting holidays or invest in themselves, their families, their hobbies and their homes in some ways.

These are human core needs in the world we live in. And balancing the two is an art.

Many social entrepreneurs and purpose driven leaders I’ve worked with go too far down the ideal and mission driven routes which can have huge costs for themselves health and stress wise, as well as material, security and stability wise.

And many of the senior leaders in bigger businesses I’ve worked with are at the other side of the spectrum. Many are so driven by promotions, titles and financial gains that they lose themselves in an overload of work and forget why they studied and worked with what they do to start with.

Personally I’ve been on both sides of the spectrum and I am still learning about and working hard to integrate and balance these two every day.

I’ve had to learn the hard way that a nobel and inspiring vision is great and can attract attention and collaborations but without a real end product that’s not too far down the line, the great vision can be very hard to create in real life.

I’ve also had big salaries and everything I wanted but felt empty at times in my corporate career.

I’ve had to take action. I’ve had to grow as a leader and person to create a better balance.

I used to be predominantly basing my work in my strengths as a visionary and good communicator. Now I’m as much basing it on structure and details, which used to be my weaknesses. I’ve become a more balanced version of myself and today I’m as attracted by realism as I am by vision. This did not use to be the case, and learning and integrating this has been a very difficult journey.

From working with many leaders, I’ve seen that balance is key to resolving a lot of the initially mentioned struggles.

🥕 Over to you:
- What’s been the learnings or behaviour changes that has contributed a better purpose money balance in your career and life?
- What's the most important aspect you can focus on to strengthen your own money purpose balance over the next 12-36 months?