Consumers' Tribune Interview

How was the pandemic seen from a coach's perspective? What was reset and what remained the same, at the enterprise, societal, and individual levels?

There are many aspects that raise questions about how the mysterious virus emerged, how the pandemic was declared, and what treatment protocols were used. To name a few: the emergence of the virus, its spread, the redefinition of the definition of the pandemic by the WHO in the year before its outbreak, the management of the global medical crisis, the imposition of general solutions of the "same measure for everyone" / "one size fits all" type, medical solutions not tested on humans, the imposition of mandatory treatments by politicians, the restriction of fundamental human freedoms regarding free will - how you manage your own health, what you put or not into your body, the conditioning of access to basic social and medical services, including the right to work, the right to travel - on the acceptance of the imposed treatment, the restriction of freedom of expression, these and many other aspects or regulations in the last two years have been at least suspicious in that they were not subject to public debate, were treated globally, non-transparently, with abusive impositions and coercive measures against their own citizens.

This has led to different interpretations and social polarization. The radicalization of political, public, official discourse has led to the radicalization of the individual's response, to an even greater decrease in trust in authorities, government, state, international and global organizations.

All social entities have been attacked and affected, down to the most fundamental ones: the community, the company, the family, the couple, the individual.

There are many questions that continue to arise: why this approach? Who does it benefit? Among those who have lost enormously in this crisis, who are the winners?

We live in an era where for the first time in world history we speak a common language almost all over the globe: capitalism. That is, measuring the performance of countries, companies, individuals through money. Natural selection is based on profitable, meaning winner or survivor, and unprofitable, meaning loser or eliminated.

When you follow the money circuit, the transfer of individual, entrepreneurial, corporate, national wealth, the weakening of state sovereignty and the transfer of wealth and power to global organizations, you begin to have another perspective that is not favorable to the European, Western, democratic way of life that Romanians have tasted in the last 30 years and other European and Western countries have been practicing for several decades.

People are bombarded more than ever by information, emergencies, medical, economic, food crises, and war.

Stress and mental illness have never been at higher levels.

Man is a social individual. Long-term isolation or marginalization leads to alienation.

We need to keep our interpersonal relationships alive, healthy, real, face to face. And that is why there is a great need for working with the self of each of us: so that each of us can understand and accept himself first, to find his inner voice, his authenticity, and only then be able to develop authentic relationships with others.

 

What is your greatest asset as a coach?

As a coach but as a person who believes in free will, in fundamental freedoms, in human rights, I have these benchmarks that I try to keep for myself, for my family, and for the people I work with: to sharpen our critical thinking, to have the courage to think and express ourselves freely, to preserve our humanity, the trinity of body-mind-soul.

My strengths are also my beliefs: inner alignment, what you think, what you feel, what you say, what you do.

To be that man who "walks his talk" who does what he preaches: authenticity, life experience, corporate career, entrepreneurship, credibility that in addition to theory, I have applied and experienced the situations and concepts that I pass on.

 

What are people missing the most right now?

People think they need security. They just look for it in the wrong places.

The general axiom we live by is: the only constant is change.

In the current situation where circumstances are changing, where external pressure and lack of predictability are increasing, it is no longer the time to live externally, to relate to standards imposed by others. I believe that either you learn to know who you really are and anchor yourself in your authentic self, from there you can grow and develop competencies specific to your uniqueness, your inner truth, or you get lost in the mirage and quicksand of external circumstances that have become more acute in the last two years.

I believe that working with oneself is no longer in the category of "nice to do" but in the category of "absolutely necessary to hope for balance and a fulfilled life." You find security within and from there you can build bridges based on shared values with other people.

 

Can any coach solve any problem for anyone, or is some affinity with either the client or the problem needed?

Coaching is about training and focusing on the person. You train the person to become aware and find the most suitable methods for managing their problems.

As a coach, I help people (re)find their values, needs, the intersection between them, to (re)define their vision, mission, personal purpose, to set goals congruent with them, to make action plans and to identify realistic methods to achieve their goals. In addition, I work with people who believe in family, in the right and privilege of bringing children into the world. They want harmonious relationships as a couple, in the family. They are interested in having functional or even good relationships at work, in their career.

Team and leadership coaching is similar: teams can increase performance through a different positioning, in which trust is worked on between team members as well as between them and their managers.

So, yes, I think we need to have some elements of connection, of affinity, common values so that we can resonate well together, to be able to build a relationship of trust. Coaching is a relationship based on trust. And trust is built with openness, truth, demonstrated experience and competence, responsibility, empathy, affinity.