Teams & Culture

I help your creative/technical team build a sustainable performance culture, resolve friction and deliver better results.

It can be targeted efforts like lectures or workshops tailored to your current needs. Or more long-term involvement where I help you map out your culture, identify friction and bottlenecks, coach key individuals and work together with your team for a more systemic change.

Illustration of an org chart

What I bring to the table

I spent a big part of my career in creative and technical roles at growing, changing and struggling organisations. It taught me that the difference between struggling and thriving teams is often about nuance in leadership and communication. Having that uncomfortable conversation now, or waiting for the yearly review? Explaining a decision, or not? Allowing yourself to be human, or trying to be perfect?

I put these insights into practice and got to develop my approach at Sweden’s leading visual effects studio, see the case study below.

Most recently I trained as a coach and got even more tools and techniques to better facilitate change.

Services

  • Lectures & workshops
  • Organisational development
  • Leadership training
  • Advising & sparring
  • Coaching
  • Facilitation & conflict resolution
Illustration of tools

What it might look like

01. Start small

Maybe a single lecture or workshop to see if we are a good fit and if I actually connect with your team. It’s all about building trust.

02. Assess the situation

I like to talk to as many people as possible to build up a picture of your culture, your ways of working, what works and what doesn’t. This is also a great opportunity for me to build trust throughout the team and identify allies that people actually listen to.

03. Plan

Together we design a plan for change that everybody can buy into. The nuance of the communication at this stage is extremely important. It needs to make sense to everybody what we want to do, and why.

04. Execute

Workshops and lectures, coaching of key individuals, honest conversations with people who have become bottlenecks but might never have been told how they affect the team. Here I want you involved as much as possible so that after I leave, you naturally sustain all the positive changes and continue the development.

05. Evaluate, adjust, celebrate

We continually evaluate the progress, revise the plan and celebrate the growth of both individuals and team.

My leadership style

I have realised that when I lead with honesty and vulnerability — when I open up first, or when I say “I don’t know” — it’s much easier for others to follow. It’s like a sigh of relief when someone realises that they don’t have to have it all figured out. They can let their guard down. Then you can start talking about the difficult stuff and actually get somewhere. That is how I facilitate change. And it’s perfectly in line with the research on psychological safety and how it is the most important factor if you want a high performing team that can innovate and adapt to change. You have to feel safe enough to try something new, to voice an idea, take on your first leadership role or give critical feedback, even to your boss. That safety is the starting point for growth.

It’s not about protecting people’s feelings though. I care deeply about the people around me, but sometimes you have to have those difficult conversations. And I have learned that the kindest thing I can do is often to have that uncomfortable conversation ASAP. To talk about the elephant in the room and not sugarcoat the necessary feedback. The key is to, at the same time, be there for that person, believe in them and coach them to overcome their challenges.

Handwritten note: You are a good person having a hard time

Case study

Building a sustainable development culture at Sweden’s leading VFX studio

ILP VFX delivers visual effects for some of the biggest movies and TV series in the world, in an industry with high expectations, small margins and tight deadlines. When I came in as their first talent manager for the creative team of about 100 people, there was no development plan in place for either the team or their leaders. The feedback culture was non-existent and many people were struggling.

My main focus was to design and implement a performance management cycle tailored to ILP’s needs and resources, and support and coach line managers and other leaders.

What I did

  • I developed and implemented a full performance management cycle in a team of about 100 people
  • Conducted hundreds of check-ins, performance reviews and coaching sessions with everyone from intern to supervisor
  • Supported and coached 20+ line managers and other leaders
  • Resolved performance issues and conflicts
  • Facilitated important and difficult conversations between managers and their direct reports to align expectations and the company’s interests
  • Partnered with management and HR on people and culture decisions, bringing my perspective from the floor

Results

It was a team effort that, during my 3 years in that role, laid a lot of foundations. 20+ leaders successfully took on more responsibility and helped develop their teams. And the effects of consistent, honest conversations added up to real change in the company culture. We went from a place where people were hesitant to give each other feedback out of fear, to one where constructive feedback was shared willingly and accurately out of care for each other. This wasn’t a result of some abstract policy decision, but of people feeling valued, trusted and cared for in our everyday interactions. Even when I had to let someone go, they thanked me for how it was handled and left with a greater respect for the company.