Thought Leadership
Being at Full Potential: renewing a father – son relationship at the Berlin Marathon
As the founder of a company called Being at Full Potential, part of my job description is to keep stretching myself in new ways, embrace challenges, and continuously strive to unlock more of my own potential. Earlier this year, I embarked on such a journey when I...
Inner Development Goals: To measure or not to measure?
The dilemma: In our quest to drive adoption of Inner Development Goals in organizations, there exists a paradox that lies at the heart of our efforts: On the one hand, IDGs exist to focus organizational attention on deeper human qualities such as compassion,...
5 ways to explain the gap in employee well-being
Conflicting data: A recent Deloitte workplace well-being survey has revealed a puzzling gap in how employees and executives see well-being. According to the results of this study, employees feel a standstill or decline, while executives believe they've boosted...
Retrospective – Conversations that Matter
Time for a retrospective. One year ago we kicked off an initiative called “Conversations That Matter”. The intention was to create an open space, every two weeks, where we could explore one of the dimensions of the Human Potential House framework. To navigate through...
Evidence-Based Strategies for Maximizing Human Potential
Choosing the path of Human Potential Realization can be daunting for many organizations. It requires a deep trust in the resourcefulness of people and belief that fulfillment at work is the key to the long term success of an organization. Here is evidence that...
Being Human at Work: Harnessing the Power of Emotions to Drive Employee Engagement
In the previous blog we spoke about the significant ROI boost companies can get by improving employee engagement. In this article we address the following questions to help us better understand the power of emotions to drive engagement at work. Ever wondered what...
The ROI of boosting Employee Engagement
ROI of boosting employee engagement has become an increasingly important metric in recent years, with a significant rise in global searches for the term on Google Trends since 2009. It’s fair to assume that a happy employee will also be a productive one, but...
Countering the threat of AI: Being fully HUMAN is the next competitive advantage
Just a few years ago, it would have been hard to imagine how quickly Artificial Intelligence (AI) could become part of our lives. Now we see rapid adoption of tools like Chat GPT, DALL-E and many more. The power of these tools is undeniable. They are competing with...
Improving Employee Experience through Workplace Actualization
HR leaders are increasingly talking about the importance of Employee Experience as the key to organizational breakthroughs. According to a recent Gartner study, it is the 3rd priority after Leader & Manager Effectiveness and Change Readiness. Placing the...
Learning to listen in the age of decentralized governance
Everywhere we look legacy systems are breaking down. Banks are collapsing, governments no longer represent the best interest of their people and trusted institutions have lost much of their credibility. At the same time, powerful AI has officially entered our...
Decentralization, Blockchain & Human Potential Realization
Charles Hoskinson, founder of Input Output (IOHK) and the Cardano Blockchain, often speaks of the inner work he does to stay centered and open to growth (vipassana meditation, fasting, even his podcasts have a therapeutic feel to them as they give him the opportunity...
6 Organizational Performance Metrics brought to life
As a business leader, you are no doubt very focused on impacting the 6 Organizational Performance Metrics at the top of the iceberg below. But when is the last time you paused to consider the "underlying assumptions", or the deeper human qualities that are influencing...
Is our approach to Human Potential Development scientifically validated?
As more and more people are starting to realize that Inner Development & growth is a pre-requisite to achieving the change we want to see in the outside world (for example Sustainable Development Goals), our work at BEING at Full Potential is becoming increasingly...
2 compelling Leadership Methods to Future Proof Your Company
In this unpredictable world, business leaders who want to future proof their company must adopt new strategies and become agile to stay on top of their game. According to a global management consultancy group, many organisations are too bureaucratic, too slow, and too...
23 ways to express your Human Potential
Over the past months I have shared little stories to highlight the human qualities that I deeply appreciate in the people I work with. Each of these stories represents one dimension, or "brick" of the Human Potential House illustrated below. Brought together, this...
Reflections on 2021
To set the tone at the beginning of 2021 I picked the card: “Holding space in the eye of the storm” (from the Be the Change card deck of Vanessa Jane Smith). In the description it says: “Breathe and stay right here! Sink your feet into the ground and hold a big...
3 steps to embedding the cultural dimension in the M&A due diligence process
When thinking about due diligence in the context of Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A’s), most of the emphasis is on the financial, IP and legal aspects of the deal. Interestingly, the cultural dimension, which is well understood to be the key success factor in...
Organizational Change Management: A Definitive Guide
According to the business dictionary, organizational change is "involving a modification in the way an organization is structured, managed, and directed. It refers to the efforts of an organization to alter conditions, procedures, and policies to achieve a different...
4 Types of Organizational Change
Organizational change can be a tough nut to crack. Approaches might differ from business to business, but the main fundamentals will remain the same. This blog will take a look at the different types of organizational change and how they might apply to your business....
5 stages of Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) consciousness
A unifying approach to Diversity Equity and Inclusion Two-thirds of the 10,000 leaders surveyed as part of Deloitte’s 2017 Global Human Capital Trends report cited diversity equity and inclusion as “important” or “very important” to business. However, it is also a...
3 impactful ways to develop human potential for disruptive innovation
Most marketeers agree that a genuine insight into their customer can unlock disruptive innovation and infuse new life into their brands. It’s no surprise therefore that vast amounts of money are being spent to unveil these precious truths that have the ability to make...
The world is VUCA – Do we compete with it or collaborate with it?
A few weeks ago, I was catching up with some old colleagues from my Market Research days. As we were sharing stories, I was reminded of the brilliant minds I used to work with. Market Researchers are naturally drawn to asking lots of questions, understanding why...
Transformational Leaders in Transformational Times webinar series – A harvest of deeper insights
2020 has been a year of pausing, letting go, reflecting, listening, renewing, and recommitting. In many ways this year has been about laying the foundations for the tremendous opportunities emerging on the horizon. The webinar series that we organized at the end of...
Human Potential based restructuring at Omega HMS
In early 2017, Omega Healthcare Management Services, a global leader in business outsourcing for healthcare service providers, underwent a restructuring aimed at further strengthening their number one corporate value: CUSTOMER SERVICE. As a result of putting the...
To re-enter, or not to re-enter, the workforce?
Recently, I have opened up again to the possibility of joining the workforce. For the first time in 10 years I am scanning the jobs section of LinkedIn, curious about the kinds of positions companies are looking for these days. I also dug up my old CV and started...
The business case for BEING
Clients and prospects, rightfully, will always ask the question: “how does an investment in the "BEING" impact the performance of my organization”? I have often wished there was an easy way to answer this. I have tried using the C.A.R (context, action, result) model...
Impact at individual level – an inspiring story by Marta Seweryn
My name is Marta Seweryn, I am working in the Marketing industry for more than 10 years and currently managing the European Events Team for an American based company, called National Instruments. I have just had my first professional coaching sessions with Agnes Vad...
Human Potential Methodology for organizational transformation
The following is an edited transcript of a conversation between Sujith Ravindran, Mark Vandeneijnde and Geoff Swannell on the Human Potential Method, a unique methodology for helping organizations, teams and individuals to recognize and achieve their highest...
Human Potential Realization. A £400M opportunity…If only we can align what we KNOW with what we DO
Have you ever wondered…What makes a great organizational culture? How culture impacts and influences organizational performance? Why so many attempts to create great cultures fail? What we can do to approach culture change in a more sustainable way? “I came to...
Human Potential Realization starts at home – Part 2
Whenever I feel stuck, I eventually realize (sometimes faster than others) that a shift is needed. I have learnt that this requires active engagement in the tension - a stepping into of sorts - rather than just getting on with my life and hoping one day I will wake up...
Human Potential Realization starts at home – Part 1
My 13 year old daughter, Audrey, is the most social one in the family. She thrives whenever we have guests over and like all good hosts she will start with a tour around the house. Invariably the first room that gets proudly shown is her bedroom. It's well kept and...
Impact at team level – the day our CTO faded away
A CTO is a Chief Technology Officer. In our case this was a young brilliant systems engineer in India named Nikhil. He single-handedly built the entire backend system that supports the infrastructure to administer and manage our Human Potential assessment products and...
Leadership Development Is A $366 Billion Industry: Here’s Why Most Programs Don’t Work – by Chris Westfall
According to data from the Chief Learning Officer Business Intelligence Board, nearly 95% of learning organizations either plan to increase or maintain their current investment in leadership development. Meanwhile, TrainingIndustry.com says that leadership training is...
Back to HOME Base – a coaching best practice written by Mirjana Power
As a “Being at Full Potential” coach I have come to really treasure the possibilities that the so called “house” within the assessment report offers for the coach, the coachee and the coaching itself. No matter what we build, we need a solid foundation. Even a tree...
Evolving and Elevating Leadership Consciousness
Context The Consciousness which perceives the world is one with the Reality of the world. Consciousness and reality are one.[1] We construct our own reality - everything in our world is self created.[2] Timeless leaders free the confines of their consciousness and...
Employability and Future of Work – Our unique vision and solutions for policy makers and leaders
CONTEXT There was a time when completing a degree or certificate (also known as a "Hard Skill"), like speaking a foreign language, typing 80 words / minute, operating a machine or programming computers, was sufficient to find good employment and earn a decent...
Synchronizing inner and outer worlds unleashes potential!
On May 13th and 14th I was in London for the kick off of a new experiment with one of our closest clients (Thornton's Budgens). They are a mid-sized, independent supermarket in North London owned by a fellow visionary (Andrew Thornton) who for many years now has put...
OD work is in breakdown…HUMAN POTENTIAL realization is the next breakthrough
The purpose of this article is to, Shed light on why employee engagement is at an all-time low despite record amounts of money being spent on OD (Organization Development) Offer a concrete alternative to the status quo (unleashing greater levels of Human Potential...
ACCESSING HIGHER STATES OF AWARENESS: THE NEXT PARADIGM OF INNOVATION
(credit for this work/model goes to Mark Vandeneijnde, John H Van Drie and numerous scientific and mystical experts who have contributed) Innovation has become one of the biggest priorities for organizations today. According to a recent study by PWC, the most...
Conscious Culture presentation
Everyone has the power to affect the direction of an organization Presentation by Annelieke Verkerk (BEING AT Full Potential) at the 19th International Conference on Knowledge, Culture, and Change in Organizations, University of British Columbia, Vancouver 21 -22...
AI = Artificial Intelligence or Awareness Intelligence?
The topic of Artificial Intelligence has been on my mind lately. It seems to be coming whether we like it or not. Therefore it's no surprise that many people are asking themselves if it will have a positive or negative impact on humanity. The more I read about it, and...
Creating Conscious Culture – Part 3
Have you ever wondered...What makes a great organizational culture? How culture impacts and influences organizational performance? Why so many attempts to create great cultures fail? What we can do to approach culture change in a more sustainable way? Thank you for...
Creating Conscious Culture – Part 2
Have you ever wondered...What makes a great organizational culture? How culture impacts and influences organizational performance? Why so many attempts to create great cultures fail? What we can do to approach culture change in a more sustainable way? Our partner in...
Creating Conscious Culture – Part 1
Have you ever wondered...What makes a great organizational culture? How culture impacts and influences organizational performance? Why so many attempts to create great cultures fail? What we can do to approach culture change in a more sustainable way? Our partner in...
Human Potential Realization: Igniting employee happiness AND unlocking business performance
This article is a must read for all employers looking for the next breakthrough in organizational performance. It lays out the challenges we face in today's organizational world and provides scientific proof that Human Potential Realization is the key to create...
Shifting innovation from OUTSIDE-IN to INSIDE-OUT. A coaching perspective by Fabio Salvadori
We live in a small and diverse world made of more than 7 billion human beings. The world population quadrupled in the 20th century, and it has doubled in the last 40 years. We are also more connected than ever. People, things and ideas move around the world with an...
Creating transformational spaces within the business context – 5 Lessons
More than ever the time is ripe to bring greater focus to the deeper human drivers of performance and create the conditions for the Human Spirit to come back alive in the work context. The Human Potential Assessment Tool and the accompanying Discovery workshops are...
The gift of Self Compassion, by Mirjana Power
“Self-awareness and self-love matter. Who we are is how we lead.” (Brené Brown, dare to lead). I would like to add to that: Self-compassion matters. Leading from the heart matters. Connecting our mind and heart to work as a team matters. How we show up with ourselves...
5 keys to a successful google team
Much of the work done at Google, and in many organizations, is done collaboratively by teams. The team is the molecular unit where real production happens, where innovative ideas are conceived and tested, and where employees experience most of their work. But it’s...
Daring greatly in the classroom
What I learnt from saying ‘I don’t know’ , ‘I got that wrong, let’s start again’. There is such an expectation that as the teacher we should either know the answer, or where to get it – as if we are a walking Wikipedia. The need to know shapes how we talk with kids...
THE UN-SUSTAINABILITY OF SUSTAINABILITY DEPARTMENTS – An invitation to redefine the role of change-agents and game-changers within organizations
I've been reflecting on the meaning and purpose of sustainability departments and have come to the conclusion that there is a great opportunity to evolve – and step-change – the role it plays in the organizational context. In business we come across several different...
Lessons in THRIVE-Ability from the French countryside
The theme of sustainability continues to show up in interesting ways. A few weeks ago it was the word itself (sustain-ability) that triggered a reflection. It seemed odd that we would want to “sustain” an economic and social environment when the status quo is proving...
From Sustainability to Thrive-Ability – PART 3: HOW to build a Thrive-Able organization
In this 3-part series we share the insights that emerged from our Human Potential Summit in September. During these two and a half days, 20 visionary change-makers came together to look at the theme of SUSTAINABILITY through fresh eyes. We took an honest look at the...
From Sustainability to Thrive-Ability – PART 2: WHY is this transition so important and WHAT does it look like
In this 3-part series we share the insights that emerged from our Human Potential Summit in September. During these two and a half days, 20 visionary change-makers came together to look at the theme of SUSTAINABILITY through fresh eyes. We took an honest look at the...
From Sustainability to Thrive-Ability – PART 1: ASSESSING THE SUSTAINABILITY LANDSCAPE by Harmen van Dijk, Marie Josee Smulders and Mark Vandeneijnde
In this 3-part series we share the insights that emerged from our Human Potential Summit in September. During these two and a half days, 20 visionary change-makers came together to look at the theme of SUSTAINABILITY through fresh eyes. We took an honest look at the...
Unleashing self leadership in a North London supermarket
In this case study you will discover how a London-based supermarket, Thornton’s Budgens, took significant steps to realise more of the Human Potential of its organisation and as a result created a breakthrough in business performance. You will also learn that these...
ACCESSING INNOVATION THE HUMAN POTENTIAL WAY
The other day I was speaking with a friend about the upcoming Summit for Human Potential Realization that we are organising around the theme of innovation. I was explaining to her how unlocking true breakthrough innovation, the kind that significantly improves our...
THE FOUR LEVERS FOR SHIFTING MINDSET: Why Diversity is Important and How to Use the Four Levers to Build Diversity
Diversity is a social and natural imperative for any organization. It is the law of nature. Any entity that does not reflect the diversity of the ecosystem it exists within will become replaced by another that better matches the diversity of the larger system. It is...
ACCESSING THE INNER VOICE AND LETTING IT SPEAK THROUGH YOU – by Marie Josee Smulders
From 5-8th of february I was in India joining the CIB conference. 150 people from all of the world were exchanging their experiences as change agents, listening to their inner voice and taking action in practical ways. There were great speakers from Africa, Great...
Insights from India and the Summit for Human Potential Realization, by Marie Josee Smulders
I have recently returned from a deeply personal and transformative experience in India. Reflecting back on these 2 weeks I realize there are many new insights that I have gained, some of which I would like to share with you in the following article. Pre-India When I...
Increasing the ‘meaning quotient’ of work By Susie Cranston and Scott Keller
Through a few simple techniques, executives can boost workplace “MQ” and inspire employees to perform at their peak. Musicians talk about being “in the groove,” sportsmen about being “in the zone.” Can employees in the workplace experience similar performance peaks...
How to Create an Exponential Mindset, Mark Bonchek for HBR
Digital business models are a bit of a misnomer. It’s not digital technology that defines them; it’s their ability to create exponential value. The music and video industries, for example, weren’t redefined by converting analog to digital formats. Just ask Sony...
Why HR departments should take a cue from extreme adventure sports to help employees become more productive.
Know that sensation when you’re working out or cranking on a project, and time starts to pass quickly, distractions melt away, and you feel like you’re in the zone? It’s a real biological process, with a large and growing body of research dedicated to figuring it out...
Leading Evolutionary Change in Organizations through HUMAN POTENTIAL Realization
Many organizations today are stretched to their limits trying to keep up with the changing landscape – one that is growing in complexity, driven by technological advancements, disruptive technologies and social connectivity. There is a need for more effective ways of...
How to keep the heart of your business alive: Seven lessons in the past three years
Three years ago I left a good position in a well established company to follow an ambitious dream. At the time I formulated it something like this: “I will open minds and hearts to help create new possibilities and hope. I will facilitate the discovery of a better...