💬 "𝗛𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆!" - Bam!
That was just one of the powerful quotes from yesterday's BERlean IN Circle event on 𝗠𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗲𝗴𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀.
I still cannot find the right words to capture the magic of the evening and the incredible quartet on stage! Let me at least summarize my learnings from our amazing speakers:
🔸 Ebony Simone Morczinek, CFO at Blacklane
"Everything in life starts with a thought. Our thoughts create this reality. So please envision your future. And think big in numbers." For Ebony, it’s 10 million. Her presence transforms every room into a cathedral. She embodies what it means to deserve space and be confident. Her biggest advice still gives me goosebumps: "Know your trauma before you enter a negotiation!"
🔸 Dr. Martina Pesic, Negotiation Expert
This woman is obsessed with negotiations. She wrote her diploma and PhD on negotiation. You can even book her for "shadow negotiation." Her key advice: Be prepared and know your tactics. She empowered us women (and male allies) in the room: Don’t introduce numbers too early before you’ve sold your value. A number is like an anchor—the first number sticks.
🔸 Stefanie Voss, Leadership Coach
She is truly an adventurer; Stefanie sailed around the world! Her claim is: be a pirate, not a princess when entering negotiations! Pirates have one core superpower: Audacity! It’s the conscious decision to move beyond fear ("I don’t dare to..."), shame ("What will people think..."), conventions ("The status quo..."), and rules ("This is how it is done"). I loved how she provided concrete examples of how to train your audacity with tiny habits. For example, walk up to a policewoman and thank her for keeping us safe during the European soccer cup.
🔸 Coco Decrouppé, Leadership Coach 🥅⚽️👩🏫
Coco is from Austria, and she chose to spend time with us rather than watch the Austrian soccer team win last night! What a coach! She introduced us to her 'The Soccer Field Model©️,' a tool she developed to understand the driving forces in negotiations. What I will never forget: Negotiation starts with Level 1: focus on myself! If I don’t care for my emotions, I won’t set clear boundaries.
Kudos to our moderator 🎤Antje Venjakob, who orchestrated the evening with such a lovely flow!
A huge thank you to Blacklane and in particular Brenda Omari & Abigail Pfeiffer for hosting this event. It was great for many women to connect with Cindy Rubbens CHRO of Blacklane, too!
Team Power: Thanks to Agata G. & Julia Teubert (she/her) for being enablers in organizing the Lean In events! 🎉