Blog – Ivar Raav – holistiline juhtimiskoolitaja, mentor ja konsultant

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Too many meetings are rarely a scheduling problem.

Meeting-heavy cultures are emotionally interesting places to observe. A meeting may look like a practical...

Many performance issues are human before they are strategic.

When results begin to weaken, most organizations quite understandably turn first toward strategy. They look...

When values do not show up in behaviour …

Many organizations spend a great deal of time trying to articulate their values well. They...

Words alone doesn’t create safety. Sometimes its your breathing.

I have seen that people in organizations respond to much more than what a leader...

Micromanagement is often not a management issue. It is an anxiety response.

We usually talk about micromanagement as if it were simply a bad leadership habit. And...

One of the biggest things I got wrong as a leader was believing that more effort would automatically create more change.

Looking back, I can see how deeply I believed in effort, action and initiatives.If something...

When leadership creates more action, not change.

I’ve noticed that sometimes the biggest problem in an organisation is not that too little...

Most leadership problems are diagnosed too shallowly.

Over time, I have come to see that many recurring leadership problems are not really...

What is it like to read your own book as an audiobook?

Since the publication of my first book, “The Footprint of Leadership”, I’ve repeatedly heard people...

Silence is one of the most underused leadership tools.

Leaders are trained to do more: speak faster, decide quicker, react sooner, do this, do...

All leadership contracts should be temporary.

Because the purpose of work is to get the work done not to keep doing...

National or corporate borders – which comes first?

National borders are, in many ways, becoming less important than they used to be, because...

“This won’t work in business.”

And yet, if we are honest, much of what has been called “working in business”...

Better leadership tools do not automatically create better leadership.

“How to… ” type of leadership development tools can create structure, clarity and a shared...

Resistance to change is often misunderstood.

Most people think others are against the new idea, but in many cases they are...

One of the most common traps in organizations is trying to solve problems from the same level where they appear.

Yet this is exactly what most of us do. We stay inside the same perspective,...

Overworking is useful.

Because then I belong to the system. Belonging to the tribe ensures my survival. In...

Cost pressure, low motivation, conflicts, resistance to change, technology anxiety, communication issues.

We tend to list them as leadership problems, each needing its own tool and framework....

Two formats, but one message – something is fundamentally missing in how we develop leaders.

In the morning, I stood in front of 700 HR professionals. In the evening, in...

Problem: when crisis hits an organization, people rush into action and reports.

Because action creates a sense of control which of course is often just an illusion....

Burnout is rarely about workload.

If it were, every high-performing leader would be burned out. Burnout is more often a...

Many leadership problems survive not because they are hard to solve, but because solving them would make someone less needed.

Real solutions don’t just fix systems, but they often threaten identity. A resolved problem means...

Most leadership problems are not problems. They are symptoms.

Burnout, low engagement, recurring conflicts, declining performance are not isolated issues to be fixed with...

When an organization starts creating a wellbeing strategy, something has already gone seriously wrong.

At a basic level the system has been designed in a way that creates the...

Leadership doesn’t usually fail because people don’t know what to do. It fails because many leaders haven’t faced themselves.

Unresolved fear, the need for approval, and avoidance don’t disappear at work, but they scale....

When burnout, anxiety and emotional numbness become normal, it’s no longer about coping skills or stress tolerance.

It’s about a management model that keeps people in permanent survival mode. Wellbeing programs don’t...

Why do people ignore safety rules?

I believe that many people who are involved in safety rules have been confronted with...

The trainer’s dilemma – whether to be boldly honest with the client or merely meet expectations?

I’m invited to work in organisations on quite similar topics – trust and accountability in...

Again with the development debates – are we measuring development or are we developing without measuring?

Those of you who have followed me for a long time will know that I...

What to do when the system stops working?

In a previous post, I wrote about why today’s way of managing is increasingly exhausting...

Today’s way of doing business and running a business no longer works because…

Does the model work if you are constantly on the go and need to be...

“I would like balance and peace in my life” – a realistic goal?

The turn of the year is something that makes many people think about their plans,...

Buy me! Come to my development programme! Buy my 1-1 service!

I believe that for many LinkedIn users, and especially the 1% of users who post...

How much does justice cost?

In business, there are moments when someone breaks an agreement, breaks trust or clearly does...

Staying alive?

Recently, a client described surviving through his coping strategies. Through not letting people get too...

Give me the techniques that will increase your turnover many times over!

I believe that all supporters of leaders, whatever their job title, have heard this time...

“He must have been in training. It’ll pass!”

This is something many people have thought or said about managers who come back from...

Procrastination – is it really bad or is there some good in it?

This is the topic we tackled in today’s or the 161st episode of the “Leadership...

Is creativity a manager’s tool?

Part of the journey of going through one dietary programme is taking a break from...

You are the one taking AI’s job, not him taking yours!

Lately, there have been fears that AI will take people’s jobs away. Although the demise...

Liability or fugitive liability?

Have you ever thought that being rescued, rushed and overworked is not a commitment, but...

My rediscovered passion: the ABCs of leadership

As a trainer, I enjoyed working for many years with start-up managers, until at one...

Max 40-hour working week also applies to drivers!

A salaried driver and a salaried employee have each sold 40 hours to the employer....

Is people’s commitment low?

The connection between each other and the target is poor? Improving these issues is often...

If you only value IQ and thinking, AI can really take over the job

For a few hundred years we have believed that thinking makes us human. That the...

“I have a timeless problem, I’m always running after time!!!

I read such a sentence on the screen in the tram, where they were teaching...

Why are many organisations tired?

The results are good at best, the people are smart, the processes are in place,...

Too many meetings?

Too many meetings and not enough good practice documents for meetings? If a person spends...

Impostor syndrome can often only be “treated” through deep inner work.

Impostor syndrome is the feeling that your achievements have come to you by chance. That...

Corporate gambling – a pain that goes undiagnosed but is experienced by many

Some have told me: “There is a sense of corporate gaming in your book.” At...

9 issues that are hidden behind fine words

Organisations are full of beautiful words – values, security, meaning, collaboration, commitment, etc. From my...

💡 The root of mental health crisis is not psychological

It is a lack of personal spirituality. Also in organisations. And I’m not talking about...

HONESTY – a common values word in organisations, but why is it not always applied?

Values are not, of course, just words on a wall. Behind every value are beliefs...

𝐎𝐊𝐑 𝐩𝐚𝐡𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐨𝐥 – 𝐞𝐛𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐮𝐬, ä𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐤𝐮 𝐞𝐞𝐬, 𝐡ü𝐥𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐦, 𝐥ä𝐛𝐢𝐩õ𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐞 ?

OKR (Objectives and Key Results) principles have recently been actively replacing KPI and other performance...

“Money = death threat!”

We reached this depth with one client who has a great business idea, a specific...

Outdated perception – the leader drives results, processes and people

That’s what the management textbooks say, and it’s been practised for decades.But if you look...

Why is money not flowing into your business even though you’ve tried everything?

Why is money not flowing into your business even though you’ve tried everything? 💰 Problems...

Virtual meetings and training are not annoying in themselves

They only become tedious if they are tediously managed and the energy of the facilitator...

The group process starts again when someone on the team undergoes a major personal change.

We often think that group processes start when someone new joins or someone leaves. In...

Adaptation is costly for business

Last week, I wrote that lack of trust can be costly (staff and time spent...

Trust is a time and money saver for your organisation

At a time when many organisations need to cut costs and increase revenues, it is...

Specialist-minded leaders – a fast track to burnout

There are two turning points in a career where the mindset needs to change 180...

8 questions for people interested in working as a driver

In my 1-1 meetings, I often see start-up managers who want to avoid burnout and...

Everyone has a cranial spine, but not everyone has a vertebral column.

This is a phrase I overheard an orthopaedic surgeon, whose name I can’t remember, jokingly...

Is the need for attention a threat or an opportunity?

I have worked with people for a number of noble reasons. But at one point...

Some things are never fully understood

Data and analysis, or making sense of it, are necessary, but often organisations see endless...

Dangerous sentence: “We are all one big family here at work.”

This family stuff sounds like an expression of caring and unity. In reality, it often...

Fear of success as a coping mechanism for Estonians

The thought that maybe it will really work out is perhaps the scariest thought of...

why does a person become a bad or unpleasant leader?

“But why does a person become a bad or unpleasant leader?” This question came back...

Are morality and conscience still synonymous?

Good podcast partner Reelika Jeferjev got me thinking recently in a comment on one of...

We don’t remember the facts, but the quality of presence!

During the weekend training, one participant asked that he was having a hard time remembering...

The message in the dream was clear but frightening: “If you move, he will attack again.”

The bear, the tram café, the outdoor kitchen and the wire fence – what links...

Is work an occupation you rest from or a vocation you live without “rest”?

The moment you finally take a break, the questions tend to come up:– Is this...

Should you continue in corporate debt at all and how?

This question is something that many clients come to me with. Generally between the ages...

💸 Want a better relationship with money?

We are still dealing with people, not money. Money is not a human need. Money...