Meike Bettscheider Podcast Transcript
Meike Bettscheider joins host Brian Thomas on The Digital Executive Podcast.
Welcome to Coruzant Technologies, Home of The Digital Executive podcast.
Brian Thomas: Welcome to The Digital Executive. Today’s guest is Meike Bettscheider. Meike is an architect of change her expertise is grounded in an executive MBA from Chicago booth and executive master of coaching and consulting and change management from France with further executive studies in Hong Kong and London with a journey that spans continents.
Meike has a deep understanding of cross-cultural dynamics. Work assignments have included Switzerland, where she set up a branch of a foundation supporting 71 countries, and Munich, where she took on the role of Vice President of Business Development, overseeing operations across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.
Meike now provides coaching and consulting services with Compass Setting from her new home in Greece. Meike’s unique approach to leadership development integrates epigenetic coaching and psycho-physiognomy, which is face reading, empowering leaders to transform challenges into opportunities.
Well, good afternoon, Meike. Welcome to the show!
Meike Bettscheider: Thank you very much. I’m happy to be there.
Brian Thomas: Absolutely. I appreciate you making the time. And I know you’re an expat from Germany and you’re now in Athens, Greece, which I love to do traveling the world virtually is so fun. So, I appreciate you making the time making the big shift in time zones.
That’s hard to do sometimes. So, thank you, Meike. Let’s jump right into your first question here. How do you integrate epigenetic coaching and psycho, psych, how do you say that?
Meike Bettscheider: Psycho-physiognomy, it’s a pretty difficult word, so let’s call it face reading.
Brian Thomas: Thank you for helping me pronounce that. How do you integrate both those types of coaching and face reading into your leadership development programs?
Can you share some specific examples on how these practices have transformed the leaders you work with?
Meike Bettscheider: Absolutely. In my work with leaders so far, I’ve seen how tough the corporate world can be today, especially when it comes to burnout. That’s a real risk nowadays because there’s so much pressure. And that’s exactly why I believe we need more holistic approaches to leadership.
And ones that help leaders stay adaptable and also emotionally intelligent, because all of that is asked from the leaders today. So I mixed two tools into my development programs. It’s epigenetic coaching, which helps leaders understand how their environment and even inherited traits affect their behavior and also the stress level.
And by creating strategies tailored to their unique profiles, I can help them to become more effective leaders and also manage stress better to prevent the burnout. And when it comes to psycho physiognomy or pace reading, that’s a totally fascinating way to gain insights into a leader’s natural tendencies, qualities, or also resources that I can see emotional patterns and their communication style, which is important as a leader.
And when they have a deeper self-awareness, they can adjust their approach. They can connect more authentically with their teams and also build their resilience, which I prefer to call prosilience, so that they have some tools on hand for future challenges. And it also helps actually with negotiation. So, you asked for some examples.
When it comes to burnout prevention, I worked with a leader who was really on the edge of burnout and through epigenetic coaching, I discovered that inherited stress patterns were making things much worse. And I introduced some stress management techniques just tailored to him and to his needs. And then he was able to regain control and definitely keep performing well without burning out.
Another topic is making decisions quicker or improving team morale. So, both tools can help with all of that dramatically.
Brian Thomas: Thank you. I appreciate that. And you know, that’s the one thing, and we’ve talked about it on the podcast here is having some of those soft skills or some of that EQ and it’s not taught generally in any type of training or any schools.
And it’s something where a lot of times leaders get thrown into a position without this type of training. And I appreciate that you’re doing something like this to help people get better, be more empathetic, but also learn ways not to burn out. So, I appreciate that. And Meike, epigenetics is a fascinating field.
How do you see the principles of epigenetics influencing leadership behavior and decision making? What impact can understanding one’s epigenetic profile have on their leadership style?
Meike Bettscheider: That’s a great question. Thanks, Brian. Epigenetics actually can give us really new ways to understand leadership by showing how our genes and our individual environment work together to shape our behavior and decisions.
Because it’s not just about our DNA, which we can’t change, obviously, but it’s also the, the huge impact how our past experiences and lifestyle influence the way we live and also lead. For example, leaders are, as I said, under a lot of pressure and epigenetics can definitely help explain why some might be more impulsive or cautious.
And if you have a leader with a heightened stress response, which you find out through the epigenetic analysis, they might find themselves making quick and reactive decisions, which is not always the best way. And understanding their epigenetic profile can help them recognize when they’re reacting out of stress.
And gives them the tools to slow down and make much more thoughtful choices because they’re more on clarity path and there’s no good or bad. It’s just if you know yourself better, then you can react to that and that can really change how you approach decisions and also how to communicate with your teams and stakeholders.
Brian Thomas: Thank you so much. I appreciate that. I think that’s really important. And you highlighted a few things earlier as well is the self-awareness and the fact that you can slow down and make better decisions. I really like that. And I hope more and more people catch on to this type of coaching because it’s so needed in the corporate world.
So, I appreciate that. And Meike, in an interconnected world, undergoing rapid change, what do you see as the most significant challenges for leaders today? How can they use the tools and concepts you teach to not only survive, but thrive?
Meike Bettscheider: That’s a great question because the leaders in our days challenge so many challenges, but the ones I would like to point out are the cultural transformation.
Because it’s not just about changing the organization, it’s also about shifting mindsets and creating a healthy work environment where the people are not anxious, they’re inspired and innovated, right? Then another big challenge, from my perspective, is the intercultural understanding, because now also through the digital world, we, we have, you know, people or employees sitting all over the world, but they are coming from different cultures and as embracing diversity within teams can be a huge advantage for a company’s success.
From my perspective, it also requires real understanding and respect across different cultures. And the third big challenge is crisis management. Because in today’s fast paced world, as you mentioned earlier, managing constant uncertainty is crucial and on a daily, you know, agenda and to navigate all of these challenges, a leader needs to be self-awareness, knowing their strengths, their qualities, and also their resources for a crisis.
They also need the right tools for resilience and to be an empathetic, effective communicator and decision maker. And especially with my tools I mentioned earlier, you can dig deep into the self-awareness in a very effective and especially fast way. You don’t have to dig deep into your past or work on that for years.
And in addition to that, I have the concept of 24 7 intensive crisis management support. I help leaders truly understand themselves and change their behaviors so that they can lead with more confidence. And inspire their team to drive and thrive innovation because the crisis doesn’t happen in a coaching session.
Once a week, it happens on a Friday night, on a Sunday morning where they have to prepare press release or let go of people on the next morning. So, I think that also helps.
Brian Thomas: Thank you so much. I think crisis management is probably the number one reason why cultures can really be impacted with a lot of negativity.
And it just comes from the stress of managing crises. So, I do appreciate that, really do. Meike, last question of the day. With your background and change management and leadership consulting, how do you foresee the future of leadership developing, evolving, particularly with the growing emphasis on holistic and science-based approaches?
Meike Bettscheider: I really believe that the future of leadership development is going to focus on blending in holistic approaches with solid science-based insights, because we know about all of them right now. And as the world becomes much more complex, It’s clear that leaders need to be well rounded and not just skilled in strategy, but also strong and emotional intelligence, adaptability and resilience.
And from my perspective, we are going to see a big shift towards nurturing the whole person, integrating their mental, emotional and physical well-being into leadership training. And at the same time, science is going to play a bigger role in all of that. We’ll be using insights from epigenetics, like I’m practicing, but also neuro-leadership and behavioral data to create much more personalized development plans.
And this means leaders will have the tools to understand themselves on a deeper level leading to smarter decisions and more cohesive teams. And I personally am really excited about where this is heading as we are moving toward leadership development that’s both deeply personal and backed up by science.
Brian Thomas: Yes, I’m very excited. I really love this. In fact, I would love to do a two-hour session with you on the podcast for our audience someday, but this is just amazing. And as a leader, you know, I’ve even struggled many times throughout my career leading large teams at high levels and high performing levels as well.
This stuff is just really, really good. And it gets me inspired and excited because it’s so important leading large teams. So, I appreciate that. Meike, it was such a pleasure having you on today and I look forward to speaking with you real soon.
Meike Bettscheider: Thank you so much for having me. It was a real pleasure talking to you, Brian. Thanks a lot.
Brian Thomas: Bye for now.
Meike Bettscheider Podcast Transcript. Listen to the audio on the guest’s podcast page.
