case study
meet Hildigunnur
Before Hildigunnur Svavarsdottir, CEO of the second largest Hospital in Iceland, joined the Leadership Mindset Mastermind, she often felt overwhelmed by the number of decisions piling onto her plate. But her problems didn’t just stop at the volume of decisions she confronted.
Because even after making crucial decisions, Hildigunnur would ruminate and second-guess herself – never feeling fully-confident that she was making the right choices.
She also found it challenging to communicate key messages clearly and assertively, and worried that her executive team was not performing at the highest possible level.
“One of my weaknesses was not talking about things clearly enough. I also felt that every decision had to be brought to my table. And I didn’t want to be the one making all the decisions.”
Over a period of 6 months Hildigunnur and I worked together to enhance her leadership skills in these areas:
- Assertiveness
- Decision-making confidence
- Managing complex issues like financial constraints, staffing shortages, and communication barriers
- Team performance
Thanks to a combination of personalized coaching sessions, interactive workshops, and self-assessment tools Hildigunnur saw incredible results – despite having very little time on top of her leadership responsibilities.
“I wanted to have something practical, especially when you have little time. You don’t want to spend too much time on theoretical things. What I needed was the practical side, and to dig deeper into myself.
“It was a lot of self-working, which I had no idea how to do. But in the end, Michael was so friendly about it.”
The result?
Through targeted coaching, Hildigunnur transformed her interactions with team members and external stakeholders, by addressing positive and negative issues directly and assertively.
She learned to trust her judgment, which has helped her take decisive action in a clear, strategic direction.
Hildigunnur also learned to empower her executive committee. This allowed them to make key strategic decisions, so that Hildigunnur no longer felt responsible for every choice facing the hospital.
Not only did Hildigunnur’s workload dramatically improve because of it. She also noticed a remarkable improvement in her executive’s team performance and motivation – which meant she could finally take a real holiday for the first time in years.
