Josefine Campbell is a founder of Campbell Company, a top leadership consulting firm for multinational companies. Campbell inspires and coaches leaders, teams, and talents in large organisations such as McDonald’s, Deloitte, Maersk, Novo Nordisk, and Carlsberg Group.
Her approach combines the practical and the pragmatic. A four-time jiu-jitsu champion, she is particularly interested in developing personal leadership in difficult circumstances, such as is often the case in modern work life.
Questions
• Now Josefine, even though we read a short description about our guests, we always like to give our guests an opportunity to share a little bit about their journey. So, could you share with our listeners a little bit about your journey, how you got from where you were to where you are today?
• A big part of what you do focuses on the power barometer, right. So, can you share with our listeners a little bit about that, and how it is that you are able to implement? What is the power barometer?
• Could you share with us maybe two or three approaches, tactics, tools that you can use to manage energy in work and life?
• Could you also share with us what’s the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can’t live without in your business?
• Can you also share with us maybe one or two books that you’ve read recently? Or even maybe a book that you read a very long time ago, but it has had a very big impact on you?
• Now, can you also share with us Josefine, what’s the one thing that’s going on in your life right now that you’re really excited about? Either something you’re working on to develop yourself or your people.
• Where can listeners find you online?
• Now, before we wrap our episodes up, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or a saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you’ll tend to revert to this quote if for any reason you got derailed or demotivated, this quote kind of helps to get you back on track. Do you have one of those?
Highlights
Josefine’s Journey
Josefine shared that when she was a teenager, she was quadruple national champions in jiu-jitsu, it’s Japanese martial arts. And for the last many years, she’s been coaching and developing executives, individually and in groups. And at some point in her practice, she has a background in business practice, she’s ran businesses herself, she’s been in business for plus 25 years, she’s also been teaching business school.
And at some point, quite early on actually, in her endeavour of supporting the executives that she was helping the best possible way, she realized that some of the techniques and practices that she brought with her from the jiu-jitsu practice actually had a huge effect when working with executives in modern work life, because being an executive is quite demanding, especially in modern work life, it takes a lot of energy, it requires for you to stay mentally clear under difficult circumstances, it’s quite normal to be under a lot of pressure, just like as when you’re in a battle, it’s the same thing that happens to people when they feel threatened in a battle, and when they feel threatened at work. The circumstances might look different, but what happens inside people can be quite similar. And have you watched Karate Kid?
Me: I have, yes.
So, you remember the Mr. Miyagi? Wax on, wax off. So, he trains Karate Kid and how to be mentally agile, how to stay ready in a battle, right? So, one thing is he trains the techniques, but he also trains how he is with himself, that’s a lot of the movie, remember, that’s why he has to do the wax on, the wax off. And it’s the same for executives, it takes a lot of personal capacity to do the work they do. So, that’s how she came across the methods that she’s written about, and that she’s helped executives put into practice.
What is a Barometer?
Me: In reading a little bit about your story, I noticed a big part of what you do focuses on the power barometer, right. So, can you share with our listeners a little bit about that, and how it is that you are able to implement? What is the power barometer? Let’s start there.
Josefine shared that the power barometer is an imaginary tool that anyone can apply personally, alone, individually and in teams at work. So, it’s a way of checking in on your personal energy level. And checking in on your personal energy level is important because energy is the fuel of the brain. Your brain uses 20% of your personal energy, it’s quite a lot because it’s only the size of 3% to 4% and if you’re low on energy, your brain doesn’t run very well. So, if you aren’t aware that, you’re not capable of performing in the same way as if you have the self-awareness of where your energy is right now.
And the same thing counts for what happens in teamwork. So, one thing is that each and every one of us should take responsibility for our own personal energy, the personal energy that we bring to the table but in a meeting, everybody should take responsibility for the energy at the meeting. So, tell me, have you ever been in a meeting where someone suddenly took out all the energy of the room?
Me: Yeah, that’s happened quite a few times.
And what happens to productivity in such a case? It declines? And engagements? And retention? So, performance? Does people come up with creative, innovative ideas? Do they solve difficult task when the energy is out of the room?
Not so much. So, just being aware of personal energy, start to measure it even if it’s a subjective quantification, it brings awareness to energy and everybody’s responsibility on the energy level. And that kind of behaviour that would bring out energy of a room suddenly becomes unwanted and for many reasons, that is good.
Tactics and Tools Can Be Used to Manage Energy in Work and Life
Me: So, it’s about balancing, it’s about energy, could you share with us maybe two or three approaches, tactics, tools that you can use to manage energy in work and life? Because we all have our personal life, but we also have our professional life and how do we balance having energy in both so that either area is not getting diminishing returns?
Josefine stated that if she may, because Yanique says personal and professional life, actually a point, a very important takeaway from her book is that business is personal. So, there’s a difference between private and professional life, so, that’s isn’t opposition, there’s things that happens in your weekend, within your family that’s private, but and what happens at work, what do you have to do at work, it’s professional, but all of it is personal because it’s you as a person who goes to work. It’s you as a person who is leading, collaborating, communicating, it’s you and I, as people who are talking right now on this podcast, and we cannot take the personal aspect out of the equation.
So, you cannot just put away anything but personal. And that’s a key point also, in you addressing the question like what can you do to keep a high personal energy level?
And, first of all, and the most important thing is to be aware, to be aware of your own personal energy level. It starts noticing when your energy is high, when it is low, most people would start to care more about it and putting more attention into raising the energy, you will also have more insights about what drains you and try to do less of that, things that gives you energy and it could be work tasks, specific work task you discover, “Oh, I get energy from this type of tasks or this type of meetings, or working with these people, but they also drain me.”
And of course, at the workplace, you cannot always decide who you are meeting with and who you’re not. But those relationships which are draining, can you do something about it? This is something you can bring to the table to improve their collaboration. She knows plenty of good examples on how people have addressed bad working relationships and taking them to another level where they can do great work together. There are also situations where you have to avoid, certain collaborations, or certain tasks.
If you’re in a team, understand what type of task drains and gives different team members energy. Work division might going to seem more obvious. And then there are the physical aspects, such as getting enough sleep, having a few breaks once in a while, actually just even micro breaks, a few minutes of rest. And rest is not looking at your phone, or just answering email, rest is maybe closing your eyes or leaning backwards on your chair and letting go for a minute. Just these little micro breaks, they can have a huge impact on your energy level.
We’re not designed to be productive all the time. The organism, the biological human organism is designed to perform in circles, in waves, the energy, our natural energy will move upwards and downwards in iterations. So, it would be normal that you have some downtime once in a while, at least, but normal, natural, that’s the difference, the normal is that people don’t have any downtime.
App, Website or Tool that Josefine Absolutely Can’t Live Without in Her Business
When asked about an online resource that she cannot live without in her business, Josefine shared that she will be reluctant to say, if you go on her website, www.josefinecampbell.com, there’s a section with freebies, and go there and grab whatever you think can make a difference for you. There are a couple of tools there and you can try them out, you can write me if you have any questions. And that’s plug and play, go check it out, there’s no software there.
Josefine shared that Microsoft Teams because all her clients use, most of her clients uses Microsoft Teams. Very often that’s where they meet and engage.
Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Josefine
When asked about books that have had an impact, Josefine stated that that’s a wonderful question. So, what to choose from? There’re so many wonderful books. She really, really loves books. Well, Stephen Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, it’s an old classic. And she thinks it was the first book on personal leadership that got really big. And it’s from the 90s. So, she was pretty young back then. But she got really fascinated with the book and the content of the book, she also started her first business when she was really young. She was 21 when she started her first business.
So, she needed a lot of help, she needed guidance on how to manage herself, and she felt so much wisdom in that book. And she actually thinks it’s still valid, it’s old, but it still works. So, she often recommends that book, she still does.
And then she thinks Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversation. Whole Hearts, that’s another great book. It’s just a few years old and she thinks she took leadership books in another direction, writing a book that is very personal and that has some really nice contributions to how leadership development is being perceived today. She really thinks she made a huge difference. Thank you, Brené Brown.
What Josefine is Really Excited About Now!
When asked about something that she’s really excited about, Josefine shared that there’s so much. So, obviously, there’s the book which is just coming out now and she’s excited about sharing that with the world. And she has written the next one too and they’re still working on the title and she’s excited about that one too. She’s written another kind of book, she’s been quite creative, and she’s also excited about finishing that one and putting that one out. So, her books are part of her passion. She gets up 5 o’clock in the morning sometimes to write just because she really feels like writing. She loves it.
Where Can We Find Josefine Online
Website – www.josefinecampbell.com
LinkedIn – Josefine Campbell
Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Josefine Uses
When asked about a quote or saying that she tends to revert to, Josefine shared that she have not a quote, but an image. The myth of Sisyphus, it’s an old Greek myth. It’s this man who is being judged by the Gods to push a rock up a hill. And every time he’s up the hill, the rock is falling down, he has to push it up again. Have you ever heard that tale? Can you imagine the picture?
Me: I can imagine the picture.
So, that’s that feeling of this never-ending work and that things just keeps on being tough. Just after the Second World War, there was a French philosopher Camus, who elaborated a little bit on that myth. And he pictured Sisyphus working at the stones on the mountain, as he was pushing the rock up the hill and he would see the sun sparkle in some of the stones, and it will be beautiful. And his attention and his energy, his mind, his being would direct towards the beauty of those sparkles. And that would make the rock and himself feel lighter.
And that’s what she tries to do, she tries to find just that little spark, those times where it’s really dark, and it’s tough, and it feels like it’s never going to end, though we know it’s going to end, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel. But sometimes it just doesn’t feel like that. Then she tries to find these little sparks of light that beams in and just give a little more energy to get done whatever needs to get done.
Me: All right, perfect. Thank you so much. I guess another way to look at that is the quote, “This too shall pass.” but you’ve kind of transformed it into an image, which is way more impactful because then it really focuses on what can you really do to navigate that space and recognize that at the end of the day, you will overcome it, it may seem like it’s going to last forever, but there is a solution somewhere down the line.
Josefine shared that, “This too shall pass.” it’s a really beautiful quote. She likes that one. Another one comes to her mind, it is the quote saying, “Everything is as it’s supposed to be.” Kind of give some kind of peace of mind if you don’t try to fix anything, or if you don’t try to struggle, if you say okay, things are as they’re supposed to be, somehow, it’s all going to make sense at the end of the day.
Me: It will, the puzzle will all fit. Thank you so much, Josefine, for taking time out of your very busy schedule and hopping on this podcast and sharing all of these great nuggets and insights with us, a little bit about your journey, your new book that’s coming out, the importance of preserving your energy and doing things that will lead to a more productive life, a more balanced life. So, I think our listeners definitely would have gained great information, great value from what you shared with us today. So, we just want to express our appreciation for you joining us on this podcast today.
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Links
• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change by Stephen Covey
• Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversation. Whole Hearts by Brené Brown
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