Signe Kolmos, Engine, about management development
"Well-founded tools for tuning in to others"
Signe Kolmos helps leaders become the best version of themselves. She loves when they have an aha experience with Everything DiSC, because that is the first step to good changes.
How did you come to work with Everything DiSC?
”When I was a child, I had a special ability to feel how the people around me felt. I could simply feel if they were giving off a good or a bad energy and if what they were saying was an expression of how they really felt. That is, if it came from the heart. Nevertheless, I chose to train as a chemical engineer because I also like subjects where you can put two lines under. After my education, I was employed in the pharmaceutical industry and rose through the ranks quite quickly. I found it easy to get along with all types of colleagues, and I was good at creating excitement about the projects and getting everyone to give their best based on their unique strengths. I gradually got more responsibility and eventually my job (at this point in Novo Nordisk) was more or less all about management. As you know, management is a subject in itself, so at some point I became interested in supplementing my natural intuition for what drives people – the one I’ve had since childhood – with concrete management tools. I probed the market thoroughly and found Everything DiSC and became certified in it and later in Five Behaviors.”
What is the advantage of Everything DiSC?
“I can almost best answer that with a description of the management course I have just completed for a number of managers at Novo Nordisk. All participants came with an academic education in their baggage, so it was a very reflective and analytical group I was dealing with. Fortunately, at the same time, they have a great respect for the fact that good management requires effort, so they basically come with the yes hat on. They want to learn, but it must be done on a factual basis if they are to take it to heart. And here Everything DiSC is an eminent tool. It is well-founded and thus trustworthy, and it is an effective tool for pointing out one’s own strengths and challenges – and then relating it to the dynamics that unfold when you meet other profiles. With Everything DiSC, you get beyond diffuse opinions and superficial analyzes of how communication with colleagues and employees takes place. You gain a common language and a deeper insight into what drives an action or speech – and not least, how to motivate others.”
"With Everything DiSC, you get beyond diffuse opinions and superficial analyzes of how communication with colleagues and employees takes place. You gain a common language and a deeper insight into what drives an action or speech - and not least, how to motivate others."
Is it a message that the participants take to heart?
”To a great extent. Self-development can very quickly become vulnerable, so I definitely feel that the participants appreciate that with Everything DiSC you take a step aside and consider things broadly – i.e. as a phenomenon where you look for objective explanations rather than just blaming themselves or others. On my last team, no leaders had C energy. But the paradox was that the vast majority of their employees actually had it. So when one of the managers feels called to celebrate a victory by standing up and shouting that we are fucking amazing, at worst it scares the employees. And at best it just leaves them unredeemed, because if you’re going to make them happy, you have to sit down with them individually and explain what they specifically do well in their capacity as specialists. They need harmony, continuity and detail – in other words, the exact opposite of a boss who delivers his messages in headlines.
Another eye-opener for the participants is that they learn to accept that they don’t have to be world champions at everything. Everything DiSC clearly shows where you have your strengths and weaknesses. If there is something you are not good at, you can of course easily buckle down to get better, but often it is better to just get others to handle the task and instead focus on what you are already good at. That message is important for me to convey.”
You mostly work with longer processes – how can that be?
”It is simply because I want to create an effect with what I do. I’m sometimes asked if I can’t stop by and, for example, talk a little about Everything DiSC or Work of Leaders, and I always say no thanks, because it makes no difference. If you have to move forward, there must be a course where you work in-depth with the tools in relation to specific themes, e.g. feedback. My courses always start with me defining, together with the customer, exactly what it is that you would like to achieve with the course. What would the customer specifically like to be better at? Sometimes my training courses extend over three years, because there needs to be time to reflect and practice the things we go through in our workshops. And I know from my clients that they are very happy that there is precisely time to work with what they are learning. That is why I am also very keen on all participants formulating clear goals for what they want to work on concretely from time to time – and then of course we follow up on that when we meet. What has gone well and what has not gone so well?”
"They are my back office that I can always turn to when I need help."
How do you experience the collaboration with DISCnordic?
”Exactly like that… like a collaboration. They are my back office that I can always turn to when I need help. It can be of a technical or professional nature. The answer is always lightning fast, so it is a great peace of mind to have in your back. And I am especially happy that they share their knowledge so generously. They have some inspiring posts on LinkedIn, which I always read with great pleasure, and if I need something concrete, Michael (Michael Giroux-Drejer, ed.) always has some good slides he can send. After all, I’m just myself in the shop, so it’s really nice to have the help close by and know that there is always an answer right away.”
Engine
Engine helps people discover their strengths and opportunities to create impactful positive change – both individually and in their team. The company, which consists of Signe Kolmos, offers, among other things, leadership development, career development, stress management, organizational development and recruitment.
