Success, Balance, and Leadership—Let’s End the Year Right! (YGT📧#79)
Katharina Engelhardt 🔴
Career & Leadership Coaching for Women 🔴 Realise your potential for more success, more joy, more money 🔴 Senior Director Strategy @ adidas
Hello and happy Sunday,
Welcome to another YOU GOT THIS! Newsletter.
Christmas and New Year are just around the corner, which means it's that time of year when no one knows what day of the week it is.
What a year! I love writing this newsletter for you. Not least because it helps me make sense of the world a little better. One thing is clear: The holidays are coming at just the right time. I wish you a wild, romantic, reflective few days. Just what you need right now.
In today’s edition of my newsletter, I´ll write about these topics:
👉Advent Calendar - Positive feedback builds trust, confidence, and a culture of respect
👉 My latest learning: It’s Time to Give Back
👉 Career Inspiration: Yes? No? Maybe? – Decision Fatigue
👉 Female Leadership: Impulse for successful leadership in 2025
Now, in the run-up to Christmas, advice sites are spewing out tons of articles on how to thank your employees: “10 creative ways to say thank you” “How to thank your employees” “Why appreciation is a must for every manager” And I can see it right in front of me: how bouquets of flowers (“Maria has been our driving force for 20 years”) and bottles of wine (“Josef has really outdone himself this year”) are handed out at Christmas parties.
Saying thank you is indeed a good thing – but only if the thanks are sincere. A thank you that is not backed up by gratitude will be immediately exposed as insincere. And instead of being happy, Maria will think, “Keep those flowers; give me a raise instead.”
On the other hand, those who radiate genuine gratitude are often rewarded with loyalty by their counterpart.
And so I'll leave you with a good question:
Who do you still want to say thank you to this year?
Stay courageous!
Best Regards, Katharina
👉 Advent Calendar - Positive feedback builds trust, confidence, and a culture of respect
“Recognizing hard work feels...awkward sometimes,” a client recently confessed to me.
Have you ever felt that way too? You’re not alone.
We often think about praise in ways that don’t fully acknowledge the value someone brings. We praise a child for tying their shoes or a pet for learning a trick—but how do we express genuine appreciation in a way that feels meaningful?
There’s a difference between praise and positive feedback:
Praise says, “Well done, you did a great job.”
Positive feedback, on the other hand, acknowledges the impact of someone’s work with intention and specificity.
For example:
🔱 Praise: “Thank you, Maria, you did a great job.”
🔱 Positive Feedback: “Thank you, Maria. The precision in your work is impressive. It’s a relief to know I can rely fully on your results without double-checking. That makes a big difference to our workflow.”
Positive feedback builds trust, confidence, and a culture of respect - a key focus in my Career & Leadership Advent Calendar this December.
Want to still join us? Since December 1st, I have been sharing 24 days of short insights, exercises, and reflections to help you refine your leadership approach and start 2025 with clarity.
👉 Sign up here [link] and get ready to deepen your skills in authentic communication, resilience, and intentional leadership. 🌟
P.S.: Those who sign up now will receive a summary of all 24 insights at the end, a valuable resource to carry with you into the new year!
Ready to start? Sign up here for free 💌and join the Advent Calendar Now.
Let’s make this a December to remember!
👉 My latest learning: It’s Time to Give Back
Throughout my career, mentoring and coaching have taught me invaluable lessons about leadership—lessons I now want to share. I’ve realized that sharing truly is caring, and this year has deepened my understanding of what it means to lead with purpose, confidence, and balance.
✨ That’s why I’m hosting a special live masterclass on December 28th: “Claim Your Leadership: I Own My Seat and Master Work-Life Flow”
Are you ready to step into your full leadership potential and find the balance you deserve?
This 60-minute session isn’t just about strategies- it’s about YOU:
I want you to step into 2025 with clarity, purpose, and the confidence to claim your seat at the table—without burning out, without compromise.
🗓 Date: December 28th
⏰ Time: 6 PM CET
📍 Where: Live on Zoom
🎁 Bonus: Attend live and get an exclusive workbook to make your insights actionable!
Recommended by LinkedIn
👉 Reserve Your Spot Here: [Join the Masterclass]
This is your moment to pause, reflect, and refocus on your leadership journey. If you’re ready to thrive—let’s do it together. 🌟
Now tell me: What’s holding you back from stepping into the leader you know you can be? Let’s uncover the answers and claim your seat! 👉 Reserve Your Spot Here.
👉 Career Inspiration: Yes? No? Maybe? – Decision Fatigue
What do we want for breakfast? What about the weather today and what should the child wear? Do I work through the mails first or on the big project? Where are we going for lunch? Should I still set up the meeting? What are we doing after school? And what are we having for dinner?
I assume you know what I'm getting at. The exhausting thing about life is rarely the meetings or the bad weather itself, but the decisions we have to make around them. And in the evening, we're so tired from making decisions that we can't even decide what to watch on Netflix or what to read.
This phenomenon has a name: Decision fatigue. We are so mentally exhausted that even the simplest decisions are difficult. Famous personalities such as Barack Obama and Steve Jobs have already recognized this, and in stressful times in their lives, they simply always wore the same clothes so that they would not impair the quality of important decisions by making supposedly unimportant ones.
In fact, there is no gender decision gap (yet). However, working mothers are often affected by decision fatigue because they make decisions in the work environment and for the whole family. This double burden means that they reach the point of decision fatigue more quickly.
What can help to avoid reaching this point are daily routines that simply always follow the same pattern. Even decisions that are not critical, such as “What should I wear today?” can be made in the evening so that you can get started right away in the morning. Studies also show that it is helpful to make important and larger decisions in the morning. We are more impulsive from the afternoon onwards. And another thing that helps is to let go of perfectionism, be happy about a decision you have made and do not doubt it again.
👉 Female Leadership: Impulse for successful leadership in 2025
As the year draws to a close, it's the perfect time to pause and reflect.
How did 2024 go for you as a leader?
What successes did you celebrate, and what challenges did you face?
Reflecting is not only an important step for your personal growth, but also crucial for successful leadership in the coming year. Leaders who simply carry on as before, without regularly reviewing their own thinking and actions, will have a hard time.
Why? Because you should know what you are really good at and what you should bring more of into your leadership. And on the other hand, find out what didn't go so well and consider strategies for how it could work better differently.
Are you ready to avoid these 9 mistakes that could keep you from really taking off in 2025?
Here are the 9 most common leadership mistakes:
If you want to make the coming year a success as a leader, I invite you to join me in the world of reflection. It's really worth it!
Your experiences and insights are valuable. Feel free to write to me about what you were satisfied with in your leadership in 2024 and what you would like to change in 2025.
I look forward to your email.
IF you want to work on one of those leadership mistakes 👉 Book a free introductory call with me today. 👉Click here to schedule your session and take the first step toward your “sabotage-free” career. You’ve got this. Let’s unlock your full potential—together. 🚀!
💃Change starts with you
Nothing will change unless you change something! It's up to you!
The alternative: Keep doing what you're doing...
I wish you a great week; enjoy life, and remember to SHOW UP!
If you say what you want, you increase the chance of being heard! 👂
Have a great day, and remember, it is the one who gives up and does not reach success.
And now I wish you all the best and talk soon!
Best Regards, Katharina
💃How you can work with me:
Leadership Training: In my course MOVE UP! You can recognize and strengthen your leadership. Join the course 👉here.
Amazing Career Coaching: Join the 16-week 1:1 AMAZING CAREER coaching program. Please reply to this mail that you want to join or book a call with me 👉 here to learn more.
Need help getting anywhere on your own? Then why not book a free virtual coffee break ☕️ with me, and we'll find out whether and how I can help you further? 👉🏼 Here is a link to book a discovery session with me
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PS: This newsletter is written by a human. English is not my native language. So, I'll make mistakes. And tech bugs 🪲 crawl in once in a while. So, if you see any of these, please let me know. I´m always happy to improve!