Nikolett Huszak

Nikolett is passionate about coaching, it is one of her great passions besides travelling and sports. She loves to support people when they have dilemmas or challenges in their business. Through coaching she is in charge of inspiring people, we want to give her a special thanks for her willingness to answer some questions for the Influence Digest team that we will share with you below.

What led you to become a coach?

I never thought about becoming a coach, it wasn’t a plan, just happened. Few years ago I had no clue that coaching is an existing industry. So my story started as a part of my self-awareness journey to know better myself and understand at least some of my motifs which seemed holding me back in reaching the desired balance in my life. I had relationship problems, also struggled in my professional life. I tried to find it but I was not able to do it on my own.

Coaching is about you and not about me however it started with my own experiences which gave me proof how fantastic opportunity to have better self-awareness, develop our self-reflection and take responsibility in our life. Which means to accept that there’s a point when we need an objective ‘eye’ who can lead us in our difficulties.

What benefits did coaching bring into my life that time?

Within 6 month from the start of the coaching course I had a new relationship (since then we live happily together), I got promoted in my job and asked for leading a team. Based on the colleagues’ feedback, my communication style also changed in a positive way which helped me having better connecting to others, listen to them and have deeper conversations. Besides fantastic travellings and speaking opportunities came across in relation to coaching and motivation.

As I believe the power of Universe or you can call it a ‘higher power’ or anyhow you prefer, I would say it led me to coaching to serve people who give the trust for me.

What strategies do you use?

Strategies can be looked in different aspects.

First strategy or priority was to become a professional and ICF (International Coaching Federation) accredited coach which is a proof of having the essential coaching core competencies and work experience in line with the Code of Ethics and professional standards.

Second strategy was to find my strengths or uniqueness in my coaching style. Getting trust by creating a safe and supportive environment, being authentic by giving myself and ‘art of listening’ would worth mentioning. Deeper thoughts can show up if there’s space for them. With the art of listening I can give this space for my clients.

Besides, direct communication including some soft provocative questions can also be helpful to find the real pain points which could lead the client towards the new awareness or insight.

I like the phrase ‘learning by doing’ so I would like to raise the attention to call me and lets have your own coaching experience by doing.

And last but not least as a third strategy is when I work with leaders and business owners that I usually give them objective and non-judgemental feedback. Why? The reason is so simple. There’s a certain level in leadership when you won’t get ‘real’ and honest feedback. One of my CEO client realized during one of our coaching sessions that his success and the success of his company depends on the honest feedback what he receives from colleagues, partners, stakeholders. By the end of the 5^th coaching session he became aware that no feedback giving culture within his company so we started to work on this part of the organizational development as well which was another result what coaching raised.

What has your experience been like in the aviation and aerospace industry, how do you relate it to coaching?

There’s a short and long version of this questions.

Short one is that coaching can and has to relate to any of the industry. As the client is the expert of his/her field, coaches do not have to be the expert of each and every industry. If there’s any expertise, the coach needs to take care of avoiding the consultation which is not coaching. Coaching agreements can include consultation but has to be defined in advance what are the needs and requirements.

Longer answer is that during conferences, meetings and negotiations when I unconsciously used the coaching competencies resulted fruitful partnerships and cooperations. This mainly based on the trustful environment and the curiosity towards the person and not the leader. What does it mean? No matter how high-level is the leader, he or she is also a human being with his or her stories and once they share some of it we can find some connections, topics to resonate with. I think this is one of the key element is to find the human side of the person and results will come for sure because the client has the trust, openness and readiness for the deeper work.

On the other hand in general coaching mindset in leadership roles is essential in the 21^st century. This mindset can lead to high-performing and balanced teams.

How did you reinvent yourself after the pandemic?

Covid-19 has still been part of our daily life and we cannot close this period. Which means from my view that instead of reinvention I had to adopt and find ways to keep my motivation and energy level up. New ideas and projects came for instance when pandemic just popped up in March 2020 I finished a strategic workshop series with company leaders and owners and with their team. By the end of the workshop series they managed to put an action plan together as a compass and final outcome, which has still been in use and show the way in these difficult period. This is one example and result however there’s other ‘love projects’ which contribute keeping my energy level on a higher level.

InspirationalSHOW what I created in January 2021 is an interview series with people who are special in a certain aspect and can inspire people through their examples. I love these conversations and I hope the soon these videos will be well-known worldwide and inspire thousands of people. Some of them are in Hungarian some of the in English so both languages can provide reaching more and more people in the world.

Pro-bono coaching is a responsibility so I provide it regularly in different sectors. This year I give pro-bono coaching for high-school student who would need some carrier guidance. These occasions could give them better understand about their strengths, their real desires, narrow the possibilities down based on their needs and requirements. It’s also a love project and I’m grateful that I can be part of supporting the future generation and the leaders of the future.

And finally continuous coaching education is a must so I finished another course where the topic of my final essay was the Challenges of Executive coaching within a non-profit company.

We noticed that motivation is a key factor in your work, how do you implement it in your work with people or organizations?

I believe that a company or business can be successful and effective if the leader/owner and also the team is motivated. When I heard about Motivational Map I knew that this tool will be the friend of certain companies as it helps discover all the motivational factors, and also the missing puzzle pieces to have a motivated leader and a motivated team. Combination of Coaching and Motivational map would worth trying to get your own experience in this field.

This tool is an outstandingly simple, usable and useful tool. By measuring emotional energy, it, therefore, makes us overcome our own personal and/or professional obstacles, it facilitates both, leaders and teams to become more efficient in action, and it also provides an extra amount of strategic “turbo-boost” to the entire organizational structure.

‘Motivation gets you going and habit gets you there.’ –Zig Ziglar