Ragnhild Struss: "Focusing on possibilities leaves my engine running"

The ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Academy talked to Ragnhild Struss about her job as a career counselor. Your company Struss und Partner is one of the leading career consultancies in Germany. At the ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Academy Job Symposium in Berlin on 28.09.2017 she will talk to some other founders about "My Life, My Job and Me".

ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Academy: Why did you become a career counselor? What moved you to this?
Ragnhild Struss: Why someone is who he is fascinated me as a child. As a little girl I wanted to talk rather than play, from high school I was grief box of my classmates. Apart from philosophical, psychological and theological content, school has hardly interested me? Economy, however, very much. I started a tuition circle in the upper grades, developed a concept that helped students to get high school grades within a semester, and earned hours that others have given me. The decision to become an entrepreneur was therewith. So I studied Business Administration, got involved in student initiatives and inhaled entrepreneurship. At that time, I accompanied a friend to career counseling and thought: This is better! A market analysis and a business plan later, I founded my own company while still a student. At 24 years old. When I recall, among my classmates, I was always the "psychotic", among the psychologists I met later in training, always the "capitalist". In my work, I build a bridge between the two worlds and consider the individual personality in a performance context. I consider my job a privilege and am happy every day with my 20-strong team to make people think new career, recognize their potential and find more self-confidence. In addition, my job inspires me to always new business ideas. Most recently, I've launched a web app, BeBrilliant, Personality Development, 360 ° Feedback and Coaching? To go? offering. More plans are already forged.

What has made you particularly successful in your job life?
I was very young when I founded. At that time my courage helped me to turn my inner voice into authority. Even today, I primarily trust my intuition and stick to what suits my beliefs. Being open to impulses from the outside and at the same time strong enough not to be put off track by negative feedback and criticism is a characteristic that characterizes me as an entrepreneur. Just as important as filtering is endurance. No one is immune from setbacks and crises. I learned to put myself in the headwind early on. My look is always directed forward. I can not help but think in visions. This year we have opened a location in Munich in addition to our Hamburg office. We have enlarged our team and established new formats such as workshops for companies. At the same time we digitize our performance, which means new opportunities and offers. Focusing on possibilities leaves my engine running.

Was there a phase in your (job) life when you made a change of direction?
I understand changes less as a U-turn, but more as a progression. The market, customers and needs are changing? and with them our offer. Originally started with the advice of students, students and graduates, today we count increasingly more experienced clients and companies among our customers. Executive coaching, team development and employee evaluations have been added in recent years. For each format we compile our set of test procedures, add new ones or develop our own ones. For me personally, a lot has changed with the growth. I hate bureaucracy and regulations, but at some point structures and responsibilities are simply needed. Meanwhile, I'm glad to have a managing director and department manager by my side. After almost 15 years, this has opened a new phase for me: the free weekends. They also became possible because I withdrew with a heavy heart from a business that I had started with friends on the way. Getting out is actually new to me. Since my self-employment, I have pushed many projects and for example the association Step up! founded for the vocational orientation of disadvantaged young people. I am busy with BeBrilliant and planned digital products from Struss und Partner. For now at least.

Which impulses were particularly important to you?
The original impulse came for sure from my mother, who always believed in me and strengthened me in my skills, my personality and my self-esteem. She has given me confidence in my power and in life. As a non-medical practitioner, she has aroused my interest in spiritual topics that give me food for thought until today. So perhaps my holistic approach is that career planning is always life planning. Ever since I had experienced counseling, I wanted to find a way to combine the two, to derive personality decisions and achieve not only professional but also personal satisfaction. You can be successful without identifying with the job. But the only one who is satisfied is who is one with what he does. Contributing to people being fulfilled because they can unfold and develop in the right place is my incentive. And there is this place for everyone.

Were there phases of doubt or setbacks? What helped you a lot in those moments?
At the very beginning I advised customers at my home. Career planning on the living room couch. When demand increased and we moved to new premises, that was a huge leap - to 450sqm. Our step fell just in the time of the financial crisis in 2009. Declining bookings with increasing credit load often did not let me sleep well. I still have to swallow the word "Kurzarbeit" today. Both financially and emotionally a difficult time. In such moments, it helps, if the inner voice, which speaks well, also one or the other from the environment. Especially my family gave me a lot of support back then, for which I am incredibly grateful.

What was the most encouraging sentence in your (job) life and why would you like to share it? // Is there a motto of yours?
The woman who does not require validation from anyone is the most feared individual on the planet? is a sentence by Mohadesa Najumi that I would like to pass on. Women, in particular, tend to underestimate themselves and make small talk. In my consultations, but also in my private environment, I often experience how dependent they are on the opinions of others. When thinking and acting is determined by what is supposedly desired or socially accepted, it is difficult to find one's way. Decisive is the relationship to oneself. To know oneself, to give a positive view to one's own potentials and to value them, is for me the basis for a happy life and conscious decisions. I wish this ability to every woman.

What awaits visitors to the ChroniquesDuVasteMonde Academy Job Symposium in their Speed ​​Talk?
I'm going to chat something out of the founders' box and tell you what it's like to become an entrepreneur when you're young and fight for your job. Since I've been managing my business for almost 15 years, I know the challenges that await on a personal and business level when a start-up becomes an established business. As a multiple founder I know the feeling of juggling with many balls at the same time? and to wish for a third arm. But above all, in my Speed ​​Talk, I will talk about the harmony of personal being and doing business. Because I'm not just looking for my clients, but live it.



„Eigentlich kann ich nichts“: Die Angst vorm Auffliegen (March 2024).



Germany, Berlin, start-up, founding idea, career planning, career plan, career path, career counseling, further education