Menu
Testimonials
I’ve worked with clients from various backgrounds across the globe. Here is what some of them have experienced as a result of coaching.
Before I started working with Magda, my response to the unknown was, more often than not, dominated by the fear of failure. I was facing an internal conflict among genuinely striving to show up and the delays generated by perfectionism. I felt like I had an inner critic who prevented me from sharing my work in various stages of development, speaking in meetings unless I had the perfect answers, etc. As a consequence of this behaviour, I was sabotagging important goals such as increasing my influence in the organization and improving my time management. Moreover, I struggled with the rescuer’s syndrome, such that I constantly tried to prevent my direct reports to make mistakes by getting involved hands on in some of their projects, not realising that I was taking valuable growth opportunities from them. In fact, at that moment, most of my professional setbacks were governed by this fear of failure and the imposter’s syndrome. The worst part is that I had little to no awareness about the root cause.
Thus, all the things I tried before coaching (e.g. personal development books, leadership courses, various time management techniques) didn’t provide the results that I was hoping for. Through coaching, I found the root cause and started practicing awareness in this direction. This proved to be the key to improving as a person and as a leader. Although I did not know much about this practice, as soon as coaching was presented to me as an option, I embraced the idea with an open heart and mind. I chose to put in those hours and trust the process. It is my belief that the kind of results that I achieved in just a few months were possible, in part, because I came open, honest and prepared to (re)discover myself.
I acknowledged my part in this journey, defined my goals and worked towards them, always showed up. However, to me, when I started this chapter, “The Coach” was a huge unknown. Luckily I was matched with Magda and I couldn’t ask for a better fit. Magda has a unique way of making you look inside yourself. Her guidance helped me surface old and forgotten sides of me that motivated and served me well in the past. I came across energy resources that were buried deep inside. Among the insights gained and that made a huge difference for me, I can count:
1. Meeting myself where I am at a given moment, not spending valuable time and energy to shut down the inner critic. I can hear this inner voice and still do what’s best for me. 2. Separating the personal and professional plans can help me stay calm and focused in tough situations at work. 3. Filtering more carefully my collaborations, given that “each yes said to something, bears a no that I’ll have to say to something else.” 4. Better communication by “softening the delivery, not the message.” 5. Not letting direct reports make mistakes is synonym to stealing growth opportunities from them and valuable time from myself. “A burden shared is a burden doubled, not halved.” Working with Magda helped me understand how important it is to practice awareness, try to identify the source of hesitation / uneasiness.
As a result, I feel more proactive and productive, more present and I got to better time management through increasing the trust and empowerment of my team. I feel energized and motivated. I finally found the strength to be honest with myself, analyse more and be able to truly separate the personal and professional plans. This helps me cope better with my fears and problems. Getting to this progress in such a short amount of time wouldn’t have been possible without Magda’s expertise and guidance. I am very grateful to her for the new perspective that I gained and the results that were only possible thanks to this collaboration.
Before I started working with Magda, I was really doubting myself and my ability.
I'd come into a big role, headhunted by a former colleague, and it was a big step following 8 years of freelancing. I knew it was my dream job and I could do it, but a challenging team meant I was second-guessing my decisions and questioning whether I was going to let my manager down and if I was making the right calls. I was struggling to rise above the emotions and politics and couldn't see past the challenging period that faced me upon joining M&S. My biggest fear was that Nic would tell me it wasn't working and I'd lose this opportunity.
Before coaching, I tried to focus and remind myself of my experience and ability, but it required more application. I needed to apply a lot of learnings and not drown in the day-to-day challenges.
Once we started to work through real-world examples I was able to apply these learnings well.
My boss, my peers, my family have all noticed a real change in me. I'm seen as a valuable resource to the business and am continuing to positively build my profile. I've managed difficult situations, difficult people and we've come out the other side to a team that is more positive, more enthusiastic and is positive about the change. They respect me, I care less what they think and we're all moving forward.
The tiny insights are the realization that the situations dealt to me would have been tough for any manager – not just me. That none of this was personal. And above all, that every experience, no matter how challenging, is an opportunity to learn and grow as a manager.
I signed-up for the coaching program because I was frustrated with my job and with the pressure I was feeling after becoming a mother and having to accommodate different priorities in my life. I needed something to change but I didn't know what I wanted to do. I was pretty sure I wanted to change jobs though.
Before coaching, I had replied to job offers and interviewed for other positions, but somehow none of them seemed satisfying. I had also thought about becoming self employed, but I also couldn't see myself doing it.
I started out as skeptical about coaching and was in fact very conservative about what could be achieved. I expected to hear a lot of catchphrases and ideal scenario building. I weighed the idea of getting some more self help books instead of the coaching sessions for a minute, but then took the risk.
I still have no idea what I want to do next or which kind of job would suit me best. The difference is that I am fine with it. Through some deft questions and observations that Magda made throughout our sessions, I came to realize that, for me, it doesn't really matter what I am doing because work will never be what drives me. I am driven by what I do outside work, my personal time and achieving balance, spending time with my family and helping a new human being learn to live a good life. It's all a matter of perspective and the choice of that perspective is mine. It's such a beautifully simple insight that took many small steps to build, throughout our conversations. For that, I am grateful and feel it was worth it.
Before I started working with Magda my life was stuck in a loop of negative behaviors, negative self talk, very low self esteem and a permanent feeling of guilt and fear that I am doing everything wrong and it will all soon come crumbling down. All these feelings were mentally paralyzing and overwhelming to the point I was not only completely unproductive at work but I was not living my life at all. I was living only inside my mind or using screen time to escape facing my true feelings or taking any action. I was exhausted both physically and mentally from this way of life. I was blaming all these on taking a bigger role at work, one that I did not truly desire for which I didn't feel ready or equipped to manage, with higher demands in terms of tasks and responsibilities. My biggest fear was that there might be no way out of this negative loop. And continuing that way of life would have led to losing my job and the means to financially sustain myself and my family.
At the time I was already doing psychotherapy but it wasn't enough or maybe it wasn't the right therapeutic approach.
At the time I approached Magda for the coaching program I was determined to try anything and everything to change myself and the way I live. I suspected I might be burnt out or even depressed. I was reluctant to go all in with Magda because I wasn't sure if she would be able to help me with what I was facing as I expected coaching helps you better yourself when you want to grow but might not be the suitable approach for someone burnt-out or depressed.
Working with Magda helped me find clarity. I identified the root cause of not living my life like I want to, I learnt a lot about myself, the cause of my fears and the motives that were holding me back. I took responsibility for my life and my actions and I started to build the life I want to live. I stopped living the continuous loop of negative behaviors and thoughts. I started seeing the benefit of taking even the smallest steps, I understood and accepted my shortcomings and embraced the idea that each experience can also have a bright side. That we need to look at the positive aspects of everyday life to build a positive story.
Purposefully looking every day at the successful outcomes (even the smallest of them) made me see beyond the negative picture I was stuck in.
Magda's constant support and objective feedback from the sidelines guided me in seeing the big picture with clarity. She offered insights that I wouldn't have been able to identify on my own. The activities she suggested (that I would have never thought off) opened up new perspectives that allowed me to identify what within me was holding me back and how the life I wish to live would look like. I realized I have within me the power to change and take charge which led to a snowball effect in finding additional resources to drive that change. I also accepted that change is not a sprint, but a marathon for which you need to mindfully spend your resources and that taking things easy is wiser in achieving long term results.
Magda has really helped me improve my performance and realize more of my potential. I've been working with Magda for about two months and I am more than satisfied with the results. Among other things, she helped me to identify and gain clarity on my personal and professional goals and to break up thought patterns that were holding me back from achieving my goals. I highly recommend her to anyone looking to achieve a better professional and personal life. It's been a great journey!
I found coaching with Magda incredibly helpful. I worked through some challenges with a commitment to my self-care. In the past, I have been very good at my commitments related to other people but when it came to self-care I could not manage to keep my commitment on a consistent bases. Through the coaching with Magda I managed to overcome this and I’m am pleased to say that for the past month I was able to exercise every single day and meditate twice a day. This feels like a major breakthrough for me.
I had never worked with a coach before and was introduced to Magda before starting a new executive position. I am a mother of three young children and had been working in Finance at the management/executive level for the past 20 years and decided to leave my existing position to pursue a more prestigious opportunity. I was feeling very overwhelmed in my life and full of doubt before starting this new opportunity. I feared that I wouldn’t be successful in this new position and that my family would suffer as I worked long hours in this new role.
After one session with Magda, she helped me realize why I was hired and that my confidence is a result of doing the job and not a pre-requisite. She helped me see how hard I was being on my self and worked with me to identify some strategies I could use to be successful in the position and create the life I want for myself. I quickly started getting excited to take on the position instead of being fearful.
I continued to check in with Magda every few weeks and I always felt grounded and more confident after each session. I felt like I would start each session with all kinds of thoughts racing through my head and she would do such an excellent job of helping me identify what was within my control and what I could work on to reach my goals. She has a special talent of doing this in a way where she just asks the right questions and it’s so interesting how I was actually the one with the solutions!
I feel like my time with Magda has been life changing. She helped me see how strong I am, the importance of being present, and ultimately the confidence to just be myself.
In the end I was successful in my new position, but ended up making a decision to leave it and focus on my family. I did this with confidence and clarity.
I’m in my mid 40’s and have honestly always been a bit skeptical of coaching. However after my experience with Magda, I feel like it’s something everyone can benefit from, and especially women and mothers working in Management positions. I don’t think there is enough support for women and mothers in many corporate environments, especially at the executive level and coaching is a must. I am very grateful I was introduced to Magda and would highly recommend her as a coach.
As a result of coaching with Magda, I feel I have rediscovered my power and energy to live, to work, to act. I liberated myself, step by step, from the blockages, the barriers, the doubts and the fears that were pressing me and preventing me from moving forward, from acting, sometimes even from thinking straight. My gains from coaching are extremely valuable: confidence, courage, energy, drive, clarity, focus. Now I am more present and more self-aware. Magda patiently guided me and helped me to discover and bring to light many 'treasures' that have been laying hidden within myself. For this I am very grateful and thank you from the bottom of my heart!
Before working with Magda I was struggling to find the trust in me to do things I dreamed of. Like having the courage to go to a TV show or having a facebook or blog page to write my feelings, my thoughts, my vision about life and the universe or hosting an event. I had struggles finding my own voice, and understanding why I can not set healthy boundaries. I was also trying to change the external world and to change others instead of working on myself. Now my life is more in flow. Now I am more relaxed and in pace with my dark side… I know every external conflict is actual an internal one, so I accept more and more everything the way it is. I am focusing more on myself.
Before coaching, I believed that success is achieved by hard work and sacrificing the joys of life. And I imagined my personal success as something small because I didn’t have the confidence that I was able to do such a hard job. I did not dare to dream bigger and I struggled a lot with procrastination.
I didn't feel sufficiently prepared to actually achieve my professional and personal goals. My biggest fears were around making mistakes and disappointing my family or the people I work with. Moreover, my success, although modest, required perfect work and therefore, I doubted the value of the things I was achieving, even if they brought good results.
I tried to work harder and compensate for my insecurities. I have added more obstacles in front of my goals, so that the road is longer and I make sure to avoid all mistakes. It was clear that this way was not sustainable and that I would need to change my view. I didn't know where to start such a change, and I didn't even fully realize the size of my problem.
I was pushed towards coaching and I had some doubts about this method. First of all, I imagined that I will discover something totally wrong with me, and that without making extreme changes, this method will not be successful. Then I thought that coaching means that I would receive advice on how I should live my life. Before, when I received such advice even though I considered it, it was difficult for me to follow it. So, I doubted that I was willing to make changes as a result of advice.
I discovered that it was not as I imagined. Magda guided me in such a way that I could get to the root of my problems on my own and then have a different perspective on them. The change in perception came through AHAs. I discovered that the problems I'm facing are normal and together with Magda, I untangled them.
There are some ideas that were the levers of my new perception. The most important was the increase of self-confidence. As a result, I created a new, bolder, bigger and achievable image of my success and I started working on it immediately.
Moreover, I started to accept mistakes as something human. I started to temper my perfectionism by realizing that I cannot control everything that happens around me. The expectations of others are not something I can control and therefore, I have learned to set sustainable limits in relationships and to align these expectations with my personal and professional objectives.
I met Magda at the beginning of 2019 when she started to accompany me, with discretion and patience, in my journey to order the avalanche of events, ideas, hesitations and intentions, giving me the space so necessary to bring to light the essentials and act with confidence. Relentless in seeking new tool and methods to fulfill her mission, with a comforting sense of humor, rigorous in approach without restricting the process of exploration, Magda manages to create the revealing context of the purpose urging to action.
Magda created the right space for me to reflect and find what would work for me as approach to achieve my goals. Through powerful questions she helped me identify what I want to change in my behaviours and way of thinking but also what I'm not willing to let go of. Magda has really helped me look at my challenges from different perspectives and therefore helped me plan for actions I would have probably not thought of otherwise.
Working with Magda was very insightful and practical – after 6 months parenting life is as hectic as ever but much more fun and with a hell of a lot less drama. Learning to live more in the moment and to make time for good things to happen made a big difference in our family life. Thank you Magda!
Magda is great in creating a safe space where I can be absolutely honest and discuss topics that are important to me but also very difficult to face. She has a great sense of when to let me ventilate but also when to intervene in order to keep me on track. Her observations are spot on and her challenging questions are very much appreciated.
First of all, I would like to thank you very much for your approach to go beyond and deeper into any subject that we discussed.
This approach of yours pushed me outside from my comfort zone and forced me to look for real reasons, answer essential questions, and challenge my up-to-date approach.
My biggest struggles were strategical thinking, art of delegation and negative response/anger. Each session helped me to understand my obstacles, provided me tools to work with them and pushed me by small steps to improve these and other areas.
I am still on the journey, but quite far away from where I started. I gained much valuable high level approach, improved my delegation (and "not taking back") skills and gained so much needed rest together with proper work-life balance. Thank you, Magda, once again for your insight, smart questions and all you help on my journey. It was fun!