Everyone has Aikido skills in them too! They just need to be awakened

In this fifth episode I’m in the company of one of the few Dutch women with a 4th degree Aikido black belt, Anita Paalvast.

By bringing her 20+ years expertise from the mat, to the organisation floor, Anita uses her Aikido skills as a metaphor for leadership and change management.

During our conversation I realize Anita has been developing her craft, because of the time she has invested on it, the persisting practice and the questions she asks herself, leading her to become an expert. I’m inspired by Richard Sennet’s passage, on his book The Craftsman:

“Every good craftsman conducts a dialogue between concrete practices and thinking; this dialogue evolves into sustaining habits, and these habits establish a rhythm between problem solving and problem finding.”

Be inspired by Anita’s ways of seeing the world though a life on the mat, learning how to fall on the ground and rise back up again.

Check Anita’s work and craft at her own website Aikido@Work

Enjoy!

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