Helping a Professional find their Dream Job

Sometimes talented professionals don’t fit in a given corporate culture. A common response is to doubt oneself and try to fit in. Fortunately, this professional did a MindSonar profile.

During the intake he told the MindSonar professional that he had had previous jobs that ‘fitted like a glove’. He felt happy, appreciated and was able to contribute. His last two jobs, however, had not been a great success. He felt his managers didn’t trust him and he was making a lot of mistakes. Overlooking his previous job experiences, he noticed the ‘missing ingredient’: the feeling that there was a safety net while learning.   

In his MindSonar profile he focused on a previous job when he had a 100% ‘safety net experience’. He discovered that ‘autonomy’ and ‘positive feedback’ were very important criteria for him to feel proud of his professional abilities. MindSonar helped him to understand the unique combination of meta programmes that supported his “100% safety net experience”. A combination, that immediately explained why he didn’t fit in with the present corporate culture: this was not their dominant way of thinking. 

He rewrote his resume, reconsidered his job outlook and found  an authentic way of presenting himself during job interviews (focusing on his uniqueness). He was successful: he found his dream job within a few weeks!

The MindSonar professional running this project was Jascha Kamstra (Netherlands). Look her up in the Registry.    

Helping Child Care Workers become better Auditors

In the Netherlands, a specific set of quality criteria is used to evaluate day care centres. These criteria are audited once a year by independent institutions. To improve quality, it is also important for the day care centres themselves to do audits internally with their own employees. Quite often this does not happen enough. So what exactly does it take to be a good internal child care auditor? 

A MindSonar Professional investigated two things: first of all what the Meta Programs of a good auditor are. And secondly, how this profile relates to that of a good child care worker. They already suspected these would be two quite different profiles.

They asked several organisations to tell them who their best Internal auditors were. They profiled these auditors, constructing an benchmark profile. Good auditors were found to score high on the Meta Programs ‘Visual’ and ‘Information’. They wanted to see what information had been stored about processes. Good child care workers typically had high scores on the Meta Programs ‘Kinesthetic’ and ‘People’.

So child care workers basically needed to shift their thinking style to be good auditors. The MindSonar Professional built a training program around these two Meta Programs. They achieved good results with child care workers who were starting auditing work.

The MindSonar professionals running the project was Johan de Haas (Netherlands). Look him up in the Registry.

How Pedagogy Interns adapted to their Host Organisation

Before pedagogy students of a certain Dutch university start their internship, for instance in an educational institution, they were profiled with MindSonar. 

Their supervisor, having intimate knowledge of the culture of each the institutions where the students do their internships, was able to express that culture in terms of Meta Programs and Motivational Drives.

The supervisor, comparing the profile of the student with that of the culture of the institution, could then predict the kinds of obstacles that a particular student was likely to encounter in that particular institution. Let’s say the institution’s culture was reactive, specific, and information-oriented and the student had a proactive, global, and activity-oriented profile. The supervisor could then predict that some people in the institution might experience the student as rash, uncontrollable and vague.

The supervisor would discuss this with the student and also help them think about how they could best respond, should this problem occur. This had advantages for both for students and the institutions. If the predicted problems occurred, the student was prepared to respond adequately. This reduced escalation of conflict and often prevented the eventual drop-out of the student from that internship.

Mindsonar: The Key to Overcoming Internal Interference

Helping people “Get out of their own way” for business success

“Getting in our own way” is a phrase that refers to the tendency for people to sabotage their own efforts or goals through their own actions or thoughts. This can manifest in a variety of ways, such as procrastination, self-doubt, or a lack of motivation. Essentially, it means that an individual is preventing themselves from achieving something due to their own behaviour or mindset.

In “Coaching for Performance,” John Whitmore provides an inspiring formula for achieving success:

Potential – Interference = Performance.

As a coach, I use this powerful principle to help clients unlock their highest potential and eliminate any barriers that can get in the way of progress and achievement. The interference, or the things that get in the way of our performance, can be both internal and external. Our individual experiences and understanding of the world are effectively shaped by our personal biases, values, and beliefs. We often process external stimuli through a filter, deleting what does not fit into our current worldview, distorting it to align with existing beliefs and values or generalising for us to better comprehend its significance.

One of the most common forms of internal interference is our own thinking. The way we think can create ripples of change in how we act or feel and ultimately realise our ambitions. We can see this from another familiar coaching tool, the cognitive Triangle.

By understanding and becoming more aware of our thinking we can influence our behaviours and manage our emotions better.

This is where the power of Mindsonar comes into play for me and my coaching, and why it is one of my go-to coaching tools. It enables me to comprehend the client’s underlying values and beliefs. This gives me a unique perspective on their worldview and the triggers that may be interfering with what they are attempting to do.

For example, when an agitated client joined a call, we used the Mindsonar methodology to uncover the core value – the underlying motivation that had been threatened by a recent interaction. With this knowledge in hand, we were able to successfully manage the situation and return to focus on achieving coaching outcomes.

The Mindsonar profile also allows me and the client to investigate, in detail, the cognitive processes that are taking place clearly and visually. It allows us to identify capabilities as well as some of the restricting thinking blind spots. Being aware of my client’s thinking style can be incredibly useful for customising a coaching experience. Take the proactive, option-oriented individual who needs more help to stay focused on their objectives rather than getting drawn in by tempting diversions. Conversely, those with a reflective and procedural cognitive style may need some extra encouragement when it comes to moving ahead at pace.

Enabling my clients to get out of their own way used to be a regular challenge for me when I started coaching. However, with Mindsonar, it’s like giving my clients a map, a compass and a flashlight to navigate through the maze of their own thoughts. They often find themselves receiving extraordinary clarity around their thought processes and any pressing issues. In many cases, it gives them the ability to get right to the heart of things.

Understanding John Whitmore’s performance formula and the importance of our cognitive style, utilising the cognitive Triangle model, demonstrates how powerful it is to have a tool that can x-ray our thinking style and gives deep insights into our cognitive preferences.

This is how I assist my customers in “getting out of their own way” and making minor but significant adjustments to their thinking, emotions and behaviours that lead to better p performance and less interference. Mindsonar opens an incredible world of possibilities in coaching, from personal transformation to developing your business.

How I use MindSonar in my Business Coaching

Understand your client’s thinking to be more effective as a coach
Who we are has a profound impact on our lives and the decisions we make. It influences not only what we do, but also how we do it when we do it (or not in a lot of cases), and most importantly, why we do it.

Our identity shapes the relationships we build with ourselves and others and determines the outcomes and results we achieve in all the roles we perform, be that in business or our personal lives.

To know thyself
Socrates famously said, ” To know thyself is the beginning of wisdom.”This simple but powerful statement highlights the importance of self-awareness and self-knowledge.. By understanding who we are, how we think and what motivates us, we can make more informed and deliberate choices about how we live our lives, run our businesses and the relationships we create.

This is why, as a Business Coach I spend time helping my clients gain clarity on how they think so they can better leverage their natural ability to “get out of their own way” and quickly achieve better results.

Cognitive style
One aspect of who we are is the way we think – our cognitive style. Cognitive styles are ways that people absorb and organise information as well as how they go about solving problems and making decisions and communicating them with others. As an experienced coach, I am constantly and creatively combining different methods andtools to create unique strategies for my clients. Seeking out new approaches is the best way to ensure that every individual reaches their desired outcomes! That’s why I’m a big fan of Mindsonar.Tailoring my coaching to each clientMindsonar is a tool that measures two things: your thinking style and what is important to you. This information is invaluable in helping me tailor my coaching to each client. By understanding how my client thinks, I can better understand how to best help them change their thinking and behaviours and enable them to be more themselves.

Moreover, by understanding what is important to them and their cognitive style, I can be more effective as a coach in the way I communicate, challenge, and support them during our coaching sessions. I can help them create goals and action plans that are aligned with their values and how they naturally think.

What will work for them and who they are?
There’s no one-size fits all blueprint when it comes to success – individual approaches must reflect a person’s unique abilities and methods of thinking to be effective.Therefore, using the Mindsonar tool I can Identify the unique combination of methods that will work for them and who they are.In short, Mindsonar is a powerful tool that can help coaches facilitate real change in their clients, fast. By enabling our clients an understanding who they are and how they think they can better leverage their unique talents and abilities and be more effective and efficient in achieving their objectives.

As a coach, you want to help your clients unlock their true potential for success.Incorporating Mindsonar into your toolset is an excellent way to give them the edge they deserve. Unlocking greater understanding and clarity in just minutes – what could be better?

Ob-la-di, ob-la-da! Happiness is Something you can Model!

Happiness Is Something You Can Model!

In the multitude of conversations I have with candidates with a work or life questions,

dilemmas in their careers, difficulties around absenteeism and illness or managers who struggle with keeping their team on track in times of Corona, it was great to talk to someone who said with a sparkle in their eyes: “Yes, I am always very happy!”

I decided not to ask the famous NLP (meta model) question “always?” I let her continue: “My basic feeling is always a number 8 or higher. Everything will be fine and I will make sure of that.”

I looked at her almost breathlessly, jumped from my chair, grabbed the MindSonar mug and poured her another cup of tea. “I’m going to take a test with you because so many people will want learn this from you!” She looked at me in surprise and continued: “I’m just naturally happy with the situation as it is and then I make something great out of it.”

You’ll understand that I was very curious about her profile . As context we chose: “Being especially happy”. Here is, in broad strokes, what I found.

Her meta-criterion turned out to be “Fulfilment”. A word I don’t see coming by that often as a meta criterion. Wouldn’t it be nice to have all those meta criteria from all MindSonars taken so far in one big word cloud (because you don’t have enough on your plate, Jaap).

The Sonar diagram contained Matching (8.8!), Present (7.4), Internal reference (7.4) and Towards (8.5).

Also notable were Kinesthetic (almost 7) and People (almost 5). And even scores across

maintenance, development and change and also balance in concept, structure, use.

Every time I Frankenstein this (‘Frankensteining’ = stepping into combinations of meta programs), I immediately feel good myself! I’m in the here-and-now, I feel

fulfilled, I’m doing it together with people, I know pretty much what I want and I have influence on that too. It doesn’t have to happen very fast, I can reflect and work out some details and roadmaps.

Plus: I rarely look at what is wrong in my life.

Amazing what MindSonar can teach us. You could almost sing it out loud!

Happy ever after in the market placeDesmond lets the children lend a handMolly stays at home and does her pretty faceAnd in the evening she still sings it with the band