I always choose to challenge. Reflections on International Women’s Day.

 Whilst working on some of our client initiatives and statements for International Women’s Day this year, I paused to reflect on what the motto means for me personally. I really like this year’s theme, as it has two truly relevant aspects that resonate deeply with me and my biography: “choosing” and “challenging”.

 Choosing is so important, because it underlines the fact that we do have choice - to decide against or in favour of something. We can deliberately choose our path and with that - our future. As the famous quote suggests, ‘The best way to predict the future is to create it.’ In combination with the idea of challenging, this becomes a very powerful mindset. I am specifically referring to the possibility to challenge ourselves: to get out of our comfort zone and step into the unknown to open new horizons and let us grow.

 We can deliberately choose our path and with that - our future.

When I reflect on my path, choosing to challenge has been the red thread throughout my life. I chose to leave the security and reputation of my first employer BMW to launch my own company with all the risks attached to this step. I challenged perceptions and expectations when I went back to full-time work one week after my daughter was born, causing many lifted eyebrows (to be clear, more in my personal than my professional environment). This decision was, and remains, a challenging one for me as mother: to know and to feel that the relationship with my daughter depends on the quality of our time spent together rather than the quantity, and that with pursuing my career I can also be a role model.

The next challenge was in repositioning our company – understanding that we had to embrace the changing environment, to adapt, and focus on the digital transformation of our clients. To tap into this new territory and become successful within it challenged us on many levels: I had to go “back to school” – in that case the Hasso Plattner Institute and Stanford – to discover and learn. I had to motivate our team to embark on this journey, support them to get out of their comfort zones and learn new skills and capabilities as well. And looking back, I am beyond proud of ourselves for choosing to challenge. Today we work on some of the most aspired brands for leading companies in the world: from Mercedes-Benz and FC Bayern to Allianz and ArianeGroup. 

While continuously choosing to challenge can be exhausting it is also a great source of energy and inspiration. But the greatest benefit is that it builds confidence, trust and self-belief and thus becomes a self-reinforcing mechanism making us strong, powerful, and confident women – that continuously choose to challenge.