Thrive in Your Career through Mental Toughness: Workshop with Corinna Freitag
We recently hosted dr. Corinna Freitag, a leading expert in Positive Intelligence®, for a captivating online masterclass for our HIP members. The session was packed with valuable insights and interactive exercises, leaving participants feeling empowered and optimistic!
Q: Corinna, Positive Intelligence® is a fascinating field. What sparked your passion for this area?
I am passionate about enhancing my understanding of human behavior and learning techniques that help me to grow and increase my comfort zone. A few years ago, I was stuck – negative feelings such as overwhelm, anxiety, and stress got too big and stopped me from growing further. So I started looking for tools to change this and found Positive Intelligence®. It is one of my game changers as it enabled me to reduce these negative emotions, improve my performance, and create better relationships. As it helped me so much, I immersed myself in the application and training to integrate it into my coaching programs so that my clients also benefit from it.
Q: Your workshop focused on creating a positive mindset. Why is this such a crucial skill for female professionals?
We have to face many challenges, which can lead to focusing on the negative rather than the positive things and thus having a bias towards noticing, exaggerating, and reacting to the negative as it is originally a survival function. Negative emotions are good for us – but only for a split second as an alert signal. As an example – pain is good for us as it protects us from harming ourselves. If we did not feel pain, we would, for instance, put our hand on a hot stove, leave it there, and burn ourselves seriously. Therefore, it is good for us to remove our hand from the hot stove immediately. The same is true for our negative feelings – as an alert signal they are good – but only for a split second. If we stay longer in negative emotions, it creates a tunnel vision, and the deeper we dive into these negative emotions, the tighter the tunnel gets, blocking us from seeing all those opportunities and possibilities we have to solve our challenge(s).
Q: We all face challenges. Can you share a practical tip from Positive Intelligence® that can help our members navigate obstacles with a more empowered perspective?
When something happens that you perceive as negative, ask yourself how you can accept or convert it into a gift and opportunity. Maybe you can learn something from this situation. Or it tells you that you are at the limits of your competence and guides you where you need to grow. If you do not know yet how to accept or convert it, put it into a parking lot and from time to time ask yourself again, how you can accept or convert it. Over time and with practice answers will bubble up. You can save much mental energy if you do not linger on those negative thoughts and feelings. This makes you more productive and creative.
Q: You offer coaching and online courses on Positive Intelligence®. Can you tell us how these programs help individuals cultivate a more fulfilling and positive life?
The fusion of coaching techniques with a deep dive into Positive Intelligence® is a powerful approach as most attempts at positive change fail because we stop at insights and don’t build habits. I provide my clients with a structured process and practical tools with easy-to-understand scientific background information. Training their Positive Intelligence® helps them to strengthen the part of their brain that serves them, and to reduce the part that sabotages them.
Recently I received feedback from one of my clients that I manage a pretty cool balance between listening, giving tips, explaining, and asking questions, which makes it much easier to work on and think about difficult and stressful topics. The coaching program has helped her significantly improve her relationship with a difficult colleague, handle unexpected challenges better, and become much calmer and more relaxed. She mentioned also that now she has techniques to quickly regain her composure and move forward constructively, rather than getting stuck in a negative mindset.
Q: Collaboration is key! What made you decide to partner with Heidelberg International Professional Woman’s Association and share your expertise with our community?
In the past, I attended several events such as the HIP carousel organized by the Heidelberg International Professional Woman’s Association. I liked the mix of networking opportunities with like-minded people sharing international backgrounds and interests and learning something new, which helped me to grow and broaden my mind. So, I thought it would be great to actively contribute to this forum by sharing my knowledge and enabling members to realize their potential.
