My name is Johanna, and I am the founder of The Island Coach, passionate about leadership and corporate culture.

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I was born and raised in Åland, which embodies a culture of entrepreneurship.

I began working while still in high school and experienced firsthand how the company I worked for transitioned from a positive culture to, under new leadership, imposing significant pressure on the staff and dampening morale.

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This sparked my interest in how people and businesses interact, leading me to pursue a Bachelor's degree in Behavioral Science, followed later in life by a Bachelor's in Business Administration and a Master's in Psychology, all to deepen my understanding of human behaviour and entrepreneurship.

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At age 20, I founded my own business—a horse farm and event company focusing on mental health. Through my business, I developed strong collaborations and led large groups of people (and horses) in my events.

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Years later, while working in loss prevention in the marine insurance industry, I witnessed firsthand the profound impact of a leader's social competence and the consequences when leaders lack effective communication skills and fail to create psychological safety within their teams and with their employees.

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This posed significant safety risks and became a bottleneck for business operations.

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However, it wasn't just social competence that posed challenges. I also observed leaders lacking emotional competence, making decisions to protect their egos rather than prioritize the business's best interests. They made insecure judgments due to a lack of self-trust and even behaved poorly towards their employees, resulting in negative cultural impacts rooted in their lack of self-esteem.

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I also collaborated with shipping companies that invested in their leaders, implemented programs to enhance self-esteem and psychological safety, and consistently cultivated a positive organizational culture.

 

I encountered authentic leaders who acknowledged their mistakes, were eager to learn, and genuinely cared for their employees. I witnessed direct positive impacts on safety statistics within these shipping companies.

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Determined to empower myself further, I enrolled in Uneståhl's international coaching program—a transformative journey led by Lars-Erik Uneståhl, a pioneer in Mental Training whose tools we integrated during our certification course.

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This journey was about acquiring knowledge, shedding old beliefs, renovating self-perception, and promoting inner and outer development.

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But the journey didn't end there. I continued my exploration, travelling to Thailand to deepen my coaching practice, which aligns with the profound wisdom of the life coaching philosophy. Yet, the most pivotal step in this journey was my decision to work on myself and help others do the same consciously.

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When I returned home from Thailand in November 2023, I began to build the program that would become the Socially Smart Program for managers to enhance their social skills. I combined the best insights from my extensive academic studies in behavioral science, psychology, and business administration with the best practices from the coaching world.

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Since then, I have coached several leaders to embrace and up-level their emotional and social competence.  

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Warm regards, Johanna

Your guiding hand towards a flourishing corporate culture.