First taste of corporate world as a physicist

My first job was an ideal transition from the university lab into the corporate world. I worked in the lab of a big German laser manufacturer in a quiet valley in Switzerland. I basically continued my work “playing around” with lasers. Only this time with a higher budget and somebody actually caring about my results.

My life revolved around technology, my dog and occasional rides on my mountain bike through the Swiss alps. My communication was mainly with other physicists about the performance of our lasers and how long some crystal inside had lasted.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that this is not the thing I wanted to do for all my life. I wanted to move “up” and becoming a project manager seemed to be the next logical step to achieve this.

This is my story: from physicist to communication expert

First taste of corporate world as a physicist

My first job was an ideal transition from the university lab into the corporate world. I worked in the lab of a big German laser manufacturer in a quiet valley in Switzerland.

I basically continued my work “playing around” with lasers. Only this time with a higher budget and somebody actually caring about my results. My life revolved around technology, my dog and occasional rides on my mountain bike through the Swiss alps.

My communication was mainly with other physicists about the performance of our lasers and how long some crystal inside had lasted.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that this is not the thing I wanted to do for all my life.

I wanted to move “up” and becoming a project manager seemed to be the next logical step to achieve this.

My first project

It wouldn’t take long and I got my first project. The setup was bad. Today I wouldn’t start under this kind of circumstances.

I was the project manager and the lead developer in the lab. It was a big failure. I didn’t have the time to lead the team and keep the project running as I spent all my time in the lab trying to tame the laser beast.

Already then I realized that the different members of my team needed different ways of communication. I found the right tone often, but I didn’t know why.

Communication was not considered an important topic in the company. The project management trainings offered little help as the principles were way too generic or too difficult to be used successfully in everyday work situations.

My first team lead

After a few years I moved on to another company to see how things were going elsewhere. It started quite nicely but soon the signs started showing that it wasn’t better at all. The spirit in the team was bad, everybody was in complaining and blaming mode. Frustration was building up when I got my promotion to become a team leader.

Finally, I had my first management position. I was proud and ready to set up the team and change everything for the better. Soon did I learn that it didn’t work. My ideas and initiatives were not appreciated by management and soon my enthusiasm turned back into frustration.

I started reading books about leadership and communication. They ensured me that my approach wasn’t wrong.

Successful Projects

I got the opportunity to take over a project in a larger international company. The team was established but they lacked project management knowhow.

I could help the department setting up project management for big R&D projects. I started trying a few of the methods I had read about and they actually worked.

I could connect to most of the team and managed to establish a better communication environment. Some I couldn’t reach, though. They just didn’t seem to get it. I was annoyed by them. I just didn’t understand why it didn’t work for some…

Becoming an Industrial Profiler

Even though things worked quite well, I still felt that there must be more to learn to become a better leader and communicator.

I knew that 2-day seminars would not do the trick, I had taken enough of those. I came across this 1 year training program to become a certified “Industrial Profiler” promising in-depth understanding of humans.

From reading their micro expressions to personality disorders and their psychological causes. We learned a lot about team dynamics, human interactions and communication.

Finally, there was this overview which connected the dots and gave me that overview I was always missing.

A big change project

It was interesting to watch the group of people in the profiler training program. We became a team and shared our issues and problems and discussed possible solutions. In the end most of us had new jobs, some even changed their entire life.

I took the chance to set up and lead a Project Management Office for the Shared Services team in the company. It became a huge project in itself including a complete reorganisation of the business unit.

I used the knowledge from the Profiler training and developed the Communication Compass model to help me convince the team. It was great to see the power of the model when applied even to the most sceptical team members.

Time to share my knowledge

I started to explain my model to my colleague who is a certified coach. She quickly catched the idea and she also loved it from the start.

It was great to share our experiences and feedback each other about our observations and successes. And also why sometimes it hadn’t worked - mostly because we were stressed ourselves and didn’t properly apply the model.

After this very positive experience, I decided to share the compass with a wider audience. I am convinced that it is too valuable and successful to be kept a “secret”.

It changed my life completely, and I am sure it will also change yours.