The year 2020 gave me the opportunity to record the most important tools I have gathered over the 15 years of developing the Gefühlsmonsters, for working with teams, for talking with employees, and for self–reflection, in a structured and practical way. I called this first book “Leading with Empathy”.
I was often asked where the name Gefühlsmonsters came from. That – and a lot of practical knowledge about dealing with feelings – can be found in my second book, “Sometimes Feelings are Monsters”.
“Leading with Empathy”
In this book, every chapter is about feelings, pleasant, difficult, different, and common feelings, past and present, our own and others’, and surprising feelings.
Feelings have a tendency to sometimes jump out at us at inopportune times. This can lead to problems, especially with challenging feelings. Talking about feelings helps to better process what we have experienced, to define differences and commonalities, and to develop new techniques together. The Gefühlsmonster Cards® can facilitate these conversations.
“Sometimes Feelings are Monsters”
The most important message in my book is that we can influence what we feel, and also, that it is important to understand how our feelings work, and that with this knowledge and its implementations we have influence over the future development of our environment.
Basically my thesis is that if each of us is in touch with their feelings, and strives towards what brings them joy, we will automatically become who we are meant to be.