Coaches Corner with Yannick Jacob

1. Who or what inspired you to do what you do?
A combination of things really. There's my top character strength of "curiosity and interest in the world", my multipotentialite tendency to create variety in my life and do something for a living that will NEVER get boring (i.e. people), my deep love for complexity and big questions as well as how rewarding it is to journey alongside people as they're navigating their life and career.

2. What do you find the most challenging about your work?
Despite being German and definitely recognizing some of the cultural stereotypes, I can't say I have a lot of love for administrative processes and struggle to keep the backend of my business tidy and well-organised.

3. What’s the biggest lesson you have learnt in recent years?
That everything changes when you switch your perspective from "selling" to "offering your support" and serving people. I now often cite the metaphor of a waiter offering coffee or dessert to a party in a restaurant. No professional waiter will ever be offended by being turned down, but if the restaurant happens to have a house speciality that would seriously up my experience, possibly even create memories that I'll never forget or that may even alter the trajectory of my life forever, they'd be doing me a disservice if they didn't approach me and ask if I'd be interested. This view changed the way I approach people and pretty much eliminated any hesitations to make a proposal (as long as I'm confident that I can be of service to the client).

4. If you could wave a magic wand and have one wish for you or your coaching practice, what would it be and why?
I'd have everybody embrace their human condition in all its beauitful and challenging facets, to make friends with the inevitable anxiety, tension, paradox and dilemma that accompany being alive in a world with other people, and to meet our human challenges with courage and commitment. People with a foundational mindset like that make for the most enjoyable clients and usually get "the most" out of life. In reality, while there's arguably spectrum, we all struggle with developing or maintaining this sort of attitude towards living life and it's all too tempting to slip back into wanting comfort and safety. So it'll remain a journey and an inevitable part of being human. So perhaps the realistic wish would be for everybody to get a glimpse of how it feels to experience the full spectrum of what life has to offer and then dash out regular reminders that we have a choice as to how we'd like to engage with our existence.

5. Tell us a fact that not many people know about you …
I've been DJing for almost 20 years, live with nearly 3000 records and have been opening main stages at some of the UK's biggest music festivals.