I help leaders to develop themselves
and to build healthy, effective
organizational cultures.
Hi, my name is
Maciej Szturmowicz
I create a judgement-free relational space where managers can discover and develop themselves, experience new communication techniques and discuss and solve complex organizational problems. I am one of only 16 professional coaches in Poland accredited by the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) at Senior Practitioner level, a facilitator and certificated Gestalt psychotherapist. At the same time, in my work I draw on 16 years of experience in various leadership roles.
DEEP BUSINESS EXPERIENCE
I have a holistic, multi-dimensional view of how organizations function. My deep understanding of how both corporations and small businesses operate has been shaped by MBA study at Warwick Business School and extensive practical experience. I have worked with hundreds of companies for many years in B2B sales consultancy in Poland and abroad and delivered consulting projects where I have helped companies build their B2B sales divisions from scratch and lead organizational change.
A RELATIONAL, HOLISTIC AND OUT-OF-THE-BOX APPROACH
I work with managers and their organizations innovatively and without dogma. I combine diverse methods such as drawing on business know-how, using advanced relational and communication techniques and applying a therapeutic approach to companies as living organisms. I pay equal attention to hard and soft organizational elements. I stimulate intuition when working with the sculptures I create, focusing on dialogue, and conduct experiential activities in movement and embodiment to discover aspects of a person or company beyond words.
I work with individuals, groups, teams and systemically with entire organizations in Polish and English, at the client’s premises or remotely on the Zoom platform. I offer innovative, highly effective work methods, such as walking sessions in nature or experiential work using body movement instead of traditional seated meetings.
WHAT I DO
I create and run bespoke workshops and development programs. I conduct executive coaching and team coaching processes. In addition to my work with business clients, as a certified psychotherapist in Gestalt therapy I accompany individual people in developing their selves and sense of purpose in contact with others and the world.
EFFECTS
As a result of my support, the companies that work with me build close relationships internally and with their customers, increase sales results and successfully create supportive working environments where best talent wants to work.
IBM Thought Leader in Industry Selling
one of 9 people certified at this level in the Growth Markets region in 2012
EMCC Senior Practitioner coach
one of 16 professional coaches in Poland certified at this level in 2022
Certified EAGT Psychotherapist in Gestalt therapy
4-year training program and EAGT certification exam in 2023
Certified Transformational Presence Coach
training cycle and certification with Alan Seale
Certified
ICC Coach
2014 r.
MBA z Warwick Business School
in the UK (graduated with distinction), BBA from Webster University in the USA
Experience
What working with me looks like
I work with my clients on a long-term basis as a facilitator, therapist, leadership coach and trainer. In my individual sessions and group workshops, I:
- Develop my clients’; awareness through experiencing rather than dry transfer of knowledge.;
- Stimulate the inner integration of my clients on the level of thoughts, feelings, intuition and bodily sensations;
- Encourage people to allow themselves to be human, e.g. to feel, name and express their needs;
- Help each person to build his/her/its individual sense of Self, which can then meet the Self of others and build Me-You relationships.
- Propose consideration of the different dimensions of relationality – from the relationship with oneself, to the relationship with another person, and relationships in teams and groups;
- Create a judgement-free space for discovering, naming and discussing phenomena in people and organizations.
- Stimulate deep listening, dialogue, curiosity about observed phenomena;
- Share my observations or experiences as appropriate to the situation.
- Suggest new ways of communication, teach practical, proven skills;
- Care about the business relevance and immediate usefulness of what we do;
- Stimulate the discovery of new possibilities for action and a sense of choice and agency.
- Respect resistance by treating it as a message to be listened to rather than a problem to be solved.
There is no I-You relationship without Self and You.
If you don't build your Self, who should enter the relationship?
Who I Work With
I work with business-to-business companies and leaders aiming to build a competitive edge based on healthy, collaborative, long-term relationships within their organizations and with clients. I work with:
INDIVIDUAL
LEADERS
responsible for managing others, entrepreneurs, board members, directors – in individual sessions and processes in the capacity of coach, psychotherapist, supervisor, and work observer
MANAGEMENT TEAMS, GROUPS AND TEAMS
in workshops and development programs as a facilitator, an external moderator of difficult conversations, and a trainer
ALL
EMPLOYEES
of a particular company wishing to develop attitudes, behaviors, and relational skills – in interactive workshops and programs for 10-100+ people as a facilitator and trainer
I do not conduct webinars, I am not a motivational speaker, I do not promote one-size-fits-all solutions, and I do not provide simple, magic formulas for success. I am passionate about interactive, experiential work with people within the living and complex organism of a given company, focusing on its goals, challenges, important themes, and phenomena rooted in its unique business context.
I encourage my clients to consider their needs, phenomena, and organizational issues on four levels:
SPIRITUAL
for example, in the realm of long-term mission, a deeper sense of the company's existence, or the social responsibility of business for people, the world, and the environment
EXISTENTIAL
for example, in the areas of motivation, purpose, life choices, intentional actions, or the alignment of personal values with organizational values
PSYCHOLOGICAL
for instance, in exploring relational phenomena, needs, boundaries, and individual development at the levels of thought, emotions, intuition, impulses, bodily sensations, and behaviors
ORGANIZATIONAL
including the business model, strategy, success criteria, processes, leadership and management, structure, teams, roles, authority, politics, and company resources
It is possible to know everything in your head and still be stuck in old, undeserving patterns of behavior
Healthy and dysfunctional organizational culture
My many years of business experience show that a healthy organizational culture is one in which people:
- Have a sense of meaning in what they do, and enjoy doing it;
- Treat each other subjectively rather than objectively and transactively;
- Talk to each other openly, maturely and respectfully;
- Are curious and ask questions to discover and not just to confirm;
- Think and talk before they act;
- Have empowerment, responsibility and the right tools;
- Work in teams or in coordination rather than in organizational silos;
- Can come together in both similarities and differences;
- Treat resistance as information about undisclosed needs rather than as a problem;
- Resolve conflicts quickly, professionally and respectfully.
Download PDF1
More symptoms of healthy organizational cultures
An unhealthy or dysfunctional organizational culture is one in which people:
- Are constantly fighting against something;
- Change the company’s strategy every few weeks/months as a result of not having a strategy;
- Talk little to each other, unable to meet outside of their roles as people;
- Debrief rather than ask;
- Feel little commitment and motivation to work;
- Delegate decisions and responsibilities upwards;
- Regularly overwork themselves and are on the verge of professional burnout;
- Feel chronic stress, are afraid, have panic attacks;
- Force solutions, without dialogue or understanding of each other, they force themselves;
- Hide, create a fictitious reality, deliberately mislead other.
Download PDF2
More symptoms of unhealthy or dysfunctional organizational cultures – download the PDF with a list of symptoms and discuss it with your team
Persistent rigidity in specific actions or inaction is a disturbance and leads to decay. Movement, flexibility, and the smooth flow of processes are signs of health and life, both in individuals and in organizations.
The needs and challenges of my clients
Organizational needs
When supporting my clients in building healthy organizational cultures, I focus on working in three key areas for business development – internal relations, leadership, and sales.
I contract the type, scope and duration of support with company representatives starting from the goals, needs or challenges of the organization in question. The starting point for the conversation is often questions such as:
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION
- How can we reduce turnover levels?
- How can we increase levels of open communication and reduce silos?
- How can we reduce tension and stress?
- How can we build a culture of feedback?
- How can we empower people and teams?
- How can we reduce divisions and increase the level of teamwork in the company?
CONSCIOUS RELATIONAL LEADERSHIP
- How can we motivate effectively?
- How can we retain the best talent?
- What motivates young people?
- How can we effectively bring in change with employee buy-in?
- How can we support people in difficult situations?
- How can we solve systemic problems?
- How should we carry out cultural change?
CUSTOMER RELATIONS, B2B STRATEGY AND SALES
- How do we define the deeper purpose of the company’s existence?
- How should we structure the go-to-market strategy and translate it into operational activities?
- How can we increase the pipeline, B2B sales and project profitability?
- How can we build long-term partnerships with clients?
- How can we negotiate better contracts with clients?
- How do we manage or build a sales team from scratch?
Individual needs of managers
In my individual work with managers, I address different dimensions of relationality:
- Relationship with self and personal topics – needs, resources, emotions, motivation, behavior, action, work-life balance, crises.
- Relationships with others – building healthy relationships, conversations, conflicts, communicating needs and boundaries, and roles.
- Relational leadership – awareness, working with people and teams, leadership styles, conversation techniques, and collaboration in the company.
- Relationships in the organization – power and politics in the company, relationships between divisions, teams, and stakeholders.
- Leading change – attitude to change, co-creating change, communicating, increasing buy-in.
- Relationships in the company ecosystem – with stakeholders such as owners, funds, investors, customers, partners and suppliers.
The greater the technological progress, the more humanity is needed in business. How often do we allow ourselves to be human? To what extent can we still do that?
My programs and services
In response to and in collaboration with my clients’ needs, I systematically create and deliver practical programs and services to support the development of leaders and their organizations.
In response to and in collaboration with my clients’ needs, I systematically create and deliver practical programs and services to support the development of leaders and their organizations.
I conduct one-off strategic workshops, coaching processes, and 4-12-month support and development programs delivered at different levels of the organization and for different employee groups. In doing so, I integrate different types of coaching and therapeutic interventions. mentoring, workshops, training and counselling.
I precede each project with an in-depth, multidimensional analysis of the sources of organizational challenge so that I narrow down the scope of the necessary interventions that can produce the most positive effects on people’s behaviors, attitudes and performance at work.
An overview of my original programs and ongoing services:
ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION
Programs:
- Employee Experience Program
- Direct Communication
- Team Coaching
Services:
- Analysis of cultural challenges
- Facilitation of group workshops
- Communication and experiential workshops for groups of 10-100+ employees
CONSCIOUS RELATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Programs:
- Relational Leadership
- Strategic Conversations
- Managerial Coaching
- Change Leadership
Services:
- Executive coaching
- Deep coaching for more complex challenges
- Leadership and strategy workshops for leaders
- Work supervision for managers
CUSTOMER RELATIONS, B2B STRATEGY AND SALES
Programs:
- Executive Alignment – mission, business model and strategy
- Sales Excellence – consultative relationship sales techniques
- Sales Performance Program
Services:
- Business coaching
- Maturity analysis of a B2B sales organization
- Simulation analysis of sales skills
- Workshops – creating systemic solutions for organizations
Services:
- Analysis of cultural challenges
- Facilitation of group workshops
- Communication and experiential workshops for groups of 10-100+ employees
Services:
- Executive coaching
- Deep coaching for more complex challenges
- Leadership and strategy workshops for leaders
- Work supervision for managers
Services:
- Business coaching
- Maturity analysis of a B2B sales organization
- Simulation analysis of sales skills
- Workshops – creating systemic solutions for organizations
Ten people in a room hiding their fear is loneliness and paralysis. Ten people talking about their fear is discovering a systemic problem that can be collectively solved.
How it works
My holistic action, with its focus on expanding people’s awareness, relationality, dialogue and acting wisely with others, triggers a series of positive changes in the client company culture.
Firstly, the people working with me begin to feel the desire to try out new attitudes, behaviors and skills.
The more they prove themselves in practice, the more the overall motivation to act proactively, as a team, and take responsibility for it, increases. This, in turn, has the effect of easing the burden on managers, who can focus more on strategic rather than operational activities.
As a result, my actions lead to a systematic improvement in the business performance of the entire organization, which is developed without struggle, sacrifice or additional human effort, as it were, with a whole new level of relational cooperation.
Change begins when we stop trying to be what we are not
Results
Measurable business results of my projects, confirmed by references, include:
Threefold increase in the value of global B2B Enterprise Software sales (IT sector).
change in declining sales trend to 20% year-on-year sales growth across 11 sales regions and 90 banking outlets (banking).
support for the company’s business growth from 2020-2023 through a global advanced leadership skills training program for leaders (tech/marketplace sector).
Other referenced results of my activities include:
an eightfold increase in the number of sales consultants able to effectively adapt their approach, sales strategies, communication and offers to the needs and personalities of their clients.
an eightfold increase in the number of managers able to effectively develop their teams taking into account their interpersonal dynamics and personality differences.
tripling the number of managers able to actively, deeply listen to others.
tripling the number of employees aware of what motivates them to act effectively.
doubling the number of managers able to motivate non-financially.
doubling the number of managers able to use different leadership styles depending on the situation and the needs of the team.
increase in the number of employees consciously responding to stressful situations instead of reacting automatically.