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What competencies and skills will be needed for success in the future, both professional and personal? Are they changing?

The world, the environment and the challenges are changing constantly, faster than ever. It is becoming more and more of a challenge to keep up with the necessary changes. Seeking internal peace, focus and meaning, are the key challenges and are now the foundations of personal success and will continue to be so in the future. Luckily, the needs of the environment are diverse enough that there is the space for all of the possible inner potential of people. The good news is that we will always need introverted people who will do their jobs in peace, and also extroverts who will establish and maintain various contacts, networks and create opportunities. In terms of professional success, the key competencies will be the ability to collaborate and communicate, high emotional intelligence, the ability to solve challenges and creativity.

Economic growth is highly dependent on the quality and quantity of labour, however Slovenian companies increasingly struggle from a labour shortage. What is the environment in Slovenia, and in Slovenian companies, for foreign workers, managers and leaders?

The Slovenian environment can offer employees a distinct quality of life. It is one of the greatest competitive advantages of our environment. I generalise when I say this, not forgetting all of those who struggle to make ends meet for themselves and their families through fair work, who do not experience the quality of life in the same way. With an increasing sense of entrepreneurship, international networking and economic development, we are becoming an environment in which foreigners and guests will feel increasingly more welcome.

Recently you launched a new eCoaching platform, Potendo. How does it work?

Potendo enables employees to develop competence based on their personal potential, to help them reach their personal and professional goals. We developed a solution, sought after by entrepreneurs, managers, HR experts and employees. Everyone wanted a tool with which they and their employees could develop skills for effective work, collaboration and solving everyday challenges. Potendo is a behaviour training platform; the user is guided through tasks, questionnaires, tests and exercises, to try new behaviour in real life with confidence.

Why do you believe eCoaching is needed?

It is my passion and the passion of my colleagues to enable people to live a high -quality life. Everyone would like to be successful. No one looks forward to work that they know they won't succeed in, work that they know they will be criticised for. We therefore developed a tool that enables employees to train the general competencies with which they will communicate more easily and be better leaders, for themselves and for others. Regardless of the quality of potential and the quality of current behaviour, everyone can progress with the right, high-quality training.

I have come across your quote: "Honesty is not to tell people what you think of them, but to tell what is going on in yourself." Can you explain that thought, please?

I often hear people say that they are honest, that they always tell everyone what they really think. I like to ask them, 'do you have any friends left?'. We satisfy some of our most important needs with interpersonal relationships. If we do not have good relations with other people, we cannot effectively satisfy our needs which is why it is important that we are not rude to others or lecture them. It is much nicer if we simply tell them how we feel because of what happened, instead of telling them what it is they are doing wrong and how they should act so that it would be right for us. We can be honest when we are loving and we give positive feedback. In all other cases, it is better to talk about ourselves and our feelings.