NexusPoint Project Management L.L.C.

We help service-driven organisations strengthen leadership pipelines and improve operational consistency through Strategy Days, leadership development and practical coaching.

We partner with HR and L&D leaders across MENA and Asia, with deep experience in hospitality.

Focus areas:
✅ Leadership presence under pressure
✅ Delegation without losing control
✅ Accountability and feedback in multicultural teams
✅  Communication that builds trust and clarity

Learning is designed to fit busy operations: practical, applied and sustainable. We also facilitate Executive Team Strategy Days to agree must-win priorities, align leaders across functions and set a 90-day execution plan.

Co-Founder & Principal

Jeff Ross GmbH

Workshops and coaching for service-driven SMEs across Switzerland and Europe.

Our focus:
✅ ‘Starting up successfully’ workshops for aspiring wellness, beauty, spa and hospitality founders: clarify your offer, build a business plan and map your first 90 days.

✅ Leadership workshops and coaching for owners and founders
Designed for the scale-up stage: hiring first employees, onboarding a team and learning to lead.
Practical modules include:
• From founder to people leader
• Onboarding playbooks and first-90-days plans
• Delegation without losing control
• Feedback, accountability and simple performance rhythms
• Communication across levels and cultures

✅ Succession planning and mid-level development
Identify successors, prepare supervisors for promotion and stabilise day-to-day performance.

Our approach:
Short, practical sessions with follow-on coaching so progress sticks.
Our primary market is Switzerland and Europe. For MENA & Asia programmes, see NexusPoint (Dubai).

Owner

Tetr College of Business

Sharing leadership and team development insights with business students and early-career professionals preparing for entrepreneurship & management roles.

Ambassador & visiting Expert

Batgroup

Led the integration of a well-established service brand into a new group structure while maintaining client trust and team culture.

Key outcomes:
✅ Aligned legacy operations with new systems and metrics
✅ Guided branch leaders through structural and role changes
✅ Strengthened sales performance through clearer accountability

This experience deepened my ability to balance people, systems, and results during transition.

General Manager PFA (Putzfrauenagentur)

Finnish Chamber for Impact Partnerships (FC4IP)

Advised leadership teams in mission-driven organisations on leading growth without losing cultural alignment.

Facilitated strategic planning, leadership identity work, and cross-border collaboration.

Primary Consultant

InnoPark Suisse SA

Selected for a leadership development program focused on entrepreneurship and project execution in evolving markets.

Completed certifications and applied learning in:
✅ Project Management (IPMA Level D)
✅ Communication, agile leadership, and digital business models
✅ Clean tech market expansion strategy for EU entry

This experience broadened my strategic toolkit and strengthened my ability to coach across industries and roles.

Leadership & Career Development Program Participant

Apple

Led large, diverse teams in a high-performance, customer-focused environment.
Coached new managers through their leadership transitions and built teams grounded in trust and accountability.

Key achievements:
✅ Developed internal talent into senior leadership roles
✅ Maintained operational consistency through major transitions
✅ Built engaged, reliable teams under high pressure

Apple taught me how to build leadership capacity while delivering results — a lesson I now share with my clients.

Retail Leader

Swissôtel Hotels & Resorts

Directed resort and city operations with multinational teams, balancing owner expectations with service excellence.

Highlights:

✅ Built leadership depth within operational teams
✅ Improved team engagement and guest satisfaction
✅ Led organizational change with clarity and care

Hotel Manager & General Manager

Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.

Held multiple management roles leading to opening Hotel Manager at a flagship St. Regis property.
Learned to lead through complexity, scale, and cultural diversity — the foundation of my current coaching approach.

Highlights:
✅ Opened a luxury resort in Bali and led full post-launch operations.
✅ Led the operational integration of a Le Royal Méridien property in the UAE after the brand's aquisition.
✅ Drove Six Sigma initiatives to improve service flow and guest satisfaction at 2 luxury properties in Spain.

Progressive Leadership Roles

Various Hospitality companies

Built hands-on leadership experience in luxury hospitality across, Europe, the US, the Middle East and Asia.
Learned how service excellence and people development connect — a principle that drives all my coaching today.

Earlier roles

Change Leadership, General Manager PFA @ Batgroup & Member of the Board @ Putzfrauenagentur

Leadership isn’t about volume.
It’s about clarity, confidence and direction when the pressure is on.

I partner with HR leaders, GMs and Executive Teams across MENA & Asia to strengthen leadership capability from the ground up. My work sits where strategy, people and day-to-day execution meet in service-driven organisations.

Most performance issues in hospitality, retail and education aren’t about effort.
They come from three gaps:

❌ Leaders promoted before they’re ready to lead
❌ Executive Teams pulling in different directions
❌ No clear pipeline or succession to stabilise performance

So my work covers both sides of the leadership equation:

Strategy & alignment for senior teams
Facilitated Strategy Days that help GMs and Executive Teams:
✅ Agree a small set of must-win priorities
✅ Translate those into a 90-day execution plan
✅ Build the clarity and focus teams need to perform
✅ Name the leadership behaviours that sustain results

Leadership development for emerging & mid-level managers
Practical, human-centred programmes that build the skills to lead through others, communicate with clarity and coach across cultures.

Coaching & capability building
1:1 and group coaching, Train-the-Trainer, and tailored L&D that strengthen the pipeline and reduce turnover.

Across 25+ years with Apple Retail, Swissôtel, St. Regis and service organisations in Europe, the Middle East and Asia, one truth holds: engagement and commercial performance rise when leaders at every level know where they’re going and how to bring their people with them.

If you’re building your leadership pipeline or want stronger alignment at the top, I’m happy to explore how we can work together.

📞 Book a call: https://jeffross.as.me/

Jeff Ross

Top sellers stall when asked to lead.
Coach ICs now with lean prompts.

❌ Over-index on product expertise.
✅ Balance with coaching, listening, inclusive leadership.

❌ Feedback as annual event.
✅ Weekly 10–15 minute coaching conversations using SBI+.

❌ “Be more proactive.”
✅ Decision logs that capture judgment under pressure.

Fallout → Brilliant sellers, poor team leaders.
Fix → Clear thresholds: delegate during a peak, lead a small recovery.

Because inclusion drives voice, we hard-wire “invite the quieter voice” into stand-ups and handovers.
Outcome: candidates who already lift others.

To see the manager-as-coach prompts we use, message me and I’ll send the guide.

Helping hospitality and service brands align strategy, strengthen pipelines and deliver consistent performance | Strategy Days, L&D and coaching | MENA and Asia

Top sellers stall when asked to lead

Your manager gap began two promotions ago.
Build a leadership pipeline with this 90-day path.

❌ Cut layers, expect senior leaders to plug the gap.
✅ Grow capable first-line leaders who stabilise shifts.

❌ Promote on technical mastery alone.
✅ Promote on observed coaching, safety, and service recovery.

❌ Hope people “figure it out”.
✅ Give ICs a 90-day roadmap with on-shift experiments.

Fallout → Directionless teams, inconsistent standards, supervisor burnout.
Fix → Skill sprints: trust, influence, feedback, delegation, conflict, recovery.

Because development must fit rota reality, each rep is 2–15 minutes and logged. Managers coach, not carry.

Outcome: a bench of calm coordinators who can run briefings tomorrow.

If you want the playbook that underpins this, comment “Playbook” and I’ll send it.

Your 'missing managers' problem

If complaints spike, you’re too late.
Preload micro-leadership with this plan.

❌ Wait for complaints to spike, then book workshops.
✅ Build micro-leadership before the badge.

❌ Abstract competencies no one can see.
✅ Observable thresholds: run a 10-minute huddle, deliver SBI+ feedback.

❌ Annual talent reviews with thin evidence.
✅ Decision logs, peer feedback, capstone stories you can trust.

Fallout → Firefighting culture.
Fix → 70% on-the-job stretch with manager-as-coach prompts.

Because psychological safety predicts team effectiveness, we teach “Thank, Ask, Normalise” on live shifts.
Result: steadier service, earlier escalations, fewer near-misses.

If you’d like our L&D framework that powers this, send a note and we’ll walk you through it.

Stop training managers after the damage shows up

Strategy won’t save a shaky front line.
Six shift sprints make service dependable.

❌ Promotion-first, training-later creates “accidental managers”.
✅ Prepare high-potentials on shift before the title.

❌ One-off workshops.
✅ 70-20-10, with bite-size reps inside real service windows.

❌ Theory-first decks no one opens.
✅ Micro scripts, logs, and stand-ups people actually use.

Fallout → Missed standards, erratic guest recovery, churn.
Fix → Six 1–2 week sprints that build trust, coaching, delegation.

Because first-line leaders shape up to 70% of engagement, the cost of waiting is visible in your NPS and absence line.

Results you can expect: ready-now candidates who already run huddles, coach peers, and surface issues early.

If you’re building a 2025 pipeline in customer-centric operations, message me to discuss your sites’ needs.

JSESSIONID

li_at

Front-line managers have more impact than strategy has.

On paper, many service organisations look stable: good brand, decent demand, solid product.

Underneath, everything depends on a tiny group of managers holding the whole thing together.

When one leaves, the cost is bigger than a vacancy:
❌ Productivity dips while others “cover”
❌ Standards slip just enough for guests to feel it
❌ Confidence drops and people start looking elsewhere
❌ Recruitment turns reactive and costly
❌ Revenue opportunities are missed as priorities keep changing hands

That isn’t just a people risk. It’s a financial risk.
Gallup’s lesson is consistent: people don’t leave in the abstract. They leave environments where managers are overwhelmed and under-supported.

If you have no pipeline, then:
❌ Every promotion is a gamble
❌ Every resignation is a small crisis
❌ Every strategy is more fragile than it looks

Succession planning isn’t a corporate luxury.

It’s basic risk management for any hotel, school, clinic, or service business that runs on human performance.

Prepare people before you desperately need them.

Middle managers stuck between messages.
Give them crisp, consistent signals.

Executive teams in hotels and service businesses work hard.
The problem is not the effort you put in.
It is direction.

When the senior team is misaligned, you see it everywhere:
 ❌ Leaders pulling in different directions
 ❌ Conflicting signals about this quarter’s priorities
 ❌ Departments optimising for their own metrics
 ❌ Middle managers stuck between messages
 ❌ Frontline teams guessing where to put their energy

Engagement drops not because people don’t care, but because they stop trusting the signals.
 Then the financial impact lands fast:
 ❌ Turnover in key roles
 ❌ Slower response to market moves
 ❌ Lost revenue through inconsistency
 ❌ More firefighting, less improvement

Across hotels, retail, and services, one thing has been consistent:
 When the top team aligns on a handful of must-win priorities, everything beneath has a chance to stabilise.
 
Clarity at the top creates confidence in the middle.
 Confidence in the middle unlocks energy on the front line.
 That’s where guests, customers, students, and patients feel the difference.

Engagement is about seeing the direction clearly, and leaders walking it together.

If your top team’s priorities aren’t aligned, let’s pressure-test them together. Book a complimentary 30-minute call and I’ll outline a focused alignment sprint you can run immediately.

Those weekly updates feel busy, not better.
Swap noise for direction in one day.

Hospitality, retail, service teams: you’ll recognise this pattern.

❌ Operational updates, staffing gaps, guest feedback, budget variances, firefighting.
Important. Necessary.
But not the work that aligns a leadership team.

✅ The work that does:
What are the 3–5 priorities for the next 90 days?
Where are we misaligned without noticing?
What do our people need us to clarify?
Which capabilities are missing to execute consistently?

When leaders make room for this, everything steadies:
Engagement holds. Turnover eases.
Middle managers stop guessing.
The frontline gets a clearer signal.
Customer experience becomes consistent.
Financial performance gets less erratic.

Boundary → Because: alignment doesn’t happen between agenda items, it happens when leaders pause, sit together, and focus on direction, not just today’s noise.

The most underrated tool isn’t coaching or training.
It’s one uninterrupted day to think, decide, and commit together.

Give your team that day. Twice a year. Then hold the line.

Training often dies at the lunch rush.
Use on-shift cues that stick at peak.

❌ E-learning that dies at peak.
✅ Two-line prompts managers can use at 12:30.

❌ One-size modules.
✅ Sector examples: queue flow, top-10 stockouts, tour-bus arrivals.

❌ “Forever” changes.
✅ Bounded experiments: next 30 minutes, this service period.

Fallout → Skills don’t transfer to the floor.
Fix → On-shift practice with buddy circles and manager check-ins.

Because we measure behaviour, not attendance, leading indicators move first: briefings run, feedback given, conflicts de-escalated.

If you want a copy of the 90-day Emerging Leader Sprint, reply “90 days” and I’ll share it.

Training that survives the lunch rush

🇦🇪 On UAE National Day, we celebrate vision.
But it is our leaders who will decide whether we reach it.

The UAE Vision 2030 and the Fifty Economic Plan are bold:
a highly productive, talent-rich, service-driven economy that can compete with the best in the world.

That future runs through our workplaces - especially hospitality, retail, tourism and service businesses.

But the latest Gallup data for MENA tells a different story:
• Only 14% of employees are engaged
• 24% are actively disengaged
• 46% are looking for another job
• Daily stress is at 48% - among the highest globally

No country can deliver its full economic vision with a workforce that is exhausted and unstable.

And yet, this is not a vision problem.
It is a leadership problem - particularly in the middle management layer:

The managers who open and close the stores.
Who run the shifts.
Who approve the holidays.
Who coach (or do not coach) their people.
Who turn strategy slides into daily reality.

If that layer is overwhelmed, untrained or purely task-focused, we will not get the engagement, service quality and retention that Vision 2030 assumes.

The good news?
This is fixable - and the ROI is significant.

When we:

✅ Help strong individual contributors transition into people-centred leaders
✅ Build psychologically safe, engaged teams
✅ Create a feedback and learning culture instead of fear and firefighting

…everything else starts to move:
guest experience, team stability, internal promotion, and ultimately financial performance.

That is the Leadership Value Chain™ - and it is where I am focusing my work here in the UAE.

On this National Day, instead of more slogans, I invite you to a simple reflection:

👉 If you lead people in the UAE, what is one small behaviour you could strengthen in 2026 to make your team a place where talent wants to stay, grow and contribute?

Because every time a manager chooses to listen, coach, give fair feedback, or protect their people from unnecessary chaos, we take a small but real step towards the future this country is aiming for.

Here is to a vision that lives not just in strategy documents, but in the daily leadership our teams experience.

Happy UAE National Day 🇦🇪


Photo by Milan Kiro on pexels.

Your best future leads aren’t practicing.
Weekly pressure reps surface them fast.

❌ Talent spotting in annual reviews only.
✅ Weekly reps where ICs run moments that matter.

❌ “Shadow when it’s quiet.”
✅ Shadow at pressure points, harvest three copy-worthy behaviours.

❌ Vague “step up more”.
✅ Mini-campaigns with a metric, stakeholder map, and short retro.

Fallout → Quiet high-potentials stay unseen.
Fix → Simple artefacts that show the work and de-risk first promotions.

Because consistency beats heroics, we build habits: Focus 3, check-clarify-close, micro-recoveries with guests.
You’ll see who is already leading, not just hoping.

If you’re building a middle-management pipeline for 2026, DM me and let’s scope it for your context.

Leadership potential isn’t invisible, it’s unpractised

South Asia is 26% engaged, yet anger runs high.
People care, but many feel unheard.

Passion without psychological safety becomes burnout.
You won’t fix that with perks or posters.

EQ turns it around:
empathy → recognition that lands, not generic praise
self-awareness → fewer reactive decisions
coaching conversations → belonging over busywork

❌ “We’re engaged, so we’re fine.”
✅ “We’re engaged, so we must protect it.”

Boundary → Because: recognition is weekly and specific, because effort seen becomes effort repeated.

Make it practical: manager office hours, structured 1:1s, and a simple “recognise-then-redirect” script for tough moments.
Healthy engagement is the goal, not just high engagement.
It starts with emotionally intelligent managers who make safety a habit.

South Asia's Paradox

Promotions without support drain teams.
Start support before numbers slip.

We all know the pattern:
Strong individual contributor gets promoted.
Same expectations, bigger scope, little support.
They try to carry the team by working harder.
Communication wobbles.
The team quietly disengages.
Performance and guest experience follow.

On a spreadsheet, it looks like:
❌ Rising turnover and sick days
❌ Inconsistent guest/client feedback
❌ Lumpy sales and service metrics

In real life, it’s a human who was never taught how to:
✅ Have difficult conversations
✅ Give clear, fair feedback
✅ Delegate without guilt
✅ Set boundaries and protect their energy

Invest early, before they burn out or burn bridges.
The results are predictable:
✅ Teams stabilise
✅ Engagement stops swinging
✅ Financials get less lumpy and more reliable

Emerging leaders aren’t a “nice” group to develop.
They’re the infrastructure of future performance.

If this pattern is biting in your teams, book a complimentary 25-minute advisory call and we’ll map the first three fixes for your emerging leaders.

Where manager EQ is thin, engagement drops fastest.
We still promote for technical mastery, then hope for people skills.

When self-regulation is low, stress spikes; when empathy is missing, turnover follows.
Flattened layers haven’t helped. Many firms cut managers, then wonder why teams feel directionless.

Fallout → Fix: fewer managers → confusion and reactivity; equip remaining managers with EQ, coaching and feedback skills, then rebuild clarity.

Teach managers to:
give hard feedback without breaking trust
adapt tone across cultures and contexts
stay steady when pressure bites

❌ Treat EQ as “soft.”
✅ Treat EQ as the system upgrade that keeps teams steady.

Start inside, then roll out the skills.

The EQ gap that sinks engagement

The Gallup report has been stuck in my head for weeks.
We keep talking about engagement like it lives in HR.
It doesn’t.
It lives in the P&L.

In service businesses, low engagement shows up as:
❌ Turnover in the teams you can’t afford to lose
❌ Basics slipping, complaints rising
❌ Supervisors firefighting instead of coaching
❌ Sales and ops pulling against each other
❌ Mid-level leaders burning out quietly

None of that is “soft.”
All of it is expensive.

In hotels and other service organisations, you feel disengagement in:
❌ Overtime and replacement costs
❌ Guest scores and online reviews
❌ Missed up-/cross-sell and retention
❌ Managers checking out months before they resign

✅ Here’s the truth we skip: engagement is a leadership issue long before it’s an HR metric.

When leaders at every level know what matters, why it matters, and how to bring people along, engagement becomes a commercial advantage, not a slide in a report.

Treat it as a financial lever, not an annual survey.

Manager engagement just dropped to 27%.
Individual contributors stayed flat.

The people responsible for engaging others don't feel engaged themselves.

Add Korn Ferry's insight: drastically larger teams, fewer resources.

❌ Squeezed between executives and frontline. Drowning in operational noise. Expected to absorb pressure and still show up strong. ✅ Aligned priorities. Protected time to think. A system that treats managers as the critical layer they are.

70% of team engagement traces back to the manager.
Yet managers often receive the least structured support.

When your pressure layer cracks, the cracks spread everywhere.

Curiosity outperforms command across every culture I’ve worked in.
This is human leadership, translated locally.

I hear it a lot: “Hierarchy here is different.”
True. Context always matters.

But the basics travel.
Mutual respect. Tolerance. Support. Collaboration.

❌ “Tough talk” as a badge of leadership.
Fallout: teams play hide-and-seek, learning stalls, risk rises.
✅ Curiosity with clarity.
Fix: issues surface early, standards hold, progress compounds.

I’ve led teams across Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
What changed: language, rituals, power distance.
What didn’t: people respond to being seen, heard and guided.

Boundary → Because: adapt delivery to the culture, because dignity and fairness are non-negotiable everywhere.

Leaders don’t have to choose between results and humanity.
Apply the same human principles, translate the wrapper, and performance follows.

Curiosity beats command every single time, anywhere.

Southeast Asia is 26% engaged, 8% actively disengaged.
Lowest global stress at 25%.

That doesn’t happen by luck.
Relationships precede results. Harmony, respect and recognition show up daily.

Add managerial clarity and you get trust that compounds:
clear expectations before tasks start
micro-feedback during the work
recognition tied to behaviours, not personalities

❌ Care without clarity drifts.
✅ Clarity without care hardens.
The win is care + clarity, every week.

Cultural agility in action means blending relational norms with modern performance systems.

Leaders elsewhere don’t need to copy culture; they can copy the cadence:
set expectations Monday, check progress midweek, recognise and reset Friday.
Borrow the rhythm. Improve your results.

Why South East Asia leads

Low engagement tracks messy first-line rhythm.
Lock a cadence with ready agendas and scripts.

❌ Inconsistent huddles, unclear roles, shifting priorities mid-shift.
✅ Standard stand-up agenda and visible task allocation.

❌ Silence around small errors.
✅ Normalise learning: one error shared, one fix each week.

❌ Escalate every friction.
✅ Peer scripts for simple performance and tone issues.

Fallout → Rumour, rework, repeat complaints.
Fix → Six sprints that turn “nice ICs” into dependable coordinators.

Because managers can’t design from scratch, we include templates, scripts, and a promotion-readiness rubric mapped to competencies.

If you want help to implement this across sites, let’s talk about your pipeline goals and constraints.

Low engagement tracks messy first-line rhythm

Not a talent crisis, but a connection crisis at work.
When managers disengage, teams follow.

The fix isn’t another dashboard.
It’s a leadership reset built on three habits:

1. Listen before you lead. Diagnose, then decide.
2. Clarify meaning before direction. Why anchors the what.
3. Recognise effort before judging outcomes. Fuel the behaviour you want.

Boundary → Because: no recognition inflation, just specific, timely acknowledgements tied to standards.

Managers sit at the crossroads of cultural, generational and digital shifts.
Equip them to hold both care and accountability.

Human-centred leadership isn’t a philosophy. It’s the engagement strategy for multicultural teams.

Re-humanising management

AI solves tasks. Leadership solves behaviour.
The two only work when the human is steady.

If a manager is already overwhelmed, reactive, or emotionally stretched, AI amplifies that. It doesn't fix it.

❌ Faster decisions made poorly. Clearer communication of confusion. Efficiency without judgment.
✅ Using AI to reflect before responding. Rehearsing difficult conversations. Creating clarity for teams.

AI won't replace managers.
But it will expose gaps in leadership behaviour faster than ever.

The organisations that win next year aren't the ones with the most AI tools.

They're the ones with stable, supported managers who know how to use them.

Veronica Llorca-Smith 🍋

Want to find a speaker for your next leadership event?

I design customized keynotes and workshops to motivate and build high-performing teams and help develop new leadership skills.

Blending my 20-year corporate experience (Apple, Estée Lauder), my personal experience living in 9 countries and my journey as an amateur triathlete, I create engaging sessions that bring both inspiration and actionable frameworks. 

Topics:

Inclusive leadership
Unconscious Bias
Cultural Agility
Inclusive Language
Allyship

Growth Mindset: 
An Athlete's Mindset
Becoming Your Best Ambassador

Previous clients: UBS, AIA, ManpowerGroup, BioRad, Native Union, UK Cabinet, Michael Page, DASH...

Motivational Speaker & Author: DEI & growth mindset

🎙Public Speaking: I create customized presentations and workshops for organizations and events. My content leverages my 15-year corporate experience (Apple, Estée Lauder) as well as my personal experience as a triathlete and an author. 

🎓 Topics:

- Cultural agility as a competitive advantage in the workplace

- Inclusive leadership: mindset, behavior and processes

- Inclusive language as a catalyst for inclusion 

- An athlete's mindset: mental frameworks to get results 
  
- Thriving as a woman in the workplace

- Maximizing your influence with a personal brand

Languages available: English, Spanish, French, Italian & Portuguese

Veronica Llorca-Smith 💎

My home setup in Hong Kong for a virtual session on ALLYSHIP for Hines America and Europe! 

Earlier this week I delivered a session for the Asia Pacific teams in the Hong Kong office and last night was the rest of the world:

100+ participants across Europe and America.

We talked about the why and what of allyship and what each of us can do individually to be a better ally at work and beyond. 

We debunked myths, dove deep into common scenarios and misunderstandings and saw what effective allyship looks like in practice.

Each participant reflected and shared what allyship means to them and which underrepresented groups they want to be an ally for.

For some, it was people with disability, new parents, women's development, carers…we had a full screen and many commitments!

Thank you Éidín, Cristina Hernandez Enriquez and Melody Davidovic being amazing hosts and making me feel part of the team! 

PS: Over the moon to finally have my solopreneur corner at home!

Veronica Llorca-Smith🎤

International Speaker & Corporate Trainer in 6 languages: Leadership, Communication & Cultural Agility | Penguin Author | Ironman Triathlete | CEM (Chief Executive Mom)

Woman in an office with her computer dressed in black on a brown leather chair

I'm not a professional athlete or a fitness influencer. Just a mum trying to stay fit for my kids (ok, and fight gravity 🍑).

But one of the biggest growth engines for my business is... sport.

Exercising keeps my business moving forward:

Waking up early to train gives me peace and builds discipline.

Running without music or noise brings me clarity and focus. 

Cycling uphill when your muscles are screaming builds resilience and mental strength.

Competing in races fuels my motivation.

And getting home after a good sweat builds a winner mindset, one small win at a time.

I bring a lot of sports mindset and psychology into my public speaking work because it's the foundation of what I do, how I think and how I show up on stage and in life. 

If this resonates with you and you are looking for a speaker for your next event on leadership, cultural agility and/or growth mindset, let's have a chat - or go for a run!

And then we were 3 (authors!!).

5 months ago, I had the honor of being the moderator at Nidhi Kush's book launch, "Becoming Bold, Brave and Brilliant" at Bookazine HK Hong Kong.

I invited Urmila Menon, a member of my community at The Lemon Tree Mindset 🌳🍋 and we met in person for the first time.

Urmila then became my Founding Member to work on the launch strategy for her own book, COLOR CODED: Finding Ourselves.

She just self-published it and... she hit the Amazon Bestseller Rank! 

Being an author is bloody hard but guess what, you don't have to do it all alone!

So get out there, find your peers, support other authors (especially indie ones), join communities, write reviews (please!).

PS 2: If you want to find out how Urmila became an Amazon Bestseller, read the full story here:

https://lnkd.in/g6HEs-rr

Woman smiling next to the book cover of COLOR CODED. She's brunette and the book has a mix of read and orange shapes with eyes

𝟲𝟬+ 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘀, 𝟱 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝟭 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗹𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽! 

Yesterday I had the honor of being the guest speaker at 𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦 in their Hong Kong office. I delivered a session to their teams across China, Japan, Korea, Singapore and Australia. 

This initiative was hosted under the 𝙊𝙣𝙚𝙃𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙒𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣'𝙨 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 to promote allyship across the organization. 

We talked about 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 in the workplace and beyond with real examples, debunked myths and misunderstandings and covered an actionable framework to help go from intention to action.

Hosting hybrid sessions is challenging but it's more and more frequent among global organizations,  and thanks to technology, you can make it engaging, interactive and fun! 

We had cameras to include all the other offices and I used Slido to incorporate word clouds, polls and Q&A so that we could hear from everyone and make it an inclusive event.  

Thank you Melody Davidovic for being a fantastic host!

Looking forward to hosting the session tomorrow for the HINES teams in North America and Europe!

2 women in front of a HINES sign with green grass 

Picture of a global conference with multiple teams in different screens 

As a public speaker, before a big event (like today), I prepare not only mentally but ALSO physically:

- Protect your sleep (in bed and lights off by 9pm)

- Exercise to gain clarity and focus (beautiful sunrise from the Peak this morning, in Hong Kong!) 

- Drink lots of warm water to hydrate (it soothes your throat and helps relax your vocal cords). 

- Smile in front of the mirror (it really helps to set you up for success and set the tone for your energy!!)

- Breathing routine to turn your nerves into excitement.

- Choose an outfit that makes me feel confident and empowered. 

Getting ready to deliver a session on ALLYSHIP for the global teams at the real investment management company, HINES! 

It's a hybrid session in their Hong Kong office with 3 other teams across Asia joining virtually.

If you'd like to know more about my keynotes, corporate sessions and workshops, send me a DM and check the comments 👇🏽

Picture of a woman with a  beige dress and a black jacket in front of a colorful painting of an Asian woman 

Would you still work from the hospital?

Today I read a thought-provoking post here from a female CEO.

She was proudly sharing how she was still "leading" from the hospital as she was recovering from a serious surgery - sending emails, taking calls in her patient outift ...

"Unconditional leadership."

I felt uncomfortable because that's the message that the CEO is indirectly sending to the organization and will cascade from the top down:

"If I can lead while I'm recovering from surgery, you can lead anytime anywhere. No excuses. Toughen up" 

And this message creates a toxic culture that leads to burnout. I've been there. 

When the leader sends emails during the weekend, takes calls while on holidays and glorifies working from a hospital, they are role modeling that behavior and setting the tone for "what good looks like."

And here is the scary part: 

Do women feel they have to prove something? 

Do we need to show we are tough and strong to make a point?

Are we afraid of showing any sign of "weakness"?

Leadership is not always about doing. Sometimes it means stepping back.

Showing that you respect your own free time.

Prioritizing your health over the P&L of a company.

Having an OOO reply when you are on medical leave and honoring it. 

Saying out loud that it's okay not to be okay and that the company will still support you. 

Would you expect your employees to work from the hospital bed? 

Because if you are their leader, chances are they will follow your lead and whatever you decide to do, that's the culture you decide to create.

Woman with a red dress and a green background. Looks like a recording studio.

Public speaking took me to Sydney, Shanghai, Singapore and India this year! 

My goal for 2025 was to grow my public speaking business. I got out of my comfort zone and started pitching to conferences, organizations and Speaker Bureaux worldwide and creating opportunities.

I didn't wait for people to knock on my door and it paid off. 

From being a panelist at the largest DEI Summit in Asia (SCMP) to traveling to Sydney to speak for UBS Australia and New Zealand.

The launch of my book, The Anti-Procrastinator with Penguin Random House, took me to literary festivals in Hong Kong, Singapore and India! 

I spoke for some iconic organizations such as AIA, S&P Global, Hines, Tendam, Ageas, both in person and remotely to their global teams.

I did my first-ever session in Spanish for Racing Cargo and their C-level team! 

And I also supported organizations pro bono, from The European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, to The Women Entrepreneurs Network HK (WEN) and the lovely community at Hey Lady! English Speaking Community and had some great collaborators like Mônica Zionede Hall (she/her), Melanie Staunton and Sharlene Jacquier.

Plus dozens of webinars, podcasts and live sessions in English and Spanish for my communities of writers and creators.

100+ sessions and I wrap things up tomorrow with the team at Minisport Hong Kong on a session on "Shaping 2026" for Matthew James Paterson's team. 
 
3 years ago I was unemployed, wondering what was next.

And this is what's next: believing in yourself and making things happen. 

Cheers to creating your own opportunities!

Panel of speakers with blue background and 2 women and 2 men on stage. 

Panel outdoors with 2 women and a man on a stage. Colorful and light. 

Woman on stage with a red dress and a mic

Yesterday I opened a coaching session with the worst line ever:

“I have imposter syndrome”

Note: I am the coach here (luckily I'm not a surgeon)

I know, not the most professional or polished line I could come up with, but definitely the most real.

My client, Charlie is a C-level exec and Founder, columnist at MarketWatch, 30K+ followers here, and has served US Presidents. 6 of them. It’s all public info.

So yes, feeling like an imposter was in order. 

He could have dismissed me after my "Grand Opening", but he didn't. He listened carefully, asked questions, took notes, and we had the most amazing hour. 

We brainstormed, trouble-shooted, ideated and combined our perspectives and expertise to take his strategy to the next level. I honestly gave 200%.

This morning, I woke up to his email and his feedback is one of the most powerful testimonials I've ever received.

Out of everything we discussed, the thing that actually struck him most was my opening because it was raw, honest and human. 

Sometimes we forget that real beats perfect. In a world that expects us to be perfectly groomed and polished, being honest goes a long way.

Feeling like an imposter syndrome doesn't make you weak: it means you are human and real and above all, it means that you care.

Thank you for trusting me and for inviting me to your table, Charles P. Garcia

Full article here: https://lnkd.in/gV_QgdxY

Testimonial written by my client with a black banner of Capital Mischief 

What does it take to become a New York Times bestseller?

That’s exactly what I want to ask writer and novelist Michelle Richmond in our live session tomorrow. 

Join 2 authors as we share experiences about writing books, building your author brand and turning your creativity into your lifestyle.

If you’ve been thinking about writing a book for a while, this might be exactly what you need to start 2026 in style. 

Publishing books is an incredible credibility booster for your career but it’s also your legacy and a project for your personal development. 

The gift of writing is writing. 

To join the live session live for FREE, subscribe now to The Lemon Tree Mindset 🌳🍋👇🏽

Tuesday 9 December, 9am Hong Kong time.

Flyer of the event with the picture of 2 women. 

From zero to 13,000. 

I had no idea how powerful having *your community* is until I built mine. 

Whether you are a solopreneur, writer, creator or even an employee, having your own community will open incredible doors for your career and your personal development:

- Collaborations across the world

- Broader visibility and exposure

- Invitations to podcasts, interviews, panels, events...

- New income streams: webinars, cohorts, courses, coaching...

- A strong personal brand that speaks for yourself when you approach partners, potential clients or investors

- A sounding board with peers that can give you feedback and help you grow with a bit of tough love

This is a snippet of how I'm growing my bilingual community at The Lemon Tree Mindset / El Limonero.

Today we are over 13,000 members across 164 countries but 3 years ago we were ZERO.

ZERO. 

It's not too late to start.

Make it exist first. You can worry about the rest later. 

Vamos! 👇🏽

This week I'll host 2 workshops for 𝗛𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀 and its teams around the world. 

The initiative is led by 𝙊𝙣𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙒𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣'𝙨 𝙉𝙚𝙩𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠, an internal group dedicated to supporting, empowering, and championing women in the organization and beyond.

The topic is 𝗘𝗙𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬𝗦𝗛𝗜𝗣 and how to become an ally not only for women but for all.

This is my 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗽𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱. I delivered it to UBS Australia & New Zealand, AIA Asia-Pacific, and Ageas Asia.

The goal is not to point fingers and blame but to discover how each of us can become an ally to promote equity and balance the scales.

We debunk myths, unwrap the concept through real cases and scenarios and go through a framework to change behaviours and make allyship part of the day-to-day culture: 

𝗔: 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 
𝗟: 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻
𝗟: 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻
𝗬: 𝗬𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 

Allyshish is not an act of charity but a catalyst for collective growth.

This could be a great session for your organization for the upcoming 2026 International Women's Day  

If you'd like to explore my keynotes and workshops on cultural agility, inclusive leadership and effective communication, visit my website and let's book a call.

Pink flyer with the picture of a woman and the title Effective Allyship 

taplio

The Battle

Jeff Ross

Veronica Llorca-Smith 💎

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreJeff Ross's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreVeronica Llorca-Smith 💎's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Jeff Ross

Veronica Llorca-Smith 💎

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jeff Ross's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreVeronica Llorca-Smith 💎's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreJeff Ross's LinkedIn Performance