Beyond a Training: Becoming an IDG Ambassador at Ekskäret

Last week I joined an immersive training at Ekskäret in Stockholm to become an Inner Development Goals (IDG) Ambassador. I went in expecting tools and a framework. I left with something deeper: a lived experience of what happens when people slow down, connect, and practice the human skills that make real change possible.

It turned out to be much more than a training. It was a clear reminder that inner skills hold the key to many of the challenges we see across organizations today—burnouts, bore-outs, disengagement. We can have the smartest strategies in the world, but if the humans delivering them are exhausted, disconnected, or operating on autopilot, progress stalls.

Why IDG—and why now?

The Inner Development Goals are a practical framework for the human side of transformation. They map five dimensions of capability:

• Being (inner compass, presence)

• Thinking (critical thinking, complexity awareness)

• Relating (empathy, communication)

• Collaborating (co-creation, trust)

• Acting (courage, perseverance)

These are not abstract ideals; they’re the difference between a team that spins and a team that shifts.

What I witnessed at Ekskäret

• Presence changes the room. A two-minute breath practice before dialogue lowered urgency and raised clarity. Decisions came easier.

• Language shapes behavior. Using IDG terms—like inner compass or assumption check—gave us a shared, non-judgmental way to talk about what usually stays invisible.

• Connection fuels courage. When people feel seen, they’re willing to name risks, ask for help, and try new ways of working.

None of this required heroics. It required practice.

The problems we’re naming—through an IDG lens

• Burnout often isn’t just workload; it’s working without values alignment (Being) and without recovery rituals (Acting).

• Bore-out is a signal of underused strengths and missing purpose (Being/Acting).

• Disengagement thrives when teams lack psychological safety and shared meaning (Relating/Collaborating).

And increasingly, many teams are also grappling with:

• Silo thinking & low cross-functional trust → Relating + Collaborating: build empathy, shared purpose, and clear decision/hand-off rituals to reconnect teams.

• Decision paralysis & unclear ownership → Thinking + Acting: surface assumptions, choose decision methods upfront, and commit to small bets with named owners.

• Micromanagement & brittle leadership → Being + Relating: strengthen inner compass and self-regulation; shift to trust-based agreements, feedback, and psychological safety.

When we practice these inner skills together, the outer system starts to move—faster decisions, cleaner handoffs, and leaders who create conditions where others can lead.

From insight to practice: simple moves that work

1. Two-Minute Arrival (Being / Acting)

   • One minute of slow nasal breathing (in 4, out 6).

   • One minute to write: What matters most in this meeting?→ Cuts noise, aligns intention.

2. Assumption Check (Thinking)

   • Before a decision, list 2–3 assumptions and ask, What would change if this were false?→ Better choices, fewer surprises.

3. Ask–Tell–Ask (Relating)

   • Ask their view → share yours → ask for their take on the gap.→ Builds respect and clarity without debate spirals.

4. Purpose–Agenda–Owner–Decision (Collaborating)

   • Start every meeting by naming the purpose, the agenda, the owner, and the decision method.→ Faster, cleaner outcomes.

5. Small Bet, Short Loop (Acting)

   • Turn big ideas into 2-week experiments with a clear success signal.→ Momentum beats perfection.

Inner skills are business skills

When we say “human skills,” we’re not talking about side quests. We’re talking about the operating system that enables strategy to run:

• Resilience reduces errors and turnover.

• Clarity speeds decisions and lowers rework.

• Presence improves listening, safety, and creativity.

• Collaboration shortens cycle time across silos.

• Courage moves the hard things forward.

The return isn’t just a nicer culture—it’s execution.

What this means for my work

As an IDG Ambassador, I’m integrating these practices into how I coach leaders and design team workshops:

• Keynotes & Workshops: Inner skills → outer results (with live micro-practices).

• Leadership Sprints: 6–12 weeks of habit-building tied to real deliverables.

• Team Rituals: Meeting redesign, decision rights, and safety practices that stick.

If you’re navigating sustainability, transformation, or simply trying to build a healthier, higher-trust culture, consider starting inside. The outer change will follow—and it will last.

An invitation

You don’t need permission to begin. Try a two-minute arrival at your next meeting. Add an assumption check to your next decision. Notice what shifts.

And if you want support to bring the IDG framework into your team or organization—through keynotes, workshops, or a focused leadership sprint—let’s talk. Human skills are how we find our way through today’s complexity.

Grateful to the facilitators and cohort at Ekskäret. The real training wasn’t in the slides—it was in how we showed up for one another.