Welcome to Handson Coaching!
After 12 years working for the city of Reykjavik as a CFO in a Leisure center (after-school care, Youth clubs), I resigned because I wanted to concentrate on what makes me and others happy workwise. I had started to feel that my work had become routine and my performance mediocre.
As I wanted to do things that would make me happy (and at the same time figuring out what I wanted to do with my life), the only thing I knew was that I wanted to focus on what it takes to generate happiness at work.
Sometimes life throws at you a curveball and in my case a global pandemic emerged (as for the rest of the world), I was offered to retract my resignation several times, but I stuck with it and quit.
The pandemic was horrible but yet a lot of positive things came to the surface during the years it was disturbing our lives.. But how can one pursue a career in the happiness area when everything was upside down and sideways?
Well, I started working as a maitre’ d at a fine dining restaurant called Bjargarsteinn, located in Grundarfjörður, Iceland. Rather than a detour, this role was actually a revelation. It gave me a golden opportunity to talk to people from all over the world about all kinds of stuff and of course…food!
I worked at the restaurant for three years and I had a great time. And, I also spent my days during the three years expanding my network globally, particularly through the magic of LinkedIn. I’ve met some great people along the way, including noted experts in the organizational development, change and communication fields. People from all over the world. It’s been like I won in the great-people-to-meet-lottery! Three years ago I was so focused on making a new career here in Iceland, but in one of the many conversations on Zoom, I was asked: “Only Iceland?” Back then, when getting this question it hit me: “Am I thinking too narrowly? Should I think globally?” “Why should anyone listen to a guy from a tiny island far far away in the North Atlantic?”
After some brain debate with myself I decided to go big. Like the ancient Vikings, I looked at how to conquer the world (without any clubs or violence, of course.). I´ve changed the narrative of my business from Happiness at Work to Handson Coaching, reflecting the certifications I have attained: as Visionary Leadership coach, Systemic Team Coaching Practitioner and as a trainer of the Uppiness Game. These follow my original certification as a Chief Happiness Officer – a role which I play on a national scale in Iceland, where I’ve spoken at a number of the country’s major corporations and institutions, and write occasionally for national news outlets.
My latest event reflects my global ambitions – an online lecture to several hundred employees at South Africa’s Nedbank on the subjects of happiness and wellbeing.
