About

Do you support others in crisis and conflict?
I would love to show you how to keep your inner peace –
even when the outer world is falling apart –
to have far more impact while still protecting yourself
,
bridging differences between people in new and innovative ways.

Hi, I am Jutta, this is my story

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“Peace is not a goal to be reached
but a way of life to be lived.”
Desmond Tutu

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From early childhood on I witnessed and supported others in ongoing tension, clashes and crisis that overshadowed my whole life. Trying to keep everybody happy often felt like walking on thin ice. This experience was one of my main motivators in becoming a mediator.
After university, I had a wonderfully varied corporate career with five fabulous years in qualitative market research and 15+ years’ work as a freelance learning- and organisational development consultant, workplace mediator, leadership coach and qualitative researcher. Since 2014 I have been a pro bono coach and mentor for female managers of charities and NGOs.  If I had not met those amazing changemakers, I would not do what I do today. However, even though I loved my work and despite the success and great relationships with clients,

I started to feel unfulfilled and increasingly frustrated.
My work didn’t make a real difference. All I could do was help “mop up” the mess, because conflicts were so escalated that they could not be settled anymore. I wanted to address this with a new business. When I launched “Lead and Connect”, I totally underestimated what it means to run your own business.

On top of this, crises in my private life
popped up again and again. My father was diagnosed with a fatal brain tumour. Other relatives and friends faced confrontations and bullying which I couldn’t help settle – even with all my expertise as a mediator. The harder I tried to “fix” everything, the more I felt the responsibility – and guilt, when things didn’t work out. It felt like a heavy burden. Like many of my clients today, I felt trapped, out of control, unable to set clear boundaries and unable to stay at peace with myself, resulting in negative consequences for my own health and wellbeing.

Then I hit rock bottom
after a long history of ignoring my body’s needs. I was diagnosed with food intolerances and needed surgery after a spine injury. Bound to the sofa and unable to walk for months, I lost confidence that I would ever be without pain and able to walk normally again. On my long way to full recovery I learned a lot about dealing with chronic pain, patience and asking for help – and above all – re-connecting with my body, emotions, intuition and my inner guidance – my “Inner Peacemaker”.

In recent years, outer crisis suddenly took over.
My optimists’ mantra “it could be worse” stopped working, as it literally got worse and worse. Supporting loved ones with mental health illness felt like living on a different planet: in and out of hospital for months, working remotely during the Covid pandemic with people at home that were struggling, living with the ever present worry of how to keep mentally ill relatives alive, with a constant lack of sleep – often to the point of mental and physical exhaustion. I learned a lot about about complex trauma/PTSD and how it is “stored” in the body. It took me a while to understand, that mental illness follows its own rules and has a different time frame for recovery.

At the same time, I had my biggest internal shifts, mental and spiritual “earth quakes”. It felt like my “old self” was “gone” – but something “new” had not established itself yet. Being at peace without being “in control” was a surprising experience. I don’t know what I would have done without good friends, loving, wise guides at my side and a steadily growing inner knowing, that my inner peace is the game changer.

What I discovered: Inner peace is the game changer

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“Everything shifts when you have the confidence
that you can deal with crisis and conflict
without losing yourself.”
Jutta Nedden

Conflict and crisis are an inevitable part of life.
I realised that often our way of dealing with them was more of an issue than the actual conflict/crisis itself. We cannot fix things for others.  My goal is to help you find the confidence and relief that derives from healthy self-acceptance and compassion – for yourself and for others.

Supporting others and peace building from the inside out
is not just about crisis intervention and managing conflict. It is about your increased awareness, your attitude and habits. Most of all, it is about knowing and re-connecting with yourself and your inner guidance that already knows solutions for all your problems. I call it your “Inner Peacemaker”. Also, it is about taking responsibility and leading yourself and others – at work and in your private life, whether you have a formal leadership position or not.

It does not mean that you should stay in toxic relationships and endure longterm crisis and conflict. Actually, it is the opposite: I discovered that being at peace with myself is about inner freedom and choice. It gives me the courage and strength to set boundaries and even walk away when there is no other way.

Image: Joachim Steiner

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For me, looking back, it has paid off to struggle through all this. It helped me to understand what’s really important in life and to find my “cause”, my passion that “makes” me jump out of bed every morning:

I want you to have the same. I want you to keep your inner peace and (self-) compassion despite crisis and tension around you. I want you to make a far bigger difference while still protecting yourself. I want you to bridge differences between people in better ways. I want you to unite with your Inner Peacemaker.

How? – What I do

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“Finding and keeping our inner peace is a
precondition for supporting others  –
and for a more peaceful world.”
Jutta Nedden

I offer you my truth, strategies and practices that have worked for me, with a holistic approach based on scientific evidence, spiritual traditions, art and nature. The essence of “Your Inner Peacemaker” is a model that has grown and is derived from research, personal experience and the generous help and support of so many others – clients, coaches, researchers, colleagues, family and friends.

I am on a Mission!
Together with you, I want to transform the way we all deal with conflict and crisis at work and in our private life. With the program of “Your Inner Peacemaker” I want to create a shift towards peace building from the inside out, towards more understanding and compassion for others and yourself, increased unity and the insight that we are interconnected and depend on each other. I want to create a ripple effect that not only transforms ourselves but our families, organisations and society. We don’t need to wait until others have settled their conflicts and have overcome their crises.

I have the Vision
of a global network of likeminded “bridgebuilders”, peacemakers and compassionate leaders who support each other – who work for a more peaceful world where building inner and outer peace goes hand in hand. A place where we respect differences and celebrate interconnectedness – with nature and all living beings on this planet – and move towards solutions that work for all and the common good.

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Image: Anna Nedden

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Interested? You can start here by checking the links:

  1. Read some of my Blog posts
  2. Discover Individual Coaching
  3. I would love to learn more about you and the challenges you face with supporting others whilst facing ongoing crisis or clashes and tension. Please drop me a line via the Contact section and introduce yourself. Book a free first call with no further obligation.

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Professional bio and qualifications

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Image Credits: Joachim Steiner, Anna Nedden

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