Leading trends for holistic business development. Interview with Weronika Ławniczak – CEO of Holispace Sp. z o o

What is your professional mission and strength in running a business?

Combining science about health and business is my crucial mission. It grew out of my experience and knowledge in many areas, including readiness for a career change. A few years ago, I founded a medical facility – the Holispace Institute. Along with a team of experts – physiotherapists, dieticians, psychologists, and cosmetologists – we heal and support people on their journey to health and beauty. Holispace is an innovative brand that realizes fundamental values such as mindfulness towards people, quality, and authenticity. It is a great responsibility when hundreds of satisfied customers recommend my company. During the pandemic, when I could not run my business under previous conditions, my strong qualities such as resilience and stress resistance helped me survive.

The Institute is also an education center. In response to market needs, we develop teams and companies, shaping their character towards a learning, diverse, and resilient direction. Today, an employer’s role is to take care of employees’ psycho-physical resilience. By implementing wellbeing strategies, we open a new chapter in many companies with the aim of promoting human well-being as an individual.

What do you think will contribute to the development of companies?

Products, services, technological processes, and access to financial resources lose their importance today in favor of the intangible resources of the company (non-traditional sources of success). The variability of supply and demand in light of current changes fits into the concept of modern holistic business management, accentuated by variability and holism. Some sciences have benefited from moving from systemic to holistic, resulting in global discoveries (such as the discovery of helixes or quasars).

The return to flexible management approaches will play an important role in maintaining family-owned and many businesses in the market. The employee in terms of “human” dimension and recognition of their needs “here and now,” their elementary ethical code, is a new quality in management. Eco-rationality, instead of a pure, analytical approach, opens up space for holistic integration of science and business at every stage of a company’s life. Shaping awareness and creative thinking, going beyond the scheme, and acquiring soft skills will have a crucial impact on the development of companies and their internal, original culture. There is now readiness and openness to let humans and their power determine the strength of the company. I believe that the expectations of the younger generation regarding work methods will open up new non-standard working conditions, in exchange for achieving goals, efficiency, and engagement. Standard motivation takes a back seat in favor of good habits and building relationships. Women will play an important role in shaping organizational culture, with empathy and resilience to change among their resources.

What causes the lack of promotions for women to top positions?

Stereotypes about the weaker sex still persist in the generational transmission of upbringing. The role of women is very rooted in family and childcare, which causes reluctance to promotions and delays in women’s careers, although the readiness for challenges concerns both sexes equally. Often, for women, professional rank and career are chosen as a priority.

I believe that the solution may be openness to dialogue and conversation about equal opportunities on a human-to-human level. The female advantage is intuition, shared attention, and the ability to combine fields. Women feel more about well-being. Soft and behavioral skills, so desirable in leaders today, are in women’s blood, so they can easily implement solutions that develop organizations. Female strength and advantage are a natural ability to reconcile the roles dictated by business in everyday reality. Regardless of gender, a leader sets goals and persuades people to them skillfully, using emotional intelligence as a characteristic.

Is there still a stereotypical, conservative division of roles based on gender?

Observing the market, it must be stated that yes, there is. This can be a great loss for organizations or a given community. In teams with women, there is an increase in creative ideas and greater willingness to innovate. The results of research conducted on a sample of 150 Polish companies show that there is no relationship between gender and the type of strategy chosen (diversification versus specialization). Men, on the other hand, have a higher tendency to make risky decisions.

Unfortunately, in surveys and polls, we can read that women still face discrimination. It is worth emphasizing that women also contribute to a conservative approach, often either resigning from their tasks, not believing in their own strengths, or succumbing to environmental pressure. In industries such as transportation, logistics, and construction, the difference in gender representation is so significant that it contradicts current statistics, which show an improvement trend. It is worth investing in multidisciplinarity in teams, which provides a pro-social perspective, especially since it enables building engagement on the level of relationships.

Have you met a mentor in your business career?

This question prompted me to reflect. I did not have one business mentor. Certainly, the people I worked with at the beginning of my career contributed to where I am today. One of these people is my longtime friend, lecturer, and entrepreneur. Women who combine the roles of mothers, entrepreneurs, and social activists are also an inspiration to me. I have the readiness and use coaching and mentoring when I need it. It is a personal hygiene element in running a company.

As a mentor myself, I observe in many cases what role guiding someone in change plays when they are stuck in an area of uncertainty. Feeling of high effectiveness is already a success in achieving a goal, which I often emphasize.

Weronika Ławniczak – therapist, mentor specializing in change, soft skills specialist. Originator and CEO of Holispace Institute in Warsaw

For over 25 years she has been developing her passion, which is holistic approach to health and beauty. Her publications about healthy lifestyle, conscious life and well-being were shown by televison and many magazines. She connects wellbeing with business, implementing welbeing strategies in organizations.

She developed “Self Immersion Method” – a self-consciousness method and longevity habits.

Last Updated on May 9, 2023 by Anastazja Lach