Katja salskov-Iversen

Professional sailor and speaker

Inspire your team

Meet Katja Salskov-Iversen, an energetic and passionate inspirational speaker. Drawing from her experiences in professional sailing, she inspires, motivates, and promotes growth in both individuals and organizations.

"LET'S learn from the world of sport"

As a public speaker, Katja Salskov-Iversen has an outstanding ability to use her passion for sailing to inspire and motivate the audience while contributing to an uplifting energy.  Her stories from the sea about teamwork, communication, knowledge sharing and overcoming challenges can resonate with individuals at all levels. By sharing her experiences and insights, Katja can inspire the audience’s mindset to determination, resilience, and a growth, fostering a positive and motivated work environment.Katja’s achievements in sailing and her compelling personal story can serve as a powerful tool for organisations to build on their mentality and increase performance.

Inspirational Topics

Sports teams provide valuable insights into effective communication, collaboration, goal-setting, and knowledge sharing, which can be directly applied to organizational settings. Here’s why I believe sport, particularly sailing, can be a source of inspiration for organizations:

Communication

Effective communication is vital for any organization to succeed. Communication is key when it comes to performing in a team. Communication on a sailboat is complex, and the methods we use can inspire your team to be more efficient, honest to align efforts towards common goals and achieve greater success together. Organizations can learn from our open lines of communication among athletes, coaches, and support staff. By fostering a culture of open communication, organizations can enhance teamwork, resolve conflicts, and ensure that everyone is aligned towards the common goals.

Goals and goal setting

Sports teams set clear goals and objectives for every game, season and long term. These goals serve as a driving force for motivation and performance improvement. Similarly, organizations can benefit from setting specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) goals. When employees have a clear understanding of what they are working towards, it fosters motivation, accountability, and a sense of purpose. 

Feedback

Feedback is the cornerstone of a high-performing team. It highlighting areas for enhancement and fostering continuous improvement. However, offering and receiving open, honest feedback is not always an effortless task. It’s a delicate dance of constructive criticism, empathy, and mutual understanding. Nevertheless, it’s a crucial conversation that we, as a team, strive to engage in every day, striving towards collective growth.

Teamwork and collaboration

Teamwork and collaboration are at the heart of successful sports teams. Each member of a sports team has a specific role to play, and their collective efforts contribute to the team’s success. Knowledge sharing accelerates the learning process, and although gathering knowledge can be seen as a competitive endeavor, sharing that knowledge with competitors will ultimately enhance your own progress. Organizations can emulate this collaborative spirit by encouraging cross-functional teams, where individuals from different departments work together towards shared objectives. By leveraging the diverse skills and perspectives of team members, organizations can achieve greater innovation and efficiency. 

Resilience and adaptability

Sports teams often face unexpected challenges, such as adverse weather conditions or injuries. Their ability to adapt, stay resilient, and find creative solutions is essential for success. Organizations can draw inspiration from this resilience by cultivating a flexible and adaptive mindset. When employees are encouraged to embrace change, learn from failures, and find innovative solutions to problems, organizations become more agile and better equipped to navigate uncertainty.

it's what's behind the goal the goal that counts

No matter the goal, no matter the task, for me, it’s always about the journey and the passion behind the pursuit of that dream. I believe that no one will ever reach their full potential if they don’t enjoy the path to victory. In the end, it’s what’s behind the goal that counts. 

If you are in search of fresh inspiration for your company, with the aim of boosting employee motivation and performance, I invite you to reach out to me.