Maria Deckeman
About me
Specialist in leadership and organizational development
Development, leadership and decision-making processes
I am driven by a strong conviction that people can learn and develop throughout their lives. I have also come to realize that development and learning can take place at different levels. What is commonly referred to as 'lifelong learning' is often equated with continuing education and keeping up with developments within your professional field. Questioning and challenging our meaningmaking with previously learned 'truths' is another type of development that interests me. This type of development is not quite as easily accessible. Research shows that challenging deeply held assumptions can also become more difficult the older we get and the higher our status in the workplace - The more we know, the harder it can be to 'reassess' our beliefs. Incentives can be weaker and the stakes too high. This in turn tends to create resistance in organizations to fully embrace this type of development, individually and collectively.
I have had the opportunity to experiment and learn together with brave and curious leders, trying out different ways of approaching this paradox in the context of both individual coaching, conflict management, team development and organizational change processes. The paradox arises since
- “transformative” development requires us to dare to fundamentally test our assumptions. Development and change efforts that do not have a transformational ambition all too often tend to get stuck, whistling around in the same kind of meaning-making that created the percieved problems and challenges. Many reforms at both organizational and societal levels suffer from this. And there are many examples.
To create strong enough incentives for learning and development in organizational contexts I have found it successful to package it under the umbrella of
- “decision-making processes” - Becoming better decision-makers is something we all benefit from, whether as line managers, leaders, researchers, teachers or in other specialist roles. We all make a lot of decisions every day. The decision-making processes tend to be largely unconscious and automatic, and are all too often guided by our ingrained, taken-for-granted truths about ourselves, about each other, and about the organizational challenges we concider us facing. To help leaders becoming better decision-makers is probably my main contribution in the professional setting. Feel free to get in touch if this brief presentation sparked further questions and curiosity on how to become a better decision-maker.
Previous roles:
Process leader, Karolinska Institutet's Strategic plan, Strategy 2030
Brand strategist, Karolinska Institutet, 2012-2018
Head of Marketing, Karolinska Institutet, 2005-2012
Co-process leader together with Conny Mathiesen and Peter Graf
- Merger of Karolinska Hospital and Huddinge University Hospital, 2004-2005
Responsible for developing and establishing a new function for coordinating external communication in connection with the incorporation of Huddinge University Hospital, 2002-2003
Consultant in brand strategy and marketing, 1998-2002
Special assignments
KI's representative in Team Sweden, the working group for meetings and events
- 2016-2017
Swedish representative for NUAS, the Nordic
- administrator cooperation, communication planning group, 2012-
Training and courses
LDP, authorization training, Harthill
FOLA, Foundation of Lectical assesement Course. The FOLA explores the developmental theory and research that underpin Lectica's learning model and assessments.
Conflict Management for HR Specialists and Organizational Consultants, Thomas Jordan, Perspectus
ITC facilitator training with professor Robert Kegan
Clear Leadership facilitators program with professor Gervase Bushe
Listening for leadership capacities - Fraendi (Building from Otto Laskes and Iva Vurdeljas work on DTF)
PKU Process consultant training with a systems theory focus for managers and change leaders, Mannaz, 2019
Certified Coach, Leapfrog, fulfills the educational requirement for the application for international certification - ACC (ICF)
In-depth training PCC, fulfills the educational requirement for the application for international certification. Professional Certfied Coach, 2021 (ICF)
Masters Degree, International Marketing, MCIM, UK 1996-1997
Master of Business Administration, Södertörn University, 1996
Rhetoric, Stockholm University, 1995
Certifications
LDP - Authorized to conduct debriefs for individuals, groups and organizations.
Shfiting Horizons -
- SH is a web-based reflection tool that supports individuals and groups to develop their perspectives and approaches to power, collaboration and critique.
DTF, Dialectical Thought Form Framework (Otto Laske, Iva Vurdelja)
ITC, Immunity to Change facilitator (Certified for individuals and groups up to 100 people).
Clear Leadership facilitator
FARAX 360, Birkman, EQI 2.0 and EQI 360
Employments
- Specialist, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-
- Specialist, Central Administration, Karolinska Institutet, 2024-