My guest in this episode of the podcast “Leadership is the Competitive Advantage” is Annastiina Hintsa, CEO of Hintsa Performance. Hintsa Performance is a world-renowned coaching company that has helped ambitious people achieve sustainable high performance for over 20 years now. The holistic Hintsa coaching method has been used by Fortune 500 executives and world-class athletes like F1 Champions Fernando Alonso and Mika Häkkinen. Annastiina has lately taken over Hintsa Performance from his father, the founder Dr Aki Hintsa. After working in top management consulting firm and experiencing firsthand a burnout, she was faced with profound questions about balance and meaning in life as well as how to achieve sustainable high performance. We will, among other topics, have a chance to glimpse into Annastiina’s inspirational personal journey as it conveys a clear message that the way to improve performance and find fulfillment is through better health and wellbeing. I am really glad that Annastiina will join us at the Estonian Human Resource Management Association's annual conference this November as one of the keynote speakers.

“My personal mission is to help people live a life of meaning and consequently achieve sustainable high performance. We also help organizations to create optimal conditions for those individuals to succeed. That is what we are all about. That is what I am all about as well. It is important to understand that my father’s main thesis was that success is a byproduct of a holistic health and wellbeing. Our wellbeing is actually the foundation for sustainable performance. In other words – living a better life is what leads to a better performance. While working in Ethiopia, it was the Ethiopian running legend Haile Gebrselassie who inspired my father to study what made Haile one of the best distance runners in the history. Haile’s life was integrated with all elements in his environment geared towards supporting his goals and running ambitions. It became clear that optimal performance derives from a healthy, balanced life. Taking care of your wellbeing allows you to function at your full potential. This inspired my father to develop the so-called circle of better life. He drew a circle and on the outer layer he placed the following six elements: physical activity, nutrition, recovery, biomechanics, mental energy and general health. The middle of the circle he called the core – it represents your identity, goals, and the sense of control. That is why we here at Hinsa Performance always ask about your identity. Do you know who you are? About your purpose. Do you know what you want? And finally are you in control of your life? It is through the process of exploring those themes that we build the different blocks that actually matter to you the most as well as help you keep a balance in knowing your identity and core motivations. And it is unbelievable how little we pay attention to the core and take time to think about these crucial questions.” – Annastiina Hintsa

Listen and enjoy!