The good news first: “To reach our high performance, we often don’t need to do more than we already do. We just need to get more out of what’s already inside us!” says Mauro Sciangula. He is a coach and founder of the P3AK – High Performance Boutique. He knows: “Many people hit invisible limits, a seemingly insurmountable wall. Blockages and emotions that prevent them from unfolding their full potential. Despite numerous investments in personal development, the hoped-for results often fail to materialize.” In his consulting firm, he developed a concept to dissolve these deep blockages and unleash full power. Mauro Sciangula previously worked for many years as a banker. His current topic: Emotions in business.
TOP HAIR: You come from the banking world, a shark tank. Is that exactly why emotions are your topic?
Mauro Sciangula: That is definitely one reason. Emotions played hardly any role on the outside. But at the core, they were the decisive game-changer. I spent almost 20 years in finance, most recently at Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt, leading a major area: Real Estate Valuation. I assessed international real estate. That’s a tough business, where we’re talking about billions of euros. And of course, there were some very, very unpleasant conversations. Imagine someone sitting across from you who wants to tear you down... In a salon, that’s the difficult customer in your chair. You try to do everything right because at the last appointment, that customer only gave 2.5 stars. Now, of course, all your knowledge is required. Even though we’ve gone through many trainings and know how we should act, we often don’t act accordingly, often not rationally. Because emotions are faster than the mind. Emotions make the first move: fear arises, insecurity, your body starts sweating, shame spreads. That prevents us from acting in a customer-oriented way and blocks our clear thinking, which actually knows there’s no real reason for that. You might have three master’s degrees and have completed eight trainings on communication, de-escalation, and conflict management – none of that will help you if, in that moment, you can’t control your fear, your emotions, if you turn beet red, get blotches on your neck, sweat uncontrollably... Only by removing dysfunctional, negative emotions do we gain full access to our knowledge, skills, and potential – the full energy we need to meet challenges and grow.
How do you get there? Is there a “High Performance Strategy”?
We’ve worked intensively on this question for the past 14 years and seen in over 2,000 coaching sessions how people fail to live their full potential. Many people in business associate high performance solely with pure performance – the idea of always having to do more, work more, and constantly push themselves further. But that exact way of thinking has to stop! Because the summit isn’t the point where you arrive burned out. It’s the moment when you feel strong, clear, and light.
Recognize: First, you must recognize that performance always happens on two levels. The first is the cognitive level – without knowledge, without technical expertise, it doesn’t work. That accounts for 20 percent. But 80 percent – and that’s the second level – is the emotional level. It plays the major role in whether and how we access our performance.
Dissolve: Take a close look at the emotional level – your 80 percent: It’s not just about identifying emotions, but acknowledging them! Example: fears. Don’t just try to regulate or suppress them through yoga, jogging, etc.; dissolving them is the game-changer! A simple and concrete example: A salon owner hasn’t yet digitized their salon. Why is that? Is it really because they lack knowledge, need to attend eight more seminars or bring in another consultant? No. Usually it’s not the lack of knowledge that holds them back – it’s something on the 80 percent level. Their insecurity! And that’s where they need to start.
You used to work as a model in the beauty industry, today as a consultant. What potentials should be activated in hairdressers? What strengths do you see?
Humanity and creativity. I experience hairdressers as very people-oriented, outgoing, and creative. But those who are stressed, afraid, or blocked can’t access their creativity. The hairdressing industry is a matter of the heart for me, and I want to meet hairdressers at the TOP HAIR fair in March on this heartfelt level.
