There is nothing certain, but the uncertain. Ursula Eysin is no stranger to uncertainty herself. However, perseverance and willingness to learn has steered her to overcome these uncertainties, and eventually leverage them into an advantage.
Ursula mentions, “Uncertainty is at the very core of human beingness as this very uncertainty gives us free will and choice. The choice to give our life a unique meaning.”
Identifying this, Ursula founded Red Swan Vienna, a platform that helps businesses and other organizations by uncertainty into a competitive advantage and to actively create their desired future.
In this Interview with Exeleon Magazine, Ursula Eysin talks about this scenario thinking approach, her journey, and her beliefs about women entrepreneurship that questions conventional thinking.
What according to you makes one a powerful woman? How do you integrate the same thought into your leadership?
As a technology consultant, I was often the only woman on the team, and I always perceived that as an advantage. I think it is very important to not try to beat men at being men, but really tap into our full female potential. That means being softer, not harder.
Water is a very powerful force, and nobody would call it weak because it’s not a rock, right? I step into my female power with every decision by trying to be softer, not harder. By trying to be the water instead of the rock.
What is your earliest memory as an entrepreneur that you remember?
Trying to protect my younger brothers in our narcissistic household, I had to take on a lot of responsibility from an early age. That gave me a lot of leadership qualities which I now use to my advantage. On the other hand, it made me hyper-responsible. Meaning, I filled every responsibility gap I could find. That wasn’t sustainable. I had to work on that in order to survive in my own business, otherwise, it would have destroyed me.
What prompted the start of Red Swan Vienna?
Having grown up in a kind of an emotional and psychological minefield, I know what uncertainty feels like and how to deal with it. I want to make uncertainty suck less for people and companies.
I help companies, international and governmental organizations, start-uppers, and even individuals to turn uncertainty into an advantage. I know that people hate uncertainty and I validate that. But Uncertainty is at the very core of human beingness because this very uncertainty gives us free will and choice. The choice to give our life a unique meaning.
Brief us about ‘scenario thinking’ and the approach you follow to provide scenario success solutions.
Scenario thinking is a process developed for strategic planning by the U.S Air Force in the 1940s and was famously adapted for business usage by Royal Dutch Shell in the 1960s. With great success. Shell was already prepared for an oil-shock scenario when others didn’t even dare to think about it. I had the great opportunity to learn it directly from the source: former Shell Chief Strategist, Karl Rose, taught me this great technique in 2010, and ever since I’ve been using it to turn uncertainty into an advantage.
First, we frame the challenge: What decision do you need to make? Then we gather the driving forces for this question. These driving forces are then analyzed in an Impact-Uncertainty-Matrix to determine which are certain trends – things we cannot change now or in the future – and which are critical future uncertainties – things we can still influence and use to co-create a different now and future. Then we choose 2 of the critical uncertainties of the future to form a scenario cross to get 4 different scenarios. Then we rehearse the future by acting out the different scenarios out and use the findings to take inspired action steps.
What does a day in the life of Ursula Eysin look like? How do you ensure work-life balance?
I don’t have a routine, so every day looks different in new creative ways. That keeps my creative juices flowing. I also don’t compartmentalize my life into work and life. Are we not living when we work? I live life to the fullest in every moment and in everything I do. That’s very intense but I love it.
Looking back at your journey, what would you have done differently when starting out?
I am a very open person, which is a huge advantage in communication and networking, but I tended to trust people too early. I learned to first check if I can trust them to capitalize on my best interests – and their own best interests as well. And then dive deep into a trustworthy business relationship. I had to learn to set healthy boundaries and not fill every responsibility gap I can find. I observed myself doing that again and again and started to work on this pattern of hyper responsibility and successfully changed it.
What would be your advice for women entrepreneurs trying to stand out in their market?
Don’t try to be hard like a man. Bring the female softness into the world of business, as it is desperately needed. It shouldn’t be a fight of “men against women”. Let’s co-create a better future and a new way of doing business together.
Finally, what does the future look like for you and Red Swan Vienna?
It might sound funny but for a while, I tried to keep Red Swan small for reasons of taxes and expenses in Austria, but now I am at the point where I want to grow it as big as possible. I want to build a business I would want to come back to in my next life. The mission is to make uncertainty suck less for as many people and businesses as possible and to co-create a better future together.
Among the most uncertain things we see in all the future scenarios we develop is human behavior. This means relationships are among these uncertainties as well. For me, better communication means better relationships, and better human relationships mean a better life and a better business. Thus, I would like to contribute to improving communication, human connection, and human relationships.
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