My Story
Success is one of my personal values. A couple of years ago I realized why success is one of my personal values. I was three or four years old when one afternoon I woke up from a nap and I started calling my mother. I started calling her louder and louder but there was no response. So, I started crying. My father heard me and tried to calm me, but it didn’t work. So, he left me on the carpet alone. My crying continued and became even more louder. A vivid picture that I still have in my mind is that of a little child lying in front of the main entrance crying mournfully. In his childish soul he was feeling abandoned. So, a couple of years ago I realized that this traumatic experience created inside of me the belief “I am not good enough”. This limiting belief led me to take sub-conscious countermeasures. I started trying to prove to myself and everyone that I am good enough by becoming a high achiever and successful. This is how success became one of my personal values.
Idealism has also been from an early age a characteristic of mine. It is not accidental that I have been writing poetry since the age of twelve. When I completed my first degree in business administration, I was trying to decide on a topic for my master’s degree. It was this idealism that brought me to quality management. The continuous improvement, the focusing on what the customer really wants, seemed to me exciting. Those quality management principles won my heart. When I started working as a management consultant, developing quality management systems according to ISO 9001, I discovered another sensitivity of mine: the environmental protection. This led me to a second MEng degree in environmental studies.
I remember that in my dissertation for the MSc in quality management, many years before getting involved in professional coaching and training, I had written a dedication: “Dedicated to all of those who taught me the true quality of life”. “And what does quality of life mean?”, I was wondering. I still didn’t know. Later I realized that I was approaching this term in a holistic way: quality in the way we think and feel, quality of the air we breathe, quality of the work we do. However, as they say in quality management, quality is subjective. Quality of life means whatever you decide that it means. Finally, I realized that all these choices of mine that I was characterizing as idealistic, had a common component: I liked offering my help.
This is how I was led to professional coaching and training. If I wanted to inspire and help others and if the desire to improve and the disposition to change begins within us, I had to work with people on a personal level. Coaching and modern adult education theory offered me all the tools that I needed to accompany individuals and organizations in this journey of personal and organizational continuous improvement and transformation.
I chose lean and personal productivity coaching as my niche not only because of my background in lean six sigma, productivity management, performance monitoring and process optimization but also because of a strong belief I have: I believe that productivity is a vital ingredient for success and that everyone deserves to be successful..
Personal productivity coaching is a multi-dimensional niche that requires creativity as well as multi-dimensional and out-of-the-box thinking. As a person, I combine the analytical skills of a Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, the creativity of an artist (writing, poetry, photography) and the mindfulness of a long-term meditation practitioner.
There was a time in my life, when I was studying in the UK, during which my productivity level was very low. This was due to the stress and the anxiety I was suffering from at that time. Because of that situation, I had entered a vicious circle. Due to low productivity, I was not meeting the requirements of the university program, and this was making me even more anxious. So, I decided to see a specialist, a stress consultant. Initially, he recommended some anxiolytic pills, which I tried. But they created a strange feeling of tension and stress being entrapped in my body. So, when I visited him again, he suggested a relaxation exercise, and this really worked. A week later I was feeling like another person. This is how I realized the connection between productivity, a relaxed body, and a calm mind. And so, I was led to meditation and Chinese yoga.
I have made three personal commitments which I consider crucial for serving you as a coach: a) To remain committed to my personal continuous improvement journey, b) To maintain a heart of compassion and empathy, c) To believe in the resourcefulness of my clients and shed a light on it.
As they say, it is the journey that matters and not the destination… and the journey goes on. Would you like to accompany me?
Our Approach
We believe that productivity is a vital ingredient for success and that everyone deserves to be successful. Our mission is to support our clients to work smarter not harder, ensuring goal achievement, maximum flexibility, optimal work-life balance, increased self-appreciation and reduced costs.
We offer 1-on-1 and group / team coaching and training sessions, using web-based tools such as skype and zoom. In 1-on-1 coaching the client drives the agenda. Group and team coaching programs can be tailored to serve specific needs.
In our services we implement EVOLVE2WIN, the coaching model developed by Panagiotis Ntouskas
We aim at long-term partnerships, and we place emphasis on cost savings through optimization of processes and productivity management.
Our evidence-based coaching incorporates principles and techniques from various practices such as appreciative inquiry, management, lean and agile frameworks, leadership theory, NLP, emotional intelligence, CBT, positive psychology and mindfulness. Our approach in training is based on modern adult learning theories.
Bio
Panagiotis Ntouskas is the Founder, Lean – Agile & Personal Productivity Coach, Trainer and Consultant of SIGMA LOOP COACHING Ltd.
Panagiotis is accredited as PCC (Professional Certified Coach) by ICF (International Coach Federation), certified as CPC (Certified Professional Coach) by ICA (International Coach Academy) and a certified DiSC practitioner. He holds an MA degree in Continuing Education and Lifelong Learning (Open University of Cyprus), an MSc degree in Quality Management (Stirling University, UK), an MEng degree in Environmental Studies (Esslingen University, Germany) and a BSc degree in Business Administration (University of Piraeus, Greece). He is a certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt by ASQ (American Society for Quality), certified also in Professional Change Management and has more than 15 years of experience in managerial and consulting positions related to HR, training, productivity improvement, lean and agile implementation, business process optimization and quality management. He has worked in multiple industries, in logistics and international transport, in a metal processing industry, in the bank sector, in the automobile industry, in healthcare and in the food industry. He is a Zend certified engineer, trained in agile methodologies such as Kanban, Lean Startup and SAFe. Furthermore, he is multilingual (English, German, Spanish, Greek), holder of an EDI Diploma in Psychology and certified NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) Practitioner. He has lived in Greece, UK, Germany, Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia and Costa Rica.
Panagiotis has been practicing meditation and Chinese qigong for many years. Also, he is involved in art (writing, poetry and photography). Having experienced the benefits of meditation he often incorporates mindfulness in his coaching sessions. Through his contact with art he has developed creativity which he believes is essential in coaching, which is a science, an art and a practice at the same time. He has been supporting CoachActivism since many years as a coach. CoachActivism is a project that aims at having a positive impact on the lives of volunteers working on the international refugee crisis.
