Hello and welcome to my story! I am Nadja El Fertasi, proud Founder of Thrive with EQ based in Brussels, Belgium.
I work with leaders with a background in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) and help them build high-performing teams during challenging times with emotional intelligence.
Why STEM?
It has a privilege to work with brilliant scientists, engineers, IT professionals, academics, cyber security experts from over 40 nationalities across the civil-military sector over the course of my two-decade career at NATO.
It has always been our mission to join forces and develop capability and technology programs which enable, protect, and secure NATO's digital footprint across the transatlantic region.
Over the past two decades, I have gained invaluable leadership skills working at the world's largest security and crisis management organization.
Why did I leave NATO?
It was time to embark on a new chapter and pursue my dream of creating an emotionally intelligent workforce.
I have experienced great leadership who transformed adversity into opportunity, who treated people as individuals rather than numbers, and who led others through challenges with high levels of emotional intelligence.
Also, I have seen high-performing teams turn into ones that burn out, leave for better opportunities, or stop performing altogether. In challenging environments, their leaders lacked the emotional intelligence needed to build high-performing teams.
Leaders are constantly under pressure, have to make quick decisions under stress, manage conflict and tension during changes, and lead under uncertainty.
My goal is to build bridges by bridging silos and equipping STEM leaders with the EQ toolkit to build high-performing teams without succumbing to burnout.
My goal is to build bridges by bridging silos and equipping STEM leaders with the EQ toolkit to build high-performing teams.
What is your vision?
By 2025, Thrive with EQ is the global brand in emotional intelligence solving leadership challenges in cyber and digitization.
I want to look back on my life at 90, and feel that I have lived my life to the fullest extent possible by sharing all of my talent, skills and gifts with the world.
My vision for thrive with EQ is to leave a legacy for future generations so that, together, we can build a workplace that connects people with different maps of the world, through emotional intelligence.
My Mission
My mission is to help you solve your day-to-day leadership challenges and build high-performing teams during difficult times. With the emotional intelligence toolkit, I keep it practical, relevant and tailored to your needs. Challenging scenarios, Applying the EQ toolkit in real-time, Strengthen leadership skills and Elevating leadership to meet today's challenging environment head on is my bread and butter.
Get on a Call with MeMy Core Values
These are my values in life, which is my Northern Star on which Thrive with EQ is founded.
Kindness
In a world where we can choose to be anything, I choose to be kind. In difficult times, it is important to lead others humanely, which is why kindness should not be seen as a weakness.
Courage
Leadership during challenging times requires courage to do what is right, not what is easy, during difficult times. It takes courage to feel the fear and persevere during times of uncertainty and challenging change.
Excellence
My focus is on achieving excellence as a partnership with our clients, rather than striving for perfection. We work together to find lasting solutions to your business performance challenges with our EQ toolkit.
Integrity
Strong and charismatic leaders inspire trust and respect through their integrity. Even when it is difficult, an emotionally effective leader does what is right.
Transparency
The antidote to uncertainty is transparency. Trust, credibility, and execution are the foundations of our partnership with our clients.
Humour
We take what we do very seriously, but we don't take ourselves too seriously. We keep our clients coming back for more by providing fun training content and rich learning experiences.
