Change is possible, but it is hard to achieve alone. Having a supportive partner to work with can help.
Intense curiosity in the world around me has led me on a career path with stations in basic research, clinical medicine, the pharmaceutical industry, as director of post-graduate education at university to the current day, working as a coach and consultant at elytra the company I founded in 2013.
A bilingual upbringing in the UK and Switzerland and subsequent work and study experience in the US, France and Israel, led to an early fascination with the effect of culture, both corporate and societal, and systems on individual and team wellbeing and performance. Over the course of my career and working with different companies on global transformation programmes my fascination with systems and culture has grown into a passion, leading me to pursue training as an executive coach.
As an executive coach trained by the Tavistock Institute, I am fascinated by the impact of role and environment on a leader’s effectiveness. I’ve experienced how seemingly minor quirks can impact a talented leader’s career and their ability to excel and how, likewise, small behavioural changes can make a huge impact on a leader’s effectiveness and wellbeing.
Focusing on the present and on the future, coaching helps us to examine our interactions and values, and understand ourselves better, giving us new ways to approach challenges and to expand the repertoire of behaviours we have at our disposal.
There are few areas, that I can think of, where focused work can bring about such big and important changes. This is why I find coaching so immensely rewarding and why I am passionate about supporting senior executives to reach their full potential.
The society we are raised in, our family of origin and the sum of our life experience in combination with our personalities leads to a set of core beliefs about who we are and the world we operate in. Many of these serve us well up to a certain point but are often no longer effective or indeed sufficient to help us tackle a new environment, a new country, a different industry, or a more senior role.
This is where coaching can help. Coaching focuses on the present and the future. It involves clear goal-setting, regular progress assessments and a clear time-frame.
Motivated by the conviction that identity is not fixed, I work with clients to understand themselves and their environment better and to illuminate the situation they are in from different angles and different stakeholder’s viewpoints. My ultimate goal is to support the client to expand the repertoire of behaviours and roles they have at their disposal and to identify an approach that works for them.
As a coach I see my role as providing a safe space within which to explore presenting challenges and identify opportunities, to unearth underlying beliefs and to create together, a vision of a desired ideal state. I believe that sustainable change is only possible if we are willing to invest energy and time in exploring core topics. In my experience, a quick fix addresses the symptom, but if the core is unchanged, ultimately the old beliefs and behaviours resurface.
Frequent topics I work on are effective leadership, stakeholder management, leading in a global matrix environment, virtual teams, managing during reorganisations and after mergers, aligning personal development goals with organisational expectations, being an effective leader in a tough business environment, where the focus is delivery, while maintaining rapport with the team, and keeping the team engaged and motivated.
My approach is structured. After an initial exploratory chat to see if we want to work together, we get started. We identify key goals and monitor progress. I generally start with 6 sessions and sessions are held every 4-6 weeks. A typical engagement lasts 4-6 months.
Meetings are possible both in person in my office in Basel or online, or a combination of the two.
Please contact me if you are interested in finding out more or to book your free exploratory session.
