My Story
I became a coach almost by accident. In 2012 I was leading a large non-profit in New Zealand focused on youth leadership development, when a former colleague asked me to coach her. A few months later we were both changed for ever. She landed her dream job, and I decided to become a coach.
Who do I work with?
You've got big goals and you want a partner to help you become more successful, peaceful or fulfilled in your life. I work with individuals who want to change something.
Who am I?
In 2011 I was fired from my “Dream Job”. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. 2 years later I fulfilled a grand ambition of speaking on a TED stage by sharing my story at TEDxSquareMile in London.
Getting fired as CEO of a Social Enterprise in New Zealand was a powerful event that forced me to reconsider who I was, and what I was good at. I began to understand something truly profound about being human and fulfilling my own potential, and I found a power to change the lives of people around me through coaching.
The whole picture
I’m not perfect. If you want a perfect role model, I’m not it. I sometimes get angry or dishonest. I avoid conflict, yet I can be extremely stubborn. I’m easily distracted, and I’m not always very organised.
I’m a human being, and I’m passionate about my life. I’m grateful for what I have even as I strive to create even better things for myself and the world. I work with people who want a partner, not a guru.
Coaching is emotionally difficult work that I enjoy but could not do for 40 hours a week. That's why coaching is a secondary profession to me.
How Coaching Works
Coaching is a very broad term used by many different practitioners of change. As an International Coach Federation member I take my coaching very seriously and hold myself to a high professional standard. Coaching is my profession, and it is an art and a science.
The science of coaching comes from the development of humanistic psychology since the 1950s, and in particular the growth of positive psychology since the late 90s.
These movements began to view human beings as integrated wholes, seeking creativity, fulfilment and self-actualisation. Positive psychologists reject the idea that we should learn about people by studying averages, but that we should study humans at their best to move everyone upwards.
The art of coaching comes from the intuitive and very human skills of listening, understanding and shaping each other. My practice is based on the arts of Milton Erickson and Marilyn Atkinson. Milton Erickson was a clinical psychologist of the 20th century who was known for integrating the unconscious mind as a source of creativity and solutions. He influenced the development of brief therapy, solutions focused therapy and neurolinguistic programming. Marilyn Atkinson was a student of Milton Erickson and developed the solution-focused and outcome oriented coaching model. She founded Erickson College to teach these arts and sciences of coaching and that is where I studied my craft over the past several years.
Commitment
A relationship between a coach and a client is a committment. Both of us commit to working in partnership to create the results you want. If you are ready to commit time, energy and money to a coaching relationship please get in touch using the form below. My fees start at 2000 Swiss Francs for a 2 month partnership (That's about $2050 or €1950 or £1650).
I coach in English or German, in-person in Bern, Switzerland, or otherwise over the phone or skype.
My Coaching Values
Adventure
As human beings we need to be constantly challenged. We need variety and excitement. We need to feed our curiosity. Through challenges we learn. This growth also feeds and nurtures us, keeping us alive. When we stop moving we die.
Wisdom
When we integrate our emotional, creative, logical and practical intelligence we can achieve deep wisdom. By letting our deep unconscious mind influence our refined logical thought we can see the world as it really is.
Courage
What we fear is what we must do. Waking up every day to fight the resistance is what life is about. The courage to face the fear, and do work that matters. The courage to express our true selves and speak our own inner truth.