What would you like
Just as top-athletes use the help of trainers and coaches to get better physically and mentally, we strongly believe that world-class transformers need coaching. A personal trainer for the mind, if you so desire. Our transformative coaching programs along the proven SHIFT® framework are designed for leaders who strive to shape their professional and personal future.
Every transformation involves a step into the wilderness. A journey from the comfort zone into uncertainty. From a known path to an unknown future.
You will have to make this trip yourself. But a coach can help you on the way: By preparing you to master the wild and by providing the necessary tools to keep you going. Our training is geared to bridge the gap between the known and the unknown – designed to help you define your areas for growth. Just regard coaching as your travel guide to develop your inner purpose and the courage to live towards it.
Endless coaching sessions without a clear structure is not everyone’s cup of tea. And mentoring often stays too vague. That’s why we have built a concrete regimen designed to make you better along 5 concise steps. With a beginning and an end. And clearly structured sessions with new challenging tasks in between. Just like in sports, it is a highly individualized personal training with a proven framework. Impact sparring for the mind.
CREATE YOUR OWN CHANGE STORY
The SHIFT® trek represents your personal transformation story. And your brain likes stories of change. Unexpected change makes you curious, and you want to know the outcome of the story. This anticipation is a powerful trigger that we can make use of. The quest is “Finding out who you are” by stepping out into the wilderness and questioning yourself. You will have to set out on your own hero*ine’s journey: from the ordinary world, seeking adventures, changing, learning and building new attitudes, before coming back home transformed.
The SHIFT® coaching helps you develop an unique story that is not focussed only on your career goals but includes all aspects of your life. This process involves transforming your thinking from a fixed into a growth oriented state of mind – as something that is not set but adaptable and flexible. This flexible mindset is best developed by questioning your own attitude towards change. The SHIFT® framework is a state-of-the art approach to self-leadership as a fundamental 21st century skill. It consists of five dimensions that you will be working on together with your coach: A prep-session, five consecutive steps each consisting of a 90 minute session and intensive homework, and a reflective session after two months – that is it.
PART 1:
SPIRITED
How can I become SELF-EFFECTIVE?
In this part you will be working on how to
- take initiative and become resourceful
- deal with fear and uncertainty
- persevere and commit yourself to change
PART 2:
HOLISTIC
How can I become SELF-IMAGINATIVE?
In this part you will be working on how to
- reflect on goals, purpose, and meaning
- develop an holistic worldview
- frame the right attitude towards a desired future
PART 3:
IDEATIVE
How can I become SELF-CONFIDENT?
In this part you will be working on how to
- challenge convictions and ask the right questions
- explore and discover what is possible
- decide on which path to take
PART 4:
FLEXIBLE
How can I become SELF-REFLECTIVE?
In this part you will be working on how to
- make sense of ambiguity and complexity
- uncover biases and learning to become more self-honest
- develop a mental model for change
PART 5:
TRUE
How can I become SELF-AWARE?
In this part you will be working on how to
- embrace habitual improvement and life hacking
- allow self compassion and Being Enough
- show authentic empathy and gratefulness
In a world changing so rapidly, finding purpose is the essential foundation for every transformative leader. We are deeply convinced that people must acquire new attitudes to come up with new solutions to the unexpected problems that will undoubtedly determine our future way of doing business.
To stay ahead
in exponential times
the goal is not to become
the better machine,
but the better leader.
How you find
the coach that fits
We want you to discover your potential. To use your human creativity. To think in new ways. And to look for new paths to develop yourself and others sustainably.
First we need to understand the transition you are in. In a first introductory call we will tailor your coaching program to support you. Your SHIFTCOACH might guide you through the transformation process you are in at the moment or he or she can help you work through challenges that may arise during our leadership programs. The goal of coaching is to get clarity on what’s up to come, build confidence through open experimentation, and get honest feedback about the outcome.
Coaches should ask, listen, empathize, and provide candid feedback.
Our coaching programs are for anyone who wants to take personal and professional growth in their own hands and has the clear intention to lead transformation within their organization. We only require the motivation to learn and reflect as well as the willingness to truly change things.
COACHING IS LIKE TENNIS
Tennis cannot be played alone. It needs a second player who brings her racket, accepts a few simple rules and then starts hitting the balls back that are served for her. The net in between is not a barrier but a metaphor for the shared and alternating responsibility of learning and coaching on both sides. Every player owns the game and is directly responsible for the outcome. However, it is not so much about winning or losing but about growing to become a better player.
The guide you want.
The push you need.
Are you ready?
Coaching is not self-indulgence but hard work. Our sessions are there to challenge not to comfort you. No blabla time. True transformation is not a cruise. It is a trip that can be arduous sometimes, that involves difficulties or tough decision making. Coachees can be divided in two categories: Those who think the world around them must change. And those who understand that they have to change themselves. We only work with the latter.
This checklist should help you decide if our approach to coaching is right for you.
Why our coaching is more like a personal training
Coaching is everything and nothing. It is a booming, uncontrolled market – on both sides. Whether that’s good or bad is not something we want to address here. But the fact is that coaching is often still viewed very critically.
By clients because the expected results are not achieved or expectations are not managed.
By fellow leaders because coaching seems to be black magic or esoteric mumbo jumbo.
By scientists because no adequate theoretical and empirical basis seems to exist.
By competitors who fight faith wars about the one and only standard.
It is not our intention to swim in this shark tank and simply offer yet a slightly different executive coaching. We concentrate on what we can do best: Making transformation happen. We developed a coaching format that works like personal training: science backed, customized, all in a clear structure. For people who want to sustainably change themselves and their teams.
We only do things that we are 100% convinced of. We want to leave the profession better off than we found it. That is why we invest as much time in research as in coaching practice itself. Every new tool, reflection and life hack has been tested before on ourselves. We regard executive coaching as a guide to constant individual growth – that includes ourselves of course. We don’t try to have the last word on it and try to continually deepen our understanding and improve our tool set. Our SHIFT framework is flexible enough to include the fast growing number of findings from many different disciplines. We don’t coach because it’s hip but because we strive to have a life-changing positive impact on those we coach. That is why we only work with a very limited number of coachees per year.