I am a researcher with and long-time facilitator and executive coach (PCC) working with leaders, teams, and companies on two continents, supporting them on their journeys of personal and organisational growth.
After almost 20 years of facilitating adult learning, I became convinced that wisdom is one of the scarcest and most needed resources in today’s organisations. I deeply believe it is a core resource humanity needs if it is to stand a chance of building a sustainable, thriving future for itself and our planet. After gaining Master’s in Positive Psychology applied to leadership, I completed a Ph.D. exploring transformative learning and leaders’ vertical development. I am thrilled to live with a foot in both worlds - science and practice - and continuously bring my insights from the research into my ongoing work as a facilitator.
In my work, I am aiming for understanding and facilitating "vertical development", as a much-needed companion to the more traditional "horizontal development". The latter refers to acquiring more knowledge and skills and has long been the main focus of leadership development programs. Meanwhile, vertical development focuses on transforming leaders' mental and emotional filters - their mindsets and worldviews - the very lenses through which they make sense of the world around them. ‘Horizontal’ is about knowledge. ‘Vertical’ is about maturity and, with work and persistence, wisdom.
As I gain a deeper understanding of what it takes for humans to evolve towards more complex and mature world-views, I also find myself becoming increasingly humbler about what I believe I know. I hold more trust in the power of curious, brave questions to generate transformation than in the power of definitive answers, spoken with certainty.
As a researcher, I am constantly challenging my own assumptions and probing for clues as to how we can become our most conscious selves. As a facilitator of change, my art is to listen deeply, stay open, endlessly curious, and, as one client once said, “un-dissappointable”. Finally, as the life partner of another imperfect, ever-growing human being and mother of a young girl whose consciousness is blossoming under my very eyes, I am grateful to experience the beauty, pain, love, and vulnerability of my own journey towards life’s wisdom and to get a taste of my own medicine every single day.
