Swiss Coaching Network
affiliated with ICF (International Coach Federation) Switzerland

The Swiss Coaching Network is a group of professional coaches and professionals with an interest in coaching in Switzerland. The network's main vehicle is an electronic mailing list which as at August 2004 had over 350 subscribers whose nationalities include: Swiss, German, British, Canadian, American and Hungarian.

Founded in the Spring of 1999 by five participants in CoachU's international coach training program (www.coachu.com), the group quickly extended its welcome to coaches with other training backgrounds.

What our coaches share is a passion for coaching, inspired by the difference that we see it making in people's professional and personal lives. Members typically have an international outlook, and are alligned with the following guiding values:

• Healthy balance between work, family and community life
• Life-long learning: professional and personal development
• Integrity, straight talking, respect and compassion for others
• Excellence
• Results, leadership and responsibility

The benefits of coaching in a corporate environment include improvements to individuals' focus and confidence, team-work, motivation and productivity. In many corporations coaching is first introduced as an important supplement to traditional leadership training. Executives benefit from increased self-awareness, the opportunity to explore strategic options and to work on personal development goals. On an organizational level coaching will support many types of change initiatives, including the integration of different corporate and national cultures, conflict resolution, process reengineering, and the implementation of large IT projects.

A key success factor of the Swiss Coaching Network is the members' willingness to share ideas and business opportunities with each other. Clients benefit most from coaching when there is a good personal match between coach and client, hence it is to everyone's advantage when clients can be offered a choice of possible coaches. We have come to coaching from a great variety of professional backgrounds including management, mathematics, consulting, accounting, training, counseling/therapy and media.

Members of the Swiss Coaching Network organized the first European Conference of the International Coach Federation (ICF) www.coachfederation.com, in May 2001 in Grindelwald. The event was a resounding success with over 340 delegates attending from more than 20 countries. This event was followed by the 2nd and 3rd conferences in Spain in 2002, and Italy in 2003. The 4th European ICF Conference will take place in Norway between May 18 and 21, 2005.

If you have any further questions about the Swiss Coaching Network and coaching in general please contact our President, Michael Sanson, on + 41 (0) 31 961 21 75.