Private 1:1 Leadership coaching for managers
If you are here, I bet you have already bought a few of these books:
Atomic Habits by James Clear
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. by Stephen Covey
Dare to Lead by Brené Brown
Start With Why by Simon Sink
Ikigai by Héctor García
You listen to leadership and personal growth podcasts on the commute, and you save the LinkedIn or Instagram posts you might want to look at one day ( a day that never happens).
So you already know the gap is not your knowledge. More knowledge or another workshop will not close it.
So you thought maybe a personality test or some help from your AI coach can help? You tried different prompts and it felt safe to chat with someone ( something?) that has no judgement or ego so you can comfortably share your worst mistakes with it. You got a few tools and useful frameworks and got to know yourself a bit better , but then you have not changed.
Nothing has changed in your external world!
you know you are chatting with someone who is not invested in your success, does not care and only reflects your own biases back to you. It can't see you as the human you are.
So you have reached a ceiling with your AI coach too!
You are ready to find the right human coach who can challenge you while offering a compassionate and confidential space: a human who is equally invested in your growth, because their career depend on you too!
This is where I can help you in private coaching , of course only if our values are aligned and you resonate with my style of work .
What do we work on in coaching?
Every coaching engagement is built around what is live for you. These are the topics that come up most often.
Leadership identity. Who you are as a leader, and how does your unique leadership style looks like
Company politics and power dynamics. Decoding how decisions actually get made in your organisation and where you stand within that system.
High-stakes communication. communicating effectively when someone senior pushes back, and saying the thing nobody in the room is saying.
Stakeholder relationships. Building strategic and impactful relationships , including advocates, sponsors and mentors.
Leading a team. Performance, feedback, conflict, and a team that keeps moving when you are not in the room.
A new role or expanded scope. New title, new company, new country, or a remit that grew faster than your footing in it.
Survival mode. Getting your thinking time back and deciding what you stop carrying to prevent burn out.
Your next career chapter. What you are building towards, and what it asks of you.
Clients from the supply chain sector also bring specific leadership challenges in this field: supplier negotiations, sourcing strategy, conflict with suppliers or internal stakeholders.
I have spent over ten years in this field and I work on those directly with you.
My philosophy
These are the ideas that have shaped my philosophy of life, personally and professionally:
1. Our failures matter as much as our wins. Maybe more!
The detours, the credentials that did not deliver what they promised, the role that went wrong, the promotion you did not get.
These "fractures" show us where the structure was thin and where the load was carried wrong. These situations carry lessons for us.
Rumi says the wound is where the light enters.
The Japanese have a practice built on the same idea: Kintsugi, where broken ceramic is repaired with gold and the seam is left visible. The ceramic is worth more afterwards, because of the break, not in spite of it. This is how I see failures :
We work with what you already carry, good and bad rather than replacing you with a neat uptight version you don't' resonate with.
2. We do not grow in isolation: We need other humans
We grow inside ecosystems.
Our workplace, our team, family, culture, our background. Where we stand inside those systems shapes what is available to us. While developing personal skills and mindset matters so much, we can only make sense of those skills within the systems we are part of.
Esther Perel one of my favourite psychotherapists describes this beautifully : "We are who we are in relation to others". One of the reasons I got interested in systemic approaches in coaching and constellations is this point of view.
3. Growth is about navigating contradictions and dualities
You may want to expand your horizons and your nervous system may try to keep you safe and small.
You could be ambitious and at the same time afraid of what success will cost you.
This is why taking action on what we know could be so hard: we are constantly navigating contradicting expectations.
Leadership is often about holding conflicting realities. That is why it is so damn hard!
This is why so much knowledge is available and so few people succeed. The knowledge was never the obstacle!
4. Growth needs empty spaces
The Japanese concept, MA, is about the gap between objects, the pause in music, or the silence in a conversation.
It is the interval that lets something pass.
The first time I heard about I found it fascinating: growth needs space, void, gap and sometimes fractures!
A calendar with no gap in it cannot absorb anything unplanned, so every surprise becomes a crisis and there is no room left to think. Space is constructed deliberately and defended.
White spaces matter and creating them in our busy lives is an art and skill needed for transformational growth.
I even created a free guide around creating time and space for growth: because if you are overwhelmed and nearly burnt out, you probably can't hold more!
5. Lead yourself before leading others
It's easy to see the flaws in others and wanting to fix their issues, but sometimes we are blind when it comes to ourselves.
We can't expect our team to show up in a way we can never show up.
Leadership starts with ourselves first: If want anything to change in this world we must start with changing that within ourselves first. What we experience in the world is a mirror of who we are. Ourselves is a great place to start change!
I grew up in Iran with Persian mythology and Rumi's poetry, and my soul has stayed deeply connected to those stories.
I have spent most of my grown up life in Switzerland , which taught me reliability, premium quality and taking the time that mastery in any field requires.
I come from a diverse family and have lived, worked and traveled in many countries Such as Sweden, USA , Oman and the UK.
I do not just bring my certifications to this work.
I bring my point of view, lived experiences energy and values.
This explains why around 80% of my clients are expats or people with diverse international backgrounds.
In practice the work draws on systemic coaching, IFS parts work and transactional analysis, and it follows ICF ethical guidelines.
If this resonates I would love to talk to you!
MY Most popular Coaching program:
Trusted Leader ™
Each client has unique needs and expectations in coaching. When we get on a call I often propose a structure that works best with their time and budget.
80% of the times clients go for my signature coaching program "Trusted Leader ™ "3-months private mentoring and coaching.
This program consists of:
Nine sessions over three months.
Four anchor sessions, each focused on a specific leadership development priority.
Five open coaching sessions where we work on what your professional reality brings.
and you get email and WhatsApp/ Voxer messaging support in between sessions( MO- Fri 9:00 to 17:00) which my clients love and use a lot.
Investment: CHF 3500
Session 1
Your Leadership Effectiveness Assessment
This is a diagnostic session. We identify the specific behaviours, patterns, and identity positions keeping you at your current level despite strong performance.
Some clients love to try tools and tests and some just prefer to have a conversation because they have tried most of these tests before.
We define the gaps in your leadership effectiveness and set the development priorities for the three months ahead.
You walk away with a completed leadership effectiveness diagnostic, a named set of behaviours to shift, and a clear development focus for the program.
Session 2
Decoding Your environment
Your mindset matters but you don’t function in isolation: you work with other humans in a corporation, industry and those interactions are equally important.
Decisions in complex organisations are made before the formal meeting.
In this session we look into how decisions actually get made in your organisation, who the informal influencers are, where you currently sit in that network, and what is required to reach the conversations that shape outcomes.
We use a systemic approach to understand your surroundings.
You walk away with a clear map for your top priorities, and a clear view of the gap between where you are and where you need to be in terms of relationship.
Session 3
Influence Across Org.
In a complex organisation, the people whose support you need most do not report to you!
In this session we identify the high-influence relationships you are underinvesting in, and map the specific path to building relational authority with the people who shape your next role or can influence your career.
you walk away with a strategy to make your message heard across levels.
Session 4
Your presence in High-Stakes Settings
In this session we look into your presence, some call it executive presence, I prefer leadership presence: this is about your communication, your energy , how you regulate your emotions, how you show up under pressure, manage your boundaries, make yourself visible, seen , heard and trusted.
Open Coaching Sessions x 4
These sessions follow your agenda and your current ongoing issues
A high-stakes meeting.
A difficult stakeholder.
A team performance issue.
A promotion conversation you need to prepare for.
Or anything that helps you move forward towards your goals.
Specialised mentoring for Supply Chain and Procurement Professionals
Few coaches offer specialised leadership coaching, mentoring, and strategic support specifically for supply chain and procurement professionals.
My background is in global supply chain management. I have worked with hundreds of SC and procurement professionals across pharma, industrial, and FMCG organisations on leadership growth, performance, and productivity.
Some challenges are specific to these functions.
Inside this coaching programme, we address them directly.
You get strategic input, a leadership framework, and a thinking partner who deeply understands the operational reality you are navigating.
The invisible function problem — Supply chain is structurally critical and chronically under-recognised. Repositioning as a strategic business partner at the senior decision-making table requires a specific approach. Generic visibility advice does not apply here.
Translating operational performance into business language — The gap between operational excellence and senior leadership consideration is often a translation gap. Fill rate and forecast accuracy are invisible to a CFO thinking in working capital and revenue risk.
Negotiation posture under organisational pressure — When internal stakeholders push in conflicting directions and a supplier applies pressure simultaneously, negotiation posture becomes reactive. That is a leadership problem, not a negotiation tactics problem.
Supplier relationships after a difficult commercial outcome — Managing the relational dynamic after a difficult commercial outcome, without losing the result or the relationship, is a leadership skill most SC professionals develop through expensive mistakes.
Influence without authority across the matrix — S&OP, procurement, and strategic sourcing require alignment across R&D, Manufacturing, Commercial, and Finance. Silo thinking is the default. Each function optimises for its own KPIs. Building influence across these functions requires deliberate relational capital and the ability to navigate interdepartmental tension without losing credibility or commercial ground.
Quiet exclusion from strategic conversations — Opportunities are allocated before they are announced. SC professionals are evaluated in conversations they never entered, by senior leaders who do not have enough data to advocate for them. This is an upstream access problem.
My commitment
At this level, you already understand that results require your full participation.
I cannot not guarantee outcomes. No ethical coach does.
But I guarantee my full commitment to your growth for the duration of this programme:
Clear energy, non-judgmental space.
Honest constructive feedback
Consistent availability between sessions
Commitment to your growth
Frequently Asked Questions about this program
The sessions work inside your real professional situations, not in addition to them.
The preparation is minimal.
Most clients find that the clarity this programme produces reduces the time they waste on low-leverage activity, not the other way around.
Anytime!
But if you specifically want to get promoted ,ideally before the next promotion cycle.
Before the reorganisation decision is made. Before the high-stakes role transition becomes a crisis.
The professionals who get the most from this programme start when something has already shifted: a passed-over promotion, an expanded scope, a frustrating review.
No.
Internal programmes address organisational priorities not your career!
This programme addresses your career trajectory, your leadership gaps, and your specific situation.
The two rarely overlap in practice.
All three, depending on what the session requires.
The anchor sessions combine structured leadership development, mentoring from someone with direct supply chain and corporate experience, and ICF-compliant coaching.
The open sessions follow your agenda.
You get the full range, not a single modality.
Generic leadership coaching rarely addresses the specific dynamics of supply chain, procurement, and matrix organisations.
If previous coaching felt too generic, too theoretical, or too close to therapy, this programme is structurally different. The work is strategic, specific, and grounded in the environment you are actually operating in.
You do not need prior coaching experience.
You need a specific professional situation you want to change and the willingness to examine it honestly.
The first session is a diagnostic.
We establish where you are, where you want to be, and what is in the way. From there, the work is structured, practical, and grounded in your real professional reality.
No. This is a private engagement. If your employer offers learning and development funding or employee sponsorship, this programme qualifies.
I provide all necessary documentation to support that process.
What you share in sessions remains fully confidential, regardless of who covers the investment.
In hundreds of coaching engagements, there has always been a measurable takeaway.
Always. Your progress is tracked throughout the programme.
We review what is shifting, what is not, and adjust accordingly every step of the way.
If at any point the programme is not delivering what you need, we address it directly.
In my experience, that conversation has never been necessary.
But it is always available.
Most professionals at this stage already suspect the pattern has something to do with how they are showing up. Acknowledging that is not a weakness.
It is the starting point of every effective coaching engagement.
This is a non-judgmental and shame free space.
The work is not about exposing what is wrong with you. It is about understanding what is keeping a highly capable professional from operating at the level their capability warrants.
That is the most common thing I hear in a first conversation.
And it is accurate.
Generic leadership programmes are designed for the broadest possible audience.
They do not account for the political complexity of a complex organisation, the invisible function dynamic of supply chain and procurement, or the specific career ceiling that technically excellent SC professionals hit at senior manager level.
This is what makes private coaching so effective.
It helps you tackle your unique problems with your own uniquely developed solutions, customised to your specific needs.
That is the power of 1:1 private coaching. It is fundamentally different from generic advice.
This programme is built around your specific situation.
If you want to confirm the fit before committing, start with a Success Roadmap Session.
The transformation
This program helps you go from task manager to leader in 3 months.
These are the areas you can expect to change in this program:
before
Manager in survival mode: nearly burnt out
Overworked, reached capacity, no space to breath
Losing purpose and motivation
Invisible , lacking gravitas & influence in organisation
Rejected for promotions
Not trusted as leadership material
Struggling with impactful communication
Feeling underutilised
Lacking confidence
Feeling like a fraud in the new leadership role
Missing advocates, sponsors and strategic relationships
after
Grounded composed manager
Composed and relaxed with space for growth
Feeling aligned and connected with who they are
Trusted influential leader
Promotion opportunities are created not chased
Their thinking and strategy trusted and consulted
Able to articulate their message clearly in the language of impact
Enjoying the challenge
Leading with confidence
Established and grounded in the new leadership role
Supported by advocates, sponsors and strategic relationships
Need a different Program?
While this is the most popular program I have offered so far, I can always create a customised program based on your unique needs and budget.Some clients prefer a one month intensive to get the fastest results, and some prefer a one year concierge support.
Get in touch and together we will design the optimal program for you.
Virtual & In Person Intensive Leadership Workshops (Switzerland)
I offer in person or virtual leadership training and hands on workshops customised to your unique needs. These events usually take place in Basel/ Zürich / St Gallen for small groups or in private 1:1.
They can take 2-3 days and are aimed to address a specific topic you need practical help, industry experience and support with.
Follow me on my email list to informed about the next upcoming event.
If you need a customised in person/ or virtual intensive designed customised to your unique needs please book a free consultation.
We will look into your needs and I will send you a personalised program offered at a competitive price,
1:1 Private Coaching vs. Group Programs
The primary difference between 1:1 coaching and group programs is the completely confidential environment.
In private sessions, you can discuss organizational politics, power dynamics and team conflict, difficult stakeholders, career strategy, or leadership challenges without concern about who else is in the room or how you would be judged.
While group programs follow strict confidentiality agreements, many clients prefer not to share details about their specific situations, especially when navigating sensitive dynamics at work.
You need a safe space to talk freely about what's actually happening—the conversations you can't have anywhere else.
That's why 1:1 coaching creates different results: nothing is off-limits, and we can address the real complexity of your situation without filters.
**For group programs: Keep an eye on my emails if you've downloaded any of my free resources or joined previous programs. That’s where I announce when the next cohort opens.
The difference you’ll experience
"Sara is a strategist, mentor, and true thought partner. Her sharp, no-nonsense guidance helped me build a high-impact coaching program while continuing my pharma leadership journey."
Dr. Alejandra Nieto
Scientist, leader in Pharma- Switzerland
"Sara is great at combining mind and heart in her coaching. Her holistic trauma informed approach to business coaching is unique and helped me survive the most difficult period of my life and business"
S. Macmillan
Marketing executive,Tech Startup Cofounder, Business consultant B2B
Tailored approach
We will create a customised plan for your growth based on your unique life situation, needs, energy. time and learning style.
Proven results
Hundreds of clients have landed new positions, got promoted and reinvented their careers — with faster timelines and stronger confidence.
Confidentiality
Following ICF code of conducts, I provide a safe discrete space for you to explore your trickiest work situations without worrying about judgement or backlash.
You have questions about coaching that I missed to answer here check my general FAQ page.
If you are a leadership, career, executive or business coach, just got certified or you are in the process of getting ICF accredited see my business services for coaches.
I can help you build and grow a successful coaching business, creating transformations for leaders and business professionals.
Ready to take the next step?