30/04/2026
𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞?
I had the pleasure of moderating a round table on 22 April 2026, “𝑭𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑪𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑰𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝑪𝒐𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑪𝒖𝒍𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔: 𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝑰𝒕 𝑻𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔.”
🔵 It was a rich and engaging conversation, where our distinguished Speakers from the international community shared their lived experience of building coaching cultures—what has worked, what has challenged them, and what has truly made a difference. I can’t give enough thanks and credit to them in this short post, but here are some highlights of insights they offered us.
✨ Isla Gordon, Principal at the International School of Geneva and Certified Professional Coach, spoke about how coaching skills training for managers and faculty has strengthened collaboration, while also creating space for more personalized dialogue with students.
✨ Vanessa Bocquet, ICF ACC, Internal Coach in the HR Division, World Trade Organization, described the evolution of the coaching program within her organization and how it has contributed to building trust and strengthening relationships.
✨ Jesus Guerrero, Chief of Management and Communications at the United Nations Geneva and Co-Chair of the International Organizations Coaching Network (IOCN), shared insights from a network that now brings together 180 internal coaches across the UN system and other international organizations.
🔴 It was particularly meaningful for me to witness the remarkable progress in the adoption of coaching since the early 2000s, when I was working in a UN agency and only a small group of us, HR colleagues were beginning to introduce coaching into their organization.
🟢 Today, it is striking to see that organizations built on consensus and international cooperation are also making a deliberate, strategic choice to foster coaching cultures internally—strengthening collaboration, resilience, and performance.
❇️ I also had the opportunity to share a systemic approach to culture change, through which ICF Switzerland can support organizations in starting or strengthening their coaching culture.
🟠 I am deeply grateful to ICF Switzerland for creating this dedicated space for International Organizations and NGOs, in the spirit of Switzerland’s longstanding tradition of supporting institutions that advance international dialogue and cooperation.
🎉 A warm thank you to the ICFS Geneva community for organizing the event, to Ecolint for welcoming us in their lovely meeting room, and to the ICFS colleagues who volunteered their time and energy for this event.
