Joy holds a masters degree in counseling from the University of Reading.  She is qualified in the use of the JCA Emotional Intelligence Tool and the Pearson-Marr Personal Branding Tool, and she’s an NLP Master Practitioner.  She completed an 18-month coach/facilitator program at the University of Surrey, and she’s been trained in 1:1 and group coaching supervision at the Bath Consultancy.  Joy also serves as a member of the visiting faculty at Henley Business School. 

Joy’s corporate career began at British Telecom, where over 14 years she served in management roles including finance, procurement, and HR, and ended her tenure as an internal consultant, regularly coaching regional leaders and managing directors.  She then moved on to Dun & Bradstreet where, as a senior learning consultant, she introduced innovative approaches to raising performance.  At both BT and D&B she played key roles in reëngineering projects and change management initiatives.  During her nearly two decades of corporate experience, Joy gained a nuanced grasp of the complex imperatives facing global business leaders.  Her extensive experience now gives Joy quick credibility with senior executives.

As an independent professional since the late 1990s, Joy has worked with leaders and their teams within global companies throughout Europe.  Clients have included British Telecom, Dun & Bradstreet, KPMG, Atkins, Johnson & Johnson, Barclays, Barclaycard, DSGi, Shell, Tesco, Harley-Davidson, Transport for London, Blackwell, Molnlycke Healthcare, and A.C. Nielsen. 

Joy takes a systemic approach to her work, maximizing ROI for both coachee and organization.  Coachees say that they appreciate her approachability and the relevance and longevity of the positive impact she’s helped them make.  Her assignments typically include working with leaders who are new to their roles, who need to think more strategically, who need to handle change and conflict more deftly, and who are technical experts needing to master leadership and relational skills.  Finally, Joy coaches executive boards to maximize their collective contribution and become more than the sum of a group of individuals.

Based in the U.K., Joy has a busy family life.  She is active socially, has close community ties, and does voluntary work with young offenders.

Brian graduated from Cambridge University in natural sciences.  More recently, he became a Certified Professional Coach through study at the College of Executive Coaching.  Since relocating to his native U.K. in 2005, Brian has taken further certifications in several psychometric and 360º assessment instruments and graduated from the Chief Executive Office coach program in the U.K.

Brian began his career with KPMG (then PMM) and qualified as a chartered accountant in 1981.  His urge to travel led him to join AIG as an international auditor, and he soon was promoted to regional audit manager.  Next, he worked in international finance at RSA and gained valuable management experience in dealing with businesses all around the world.  Joining Commercial Union (now Aviva) in 1990, he gained general management experience as the regional manager for Latin America and, later, as general manager for Hong Kong with responsibility for Taiwan and Macau.  In 1997, Brian joined HSBC in Brazil following its acquisition of a major financial services group there; he was named CEO of the insurance business, comprising 1,500 employees and premiums in excess of 400 million dollars.  The outcome of these diverse business experiences is that Brian possesses finely-tuned expertise in leading and coordinating strategic and operational planning and management, M&A negotiation and post-acquisition management, multi-channel distribution, extensive restructuring, quality management, managing for shareholder value, risk management, cost control, and corporate culture change.

Brian has coached over 200 executives and high potential managers from over 25 different nationalities working across across six continents.  Coachees have included regional presidents and country CEOs responsible for major businesses as well as senior functional managers.  His coaching expertise includes performance management, communication skills, relationship and conflict transformation, authenticity, political savvy, influencing skills, managing upwards, time & energy management,  motivating others, cross-cultural flexibility, strategic thinking, and career planning and development.  His coachees are complimentary about the results and transformational change they have been able to achieve.

Brian and his Brazilian wife enjoy family activities with their three children as well as travel in order to experience new cultures, cuisines, and music.

Sandra earned a B.Sc. (Hons) in chemistry from Bath University in 1980 and was awarded the Robert Bollam Prize for best in year.  In 1993, she gained a diploma in marketing from the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the U.K. 

Sandra's corporate career spans 17 years.  After several years with ICI Public Health (where she was regional manager for the Far East) and Zeneca, she moved to Hydron Ltd.  There she became head of sales and marketing, belonged to a core team developing and driving a new business strategy, and held P&L responsibility for the worldwide contact lens business.  Following Hydron’s acquisition, Sandra became director of strategic marketing for Biocompatibles Hydron, developing both the core strategy for the combined product range and the future business direction to achieve sales targets.  Her central roles in the acquisition process required her to support global teams and to deal extensively with integration challenges and “people factors.”

Sandra founded her own coaching business in 2000.  With a nationwide group of coach associates, she coaches senior executives for higher performance, both individually and as members of teams.  Much of her work involves helping executives to focus on their most critical leadership challenges, and to articulate and demonstrate a shared vision.  Her coaching also includes supporting coachees through professional transitions such as excelling in a new or rapidly changing organization, and working in an unfamiliar national culture.  Her clients include Barclays Bank, Dell, Wrigley’s, Coca Cola, Dun & Bradstreet, Centrica, The AA, and Marriott Hotels.  Some of her coaching projects have involved as many as 60 directors.

Sandra is a founding member of the U.K. College of Coaching, a graduate of the Coaching Academy, and a master NLP practitioner “breakthrough coach.”  She is qualified to administer Myers Briggs and Hogan psychometric profiling, and has advanced to Level B with the British Psychological Society.  A contributor of articles on coaching to the Sunday Times, she has also appeared on national radio.

Sandra lives in Warwickshire with her partner, daughter, and pets. She enjoys interior design and art, and has trekked extensively, climbing some of the highest active volcanoes in the world.

Tom’s bachelors degree in English and American literature is from the University of Sussex.  In 1997, he graduated from the Institute of Personnel and Development (IPD), the U.K. lead body in human resources management.  He is also internationally accredited as a change consultant and management development adviser.

Starting his career as a teacher and educational journalist in the U.K., Tom moved to the United States in 1980 and devoted two years to lecturing in the American Culture and Language Program at California State University in Los Angeles.  Subsequently, he was employed for five years by two international telecom organisations, Inmarsat (London) and Eutelsat (Paris).  As internal communications manager for these firms, Tom supervised the transnational teams that provided conference and documentation services to over sixty member states.  He also managed intergovernmental meetings for up to thirty representatives from North America, Europe and Asia, and served as secretary to the main board as well as to various committees.

In 1993 Tom left Eutelsat and moved into management consultancy, working on change and people development projects for U.K. clients such as London Transport, Europcar, and Lombard NatWest Financial Services.  In 1994, he provided training and consultancy to the National Bank of Slovakia as part of the U.K. government’s “Know-How Fund” development program.  Beginning in 1995, Tom worked closely with government-sponsored Training & Enterprise Councils, helping them implement the national “Investors in People” quality standard. 

Since 1996, Tom professional focus has been as an organizational development and cross-cultural consultant for global 1000 companies operating in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.  Recently he has been directing cross-cultural programs for companies in the U.K., Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Turkey, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates. Among his recent clients are GE Capital, Motorola, Conoco, Ericsson, Procter & Gamble, Kraft, Kelloggs, and Cemex.  In April 2000, Tom founded his own consultancy, which specializes in cross-cultural consultancy and cross-border management solutions, including for mergers & acquisitions. 

Tom lives in London, where he enjoys theatre and night life.  He likes running and swimming, and plays five-a-side football weekly.  Passionate about writing, he’s just finished his first novel.  He’s also interested in travel, film, and history.

Since moving to the U.K., Ginger has been involved in both the non-profit and profit sectors.  On the non-profit side, she has planned and managed volunteer work programs for AFS exchange students.  She was a founder and first president of FOCUS Information Services, a non-profit resource organization created to enable expatriates to settle in the U.K. more efficiently.  Through her FOCUS connection, Ginger became a founding member of the steering committee of the Women on the Move Conference, served as program chair for the London conference, and has attended all five conferences.  And Ginger was a founding member and is now General Manager of TRIPITAKA, an international touring theatre company.

As an intercultural consultant working with companies such as National Power, Gillette, and Goldman Sachs to help smooth the transition of international assignees and their families, Ginger has gained broad experience with people of various nationalities relocating to and from many parts of the world.  She also has worked for twelve years for a British seminar and conference company, setting its marketing strategies for management training courses.

Ginger and her husband Glenn count gardening and sailing as two of their passions.  They enjoy visiting with first grandson Kobi, daughter Jen, and son-in-law Dietrich, who live in South London.  Their younger daughter, Alex, a student at Tufts University, lives and works in Boston, Massachusetts.

Anne-Sophie received a masters degree in business psychology from Université Paris Diderot (known locally as Paris VII).   She is qualified in the Myers-Briggs Type Inventory, Leadership Efficiency Analysis, and Situational Leadership.  She has completed professional training in individual and team coaching at Mozaïk International, Coaches Training Institute, and the Center for Right Relationship. 

Anne-Sophie began her professional career during the late 1980s, working as an HR and training consultant for GIMCA, an innovation, management, and creativity group.  Between the early 1990s and the mid-2000s, she founded and managed two consulting organizations, the first in France, the second in Belgium; this work drew her into large projects focused on leadership development, performance management, and change effectiveness.  She then became a senior HR manager and member of the executive committee at Baxter BioScience in Switzerland; in this capacity Anne-Sophie aligned performance and well-being for the employees and supported executives through changes and reorganizations.  Recently, in partnership with others, she founded a Paris-based coaching group that focuses on change and crises, transitions, energy management, and strategic leadership development. 

As an entrepreneur and independent consultant, Anne-Sophie’s clients have included GSK, Sanofi-Aventis, Danone, GDF-SUEZ, Belgacom, Electrabel, Avanade, AG2R La Mondiale, Alstom, Fortis, and Renault, among others.

Anne-Sophie addresses the coachee as a whole human being, engaging his or her cognitive abilities; social, emotional, and visceral intelligences; behaviors, values, beliefs, and identity.  She responds to the challenges leaders encounter by deciding whether to provide a support approach or a transformation approach.  She explains that during her coaching, she invites her coachee to enlarge his self-awareness and awareness of others.  Then, via a systemic exploration, the coachee gradually learns how to liberate his or her potential to make possible a more precise adaptation to the global business environment. 

Anne-Sophie seeks balance in her own life, which is divided between her professional engagements and her most important work, raising two growing children and enabling them to become authentic human beings.  She herself enjoys walking, skiing, sculpting, and painting.  Conscious of being a Libra, she continuously seeks complementarities, for example between the feminine and the masculine, and between high and low energy as life-discovery cycles.

A native of France, Françoise has studied in the U.S., where she gained an M.B.A. from Pennsylvania State University.  She also attained a post-graduate degree in human resources management from Middlesex University in the U.K.  She holds executive and team coaching certifications from Transformance, and she is qualified in MBTI, Belbin, and Human Element.

From 1984 to 2000, Françoise held senior positions in the food industry.  For the Nestlé Group in France, she led talent development and specialized in connecting training initiatives with the strategic needs of the business.  Assigned to Poland, she served as marketing and sales director for a new Nestlé acquisition and distinguished herself by introducing a new business culture and practices.  Later for Coca-Cola, she served in Poland as human resources director; her role was soon expanded to include all Eastern European nations.  In this capacity, she worked with local management to build a new business culture and to drive major transformations.  After developing Coca-Cola’s coaching practice in Poland, she returned to France to found her own consultancy.

Françoise specializes in coaching individual executives and executive teams, specializing in those that find themselves confronted with performance challenges.  Her focus is on building a compelling team vision, on identifying behaviors for the attainment of that vision, and on revealing previously hidden talents among team members that can be leveraged to drive superior performance.   Because of her high energy level, natural authority, ablilty to gain trust, and fearlessness in confronting coachees, Françoise has proved herself to be an executive coach who can swiftly enable leadership teams to attain high performance.

Among Françoise’s clients are L’Oréal, OTIS, Airbus, Danone, EADS, Red Bull, Phillips, Club Med, EDF, Sanofi Aventis, and Lafarge.  Some of her work with these clients has involved the support of executives through periods of transition, such as those encountered in the midst of mergers and acquisitions.  Her work also has included the facilitation of senior leadership training programs.

Françoise is married and the mother of four children.  She loves to travel, especially for the purpose of visiting members of her family; they are based in the United States and in Asia.  Françoise’s personal passions are books and jogging..

A native of France, Marie-Pascale graduated from the Western Catholic University of Angers in 1983 with a bachelors degree in English and linguistics.  In 1985 she completed a masters in business management at ESSCA, a major French business school; at that time she was also studying economics in the University of Vienna.  Having lived in England, Mexico, Austria, and the U.S. in addition to France, Marie-Pascale has strong conversational abilities in Spanish and German; she works professionally in both English and French.

Marie-Pascale’s coaching expertise is built on a foundation of financial and management experience.  Her responsibilities involved business affairs in Africa as well as in Europe.  Her employers included Cacao Barry in the food industry, SG2 Gestion in the computer industry, and Allia in the sanitary-ware industry.  As a financial controller during periods of large corporate reorganizations, Marie-Pascale held core positions that required collaborating with senior executives on budget planning and margin analysis. 

A move to London in 1996 enabled Marie-Pascale to become an independent consultant specializing in sales and marketing.  One of her successes was to introduce a niche French company to the John Lewis department store.  Convinced that strong personal qualities such as confidence and interpersonal skills lead to optimal business performance, she focused on executive coaching.  She received her certification from the International Coaching Institute in Geneva, and she became a credentialed member of the International Coach Federation.  To complement her coaching expertise, she also completed training in Gestalt therapy and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. 

Over the past seven years, Marie-Pascale has coached executives and managers from a wide range of companies including Bel Americas, Newedge, Amdocs, American Express, Barclays Capital, Crédit Lyonnais, EMC, Motorola, Pfizer, Unilog.  She has also worked for DBM and Mondial Assistance as a subcontracted coach, and she has lectured at the ICHEC business school on management skills. 

Having lived and worked in five different nations, Marie-Pascale has first hand experience of transition and change.  Although her work is largely in France and Belgium, she currently resides in London with her Spanish-born husband, Rafael, an investment banker; they have four children.  She is a runner and a marathon-finisher.

Laurent has a masters degree in business management from Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Rouen, and a second masters degree in change management and the sociology of organizations.  He is also a certified gestalt therapist.  He is well-known in the European academic world, including CRC/Groupe HEC, for his presentations on human capital management and coaching in crisis situations. 

From 1993 to 2005, Laurent held a variety of executive positions with IBM, including vice president for Europe business consulting services and human capital management, vice president of the Israel global development initiative, director of worldwide go-to-market strategy, and director of business partner strategy and management.  In these roles, Laurent amassed an enviable record of attaining excellent outcomes in his dealings with the CEOs and directors of firms of all sizes, from small private companies to multi-billion dollar publicly traded corporations.  He learned to manage, with notable success, the entire sequence from business case development to solution launch, including the re-engineering of businesses at the local and international levels and the aligning of systems to enhance capabilities and sustain results.

Laurent is certified as a Professional Certified Coach by the International Coaching Federation.  He views his coaching as addressing executives’ motivation and patterns of adaptation in order to maximize the effectiveness and durability of change.  Laurent benefited enormously from being in charge of deploying internal coaches for IBM Europe.  He not only gained vast experience in multicultural environments, but also came to understand how to support business leaders who are confronted with individual and collective performance challenges. 

Laurent’s engagements have included leading European firms such as L’Oréal, OTIS, Airbus, Groupe La Poste, Pitney Bowes, Thalès.  His work has involved both coaching and consulting to turn around complex situations, to support key managers as they transition to larger responsibilities, and to reinforce the identity and leadership skills of managers and executives.

Laurent spent six years with IBM in New York City, returning to France in 2001. As a result, he is fluent in English.  He is the father of four children, all of whom love to travel across the world and personally experience new cultures.

During the early 1970s, Maureen was pursuing an associate degree in radiology at Boston’s Northeastern University, which required her to spend time working in a hospital’s radiology department.  While still a student, she became one of the first people in the world trained to operate the newly invented CT scanners.  She was quickly hired by Elscint, an Israeli-American medical diagnostics firm, to train doctors and technologists.  Sent to Paris to deliver three weeks of training, she remained there and became the firm’s European product leader.  Subsequently, Maureen joined a French electronics company, RAB Composants, and devoted four years to negotiating and managing supplier contracts in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and South Korea.  Through both of these positions, she gained experience aligning an EMEA marketing strategy, motivating cross-cultural teams, growing sales in a variety of nations and cultures, and successfully discharging responsibilities at high regional and global levels. 

In 1996, Maureen left the corporate world to pursue studies in the U.S. and Switzerland organized by the Intercultural Communication Institute.  She also completed work in coaching, including cross-cultural coaching, at Mozaik International and at the Advantara global executive coach training program; and she became licensed to use “The International Profiler” and “High Impact Teams.”  Since then, Maureen has been coaching and training corporate leaders, accompanying them through phases of M&A integration, change management, and intercultural adaptation while drawing on her own professional experiences and familiarity with cultural frameworks.  Her client list includes, among others, LVMH, Chanel, Bristol Myers Squibb, Sanofi-Aventis, UBS, Axa, Thales, and AREVA.

A mentor with the European Professional Women’s Network, Maureen is often invited to be a speaker by the American Chamber of Commerce in France, the Franco-British Chamber of Commerce, and Le Conseil Générale du Val d’Oise.  She is active in the International Consortium of Coaching Organizations, the Society for Intercultural Education, Training, And Research, and the International Coaching Federation, where she serves on the global marketing committee. 

Maureen has travelled and worked extensively throughout Europe, the Middle East, and Asia.  Currently, she operates out of both France and the U.S.  On a personal note, she is married with two teenagers and is an avid golfer.

Bernard holds masters degrees in computer science from Paris University of Technology and in IT management from Paris-Dauphine University.  He has completed advanced business-related courses at both IMD and INSEAD.  His training in human development and coaching occurred at IFOD in Paris.  He also holds certifications in Assessment Centre, 360° Feedback, MBTI, and Hogan Profiling.  Bernard now teaches advanced students at the University of Rouen, and in Paris at both the Institut Superieur de la Communication and the Institut de Gestion Sociale.  He speaks French and English fluently, and Italian conversationally.

Prior to becoming a full-time executive coach and Architect of Education, Bernard worked for major global corporations such as Control Data, Xerox, Sun Microsystems, Cisco, and Hyperion.  His early professional contributions occurred as a computer engineer and information technology specialist.  Later, he served as a sales manager and finally as director of human resources for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.  During these two decades, Bernard gained in-depth experience in an intensely multinational and multicultural environment.

Bernard founded his own consultancy in 2003.  His contributions occur in three directions:  As a change manager, he enables senior leaders to understand employees’ resistance to change and to respond in appropriate ways.  As a people developer, Bernard applies a variety of approaches to help people grow as individuals, managers, and leaders.  And as an executive coach, he works with business leaders to “manage their loneliness,” develop their professional strategies, and upgrade their performance.  Among his clients are Thales (Avionics, Airborne Systems, and Military Customer Service units), Total, CheckPoint Software AG, and Juniper Networks.  One of his coachees, a CEO, wrote, “Bernard brings the executive from point A to point B, rather than giving vague recommendations on his/her behavior or reactions to the environment.  This contributes to see quick improvements….”

Bernard is a fan of scuba diving, which he instructs, and golf.  He lives with his wife and three children in Paris, which they all believe to be one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Born in France of Dutch parents, Agnès describes herself as a “self-made woman.”  During most of her twenties, she lived and worked in The Netherlands, beginning as a secretary, moving up to personal assistant, then moving up again to office manager.  In 1990, Agnès joined Heidrick & Struggles as the director of administration for Europe, in which capacity she oversaw¬ the company’s expansion from seven offices in five nations to 28 offices in 20 nations.  Nine years later, Agnès joined Capgemini Consulting; she first managed the firm’s worldwide Strategic Consulting Forum, an international event.  She then took responsibility for the Event Planning Department, and a year later was asked to take charge within France of Capgemini’s Accelerated Solutions Environment (ASE).  In that role she interfaced with more than 40 freelance knowledge workers and led a one-year project to establish a new location of ASE in Paris.  Agnès is proud of the fact that Capgemini Consulting gave her the rating of “outstanding performer” nine years in a row.

During 2003, Agnès decided to become an independent consultant and began the process of learning to deliver executive coaching.  She completed courses offered by the Coaches’ Training Institute (CTI) and the International Coaching Institute (ICI).  She attained certification by the Behavioral Coaching Institute as a master business coach; by the Neuro-Linguistic Programming organization as a master practitioner; and by Reach Communications as a brand strategist.  Finally, Agnès received training in appreciative inquiry from Shared Sun Studio in the United States. 

Agnès’s personal client list includes, among others, Capgemini, KPMG, Hubtelecom, Rio Tinto/Alcan, SFR, Infovista, Axa Insurance, DHL Global Forwarding, and Novartis Santé Animale.  She specializes in ethical and sustainable development and growth.  She is a member of the International Coach Federation, the American Chamber of Commerce in France, and the Coaches Exchange.  Her work has taken her to many of the nations on the Continent as well as to the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. 

Agnès enjoys gardening, walking, and biking around her small village in eastern France.  She takes advantage of Skype and her webcam to connect to her network, family and friends all over the world.  Her son and daughter have both left home and are studying internationally.

An Irish national, Nancy gained an MBA degree from United Business Institutes in Brussels.  She holds Business Coaching accreditation from Meyler Campbell and is an authorized user of the Coaching Across Cultures framework.  In master classes with Harvard Professor Carol Kauffman, Nancy has studied the application of positive psychology in coaching.  Finally, she is accredited in the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Steps I and II, and is an authorized facilitator and team coach for the Team Diagnostic Assessment.

Nancy served in global businesses for nearly 20 years, much of that time as a senior executive in marketing and communications, and as a member of executive committees.  Her responsibilities included global rebranding and repositioning; preparation for public listing of a 150-year old family-owned company; communications supporting mergers, divestitures, and acquisitions; post-merger integration of identities and brands; financial communications; and crisis communications.  In addition, Nancy was a key executive involved in the design and implementation of learning and performance development programs, including executive coaching grounded in 360° feedback processes.

As a characteristic feature of her management experience, Nancy personally experienced multiple variations and degrees of cross-cultural transformation.  Among these were the integration of major cross-border acquisitions, the restructuring of corporate portfolios, and the evolution of business models and processes brought about by crises and challenges.  She gained her corporate managerial experience with IMS HEALTH, Ahlstrom Fiber Solutions, Agfa HealthCare, Dow Corning, and Burson-Marsteller. 

As an executive coach, Nancy helps her clients achieve tangible outcomes.  She works with individuals and teams as they navigate their way from a strategy towards implementation by bridging the gap between knowing-what-to-do and getting-it-done.  Her experience has shown that a key success factor in business coaching is to link clear objectives with the personal and business contexts.  Nancy’s coaching clients have included managers and executives at Akkanto, the MCPS-PRS Alliance, and others.  She also coaches private clients in the throes of career transitions; having navigated two major career changes, she’s at ease with the challenges of such life events.

Nancy lives near Stuttgart and enjoys gardening, hiking, books, and films.

Leaving the traditional German secondary school in Reutlingen, Konrad became an exchange student and graduated from high school in the United States.  At university, he studied Protestant theology and pedagogy, receiving in 1976 a Ph.D. from Ruperto-Carola-University in Heidelberg; his thesis focused on social movements and pedagogic developments in Southern Germany.  He has also received training in organizational development, Gestalt psychology, appreciative inquiry (NTL), and Feldenkrais therapy.  Over the years, he has continued his own studies in systemic and constructivist theory.  Konrad is fluent in German, English, and French, and has some facility in Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Greek, and Hebrew.

While serving as a Protestant minister for about twenty years, Konrad was able to develop a variety of human resource activities, and so, during 1996, he turned his attention to the business world.  He founded a training centre that, for a number of years, offered training and seminars in leadership.  More recently, Konrad has turned his attention to coaching.  His coachees, including C-level executives and vice presidents, have included leaders at Bombardier, Novartis, Deutsche Bank, RBS, Citibank, Unicredito, Bongrain, BASF, Lonza, pdf solutions, and others.  Konrad has been associated with The Global Coaching Partnership (TGCP), which he served as chairman for one turn.

In his work, Konrad looks for all kind of systemic constellations.  History, stories, social structures, and life biographies are all accessed as inexhaustible sources of ideas for practical options to act alternatively.  He is fond of the interdisciplinary and multicultural aspects generating new knowledge.  He prefers to coach during unusually long sessions; for example, he might combine coaching with a visit to a museum or a walk along the river.  He has collected his experiences as an executive coach in a book recently published in Germany, Ein Coach nimmt Maß.

Konrad and his wife, Ute, like to travel in Europe, the Americas, and the Mediterranean; they often bicycle along the Main or Rhine rivers.  Other activities for Konrad include riding horseback, touring the Alps, tasting wines and chocolates, reading literature, and singing bass in a choir.  As a volunteer project, he recently began disseminating the architectural heritage of the Martin-Elsässer-Foundation.

Daniela, a Swiss national, was born in Rio de Janeiro, then moved to Switzerland as a child.  After finishing secondary school, she worked for a year in Lyon, France, as au pair, then obtained her first degree from Zürich University, where she studied sinology.  During the early 1990s, she attained a masters degree in sinology and history from the same university; completing her masters thesis involved research at the University of Wuhan. 

Daniela was employed by Credit Suisse, helping to attain the bank’s management objectives in Shanghai and other locations in Southeast Asia.  She then moved to Germany and founded her own consulting company in 1996, which specializes in preparing European managers cross-culturally before they relocate to Asia, then coaches them during their sojourn abroad.  In addition, she works with their local Asian counterparts to give them a better understanding of effective strategies for collaborating with Europeans.  Her work increasingly involves multinational and virtual teams, which she supports by enabling them to bridge emerging difficulties due to distance and cultural difference.  Her principal clients include BASF, Siemens, BMW, Roche, Robert Bosch, Heraeus Holdings, and Lonza.

Daniela holds a university lectureship at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. She gives regular workshops for the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Frankfurt as well as for the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China.  She is qualified in systemic consulting, and in the administration of the Intercultural Development Inventory and the Reiss Profile.  Over the years she has been able to live in Japan and to carry out research on European expatriates living in Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand.  Her most recent research (2010) was on management competencies for the Chinese market.  She has contributed several articles about China to German newspapers.

Married to a German national, Daniela enjoys long walks and jogging in the hilly landscapes near their home.  She loves venturing into remote regions of distant countries in order to meet local people.  She also has a passion for Latin American dancing.

Sabine holds a degree in economics with a specialization in corporate management; her thesis concerned the impact of shared services within multinational companies.  As a young graduate, she supported her father's international entrepreneurial business, which built aluminium factories throughout Africa and the Middle East.  This gave her living and working experience in that world region.

ExxonMobil employed Sabine in its international human resources function for 12½ years.  There she gained extensive experience in organizational development, search and selection, and recruitment and assessment for assignments abroad.  She was responsible for managing 350 expatriate families (28 nationalities) who were living in Belgium.  Sabine also worked internationally for ExxonMobil, focusing on employee development, career planning, internal counseling, job evaluation, job rotation, and upward mobility.  Short assignments regularly took her to the United States, France, and The Netherlands.  For several years she also managed ExxonMobil’s Early European Graduate Interchange Program, which offered international experiences to young graduates.

Early in 2000, Sabine founded her own consultancy devoted to enhancing the effectiveness of middle managers and senior executives.  She offers executive coaching and career counseling as well as intercultural management expertise in human resources and leadership development.  She personally provides long-term coaching for business leaders with respect to teambuilding, performance enhancement, time- and stress-management, and intercultural communication skills and relationship-building.  Her client list includes Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, GSK, Fortis, Tyco, Sofitech, Amylum, Total Fina, Schering-Plough, ExxonMobil, Dow, Shell, UCB, Phillips, MasterCard, Holcim, Areva, Electrabel, Cargill, Cummins, Alcatel Scientific Atlanta, Bristol-Meyers-Squibb, JP Morgan, Henkel, Umicore, Heidelberg, ING, and Software AG.

Throughout her career, Sabine has gained training and experience with tools such as MBTI, DISC, OPQ, and several others, and she participates regularly in assessment and development centre exercises.  She is a Certified Professional Coach.  She leads open and in-house seminars on Franklin Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” and Edgar Schein’s “Career Anchors” as well as others on topics such as virtual coaching, networking, behavior-based interviewing skills, social styles, core qualities, and emotional intelligence.

Sabine lives near Brussels with her French partner.  They enjoy travelling all over the world.  She spends most of her free time with her young nephew, who is also her godchild.

Dinand holds a masters degree in organizational sociology, with a specialization in project management, gained at the University of Utrecht.  During the late 1980s he fulfilled his military service as an officer in the Behavioral Sciences Department at the Dutch Ministry of Defense. 

From 1989 through 1993, Dinand worked as a consultant for two consulting firms: KHG Group (business process redesign for banking industry), and KSG Berenschot (training, organizational development, and restructuring for the aviation industry).  After a sabbatical in Alaska during 1993, Dinand returned to The Netherlands as an independent consultant.

Dinand has directed projects and programs for multinational companies such as Genzyme, DSM, AHOLD, Maersk, AKZO NOBEL, Pharming, Norske Skog, Amsterdam Airport, Air France, and KLM.  The aviation industry, together with life sciences, have been his special areas of interest.  He also acts as a liaison between the industry and government agencies or other stakeholders.  He regularly acts as an interim manager and temporarily becomes part his client’s organization, carrying responsibility for business results or implementation of crucial systems.  Together with his client Air Traffic Control The Netherlands, Dinand took 2nd place in the ATOS 2009 Project of the Year competition.

Equally important is Dinand’s dedication to coaching international leadership teams in strategy-setting, leadership development, and the implementing of global programs in local settings.  One of his specialties is first-hand assessment of leadership teams, after which he provides team coaching focused on alignment with business goals and strategy.

During nearly half a year in 1993, Dinand lived outdoors in Alaska, feeding his passion for arctic landscapes that originally had been inspired by Jack London's Call of the Wild.  Now, each year, he treks, often with a friend, above the arctic circle in Europe; this is his own path to reflection and adventure.  (He adds that, gradually, his preference is shifting towards warmer climates!)  Most of the year, Dinand lives with his Dutch partner in the old city of Utrecht, on the remnants of the Middle Ages. -

Michael was born and bred in England before studying and living in the Netherlands.  He holds a master of science in industrial engineering from the University of Eindhoven.  Later, he completed a management course at the American Management Association in Chicago.  More recently, after he’d become interested in executive coaching, Michael completed three courses: one in management and executive coaching at the School for Coaching; one in cross-cultural coaching with Rosinski & Company; and one that led to certification in the “Intercultural Readiness Check” instrument by Intercultural Business Improvement.

It was at KLM Royal Dutch Airlines that Michael spent his business career.  He worked in many areas including operations, marketing, and information technology. He led numerous international partnership projects, which enabled him to develop a collaborative leadership style. Michael was lastly director of corporate strategy, in which capacity he was closely involved with KLM’s merger with Air France and the subsequent post-merger integration.  Together with French colleagues, he enjoyed facilitating culture-bridging and joint leadership development.  Given his extensive management experience, he can easily relate to business dilemmas that clients may be wrestling with.

Michael’s international working experience has given him in useful insights into the challenges of working in global organizations and with virtual teams.  As an executive coach, he has had ten years of experience with senior managers in a wide range of Netherlands-based corporations: Delta Llyod, United Services Group, Rabobank, Shell, NetApp, Achmea, and SITA.  In some of these engagements, he expertly made use of 360° feedback.  Michael’s coaching clients describe his style using terms such as engaged, result-driven, pragmatic, culturally sensitive, bridge-builder, conceptually analytic, and reliable.

Michael is particularly interested in coaching managers in global corporations in which cross-cultural teamwork is critical for long-term success.  Recently he expanded his portfolio to include coaching leaders in transition, in which cases he applies Elsner’s “eight tensions.” 

Michael and his Dutch wife live in The Netherlands where they enjoy the both urban and outdoor activities; favorites are gardening, sailing, and cycling.  They love visiting their children and grandchildren, who live nearby.  Michael has a personal interest in the effects of climate change and resource conservation.

Esther received a bachelors in business administration and economics as well as an executive masters in human resources in her native Switzerland.  She gained a second masters in social-organizational psychology from Columbia University, New York.  She has also learned about people and their cultures by living in Canada, Italy, France, Guatemala, and the United States.  She is fluent in German, English, and French, and conversational in Spanish and Italian. 

For many years Esther worked in human resources.  She led the HR department of the Rieter Group, a leading Swiss-based international organization in the automotive and textile industries.  As an HR generalist, she focused on the global component of her role, implementing international training and development programs, leading benchmarking projects, and redesigning and administering an innovative expatriate policy. 

As an HR business partner group leader for Credit Suisse, Esther coached and counseled senior managers in the private banking sector in the domestic and international markets.  Part of her role was to help manage various restructuring projects.  She acted as an internal advisor for outplacement as well as retention and talent development, for which she planned, implemented, and co-facilitated leadership development programs.  Credit Suisse’s grounded decision-making process for the succession planning of senior managers included surveys, the MBTI, 360° feedback, and an assessment center. 

As the director of human resources International for Winterthur Insurance (now AXA-Winterthur), Esther implemented the new HR strategy.  She used the opportunity – in Switzerland, the U.S., Asia, and Europe – to apply her expertise to talent management, HR transformation, expatriation, consulting, coaching, and executive training facilitation.  Together with her worldwide team, Esther conducted due diligence projects and linked HR with the organization’s strategic business plan.  Her focus on long-term solutions made her a valuable partner and advisor for Winterthur’s regional CEOs worldwide.

More recently as an independent consultant, Esther turned her skills to diversity issues, leading workshops about the aging workforce, conflict resolution and cultural diversity. To deepen participants’ learning, she offers follow-up coaching to address individual issues.  She also leads workshops on innovation throughout North America and Europe.

In her spare time Esther likes to dance, ski, and hike in the Swiss mountains.  She loves to spend time with her family and good friends.

Born in Yorkshire, England (thus with a typical English sense of humor), Andrew holds bachelors degrees from Loughborough University, a postgraduate teaching diploma from Trinity College, and is currently completing a masters degree in organizational psychology at Birkbeck College of the University of London.  For his masters, he is researching the ability of psychometric testing to accurately predict the behavior of people in corporations.  He also has acquired certification in Emotional Intelligence, Firo B, MBTI, and Level AB psychometric testing.

In his mid-40s, Andrew has lived and worked in France, Germany, Switzerland, South Africa, Canada, and the U.S. as well as in his native U.K.  Andrew brings sporting and entrepreneurial experience to his clients.  A member of both the professional tennis and squash coaches associations of Great Britain, he reached the level of international coach.  (He continues to use the “Inner Game” technique of Tim Gallwey to great effect in his global executive coaching.)  Andrew founded, and directed for twelve years, business training centers in England and South Africa, providing language and teacher training, cultural consulting and leadership development programs. This experience of running his own businesses enables Andrew to understand the language of start-ups, marketing strategy, sales, customer relations, and management.  As Director of the Eaton Consulting Group Switzerland, he worked in cultural integration projects with executives at all levels in companies such as Cisco Systems, Dell, Carlsberg, Michelin, Saint-Gobain, Credit Suisse First Boston, Nestle, and Novartis.

Andrew is experienced in addressing issues related to M&As, joint ventures, global leadership, conflict transformation, multinational teambuilding, and organizational change.  His experiences over 20 years as a global executive coach, intercultural consultant, and corporate trainer have enabled him to effectively build strategies with his clients that generate practical and timely improvements in bottom-line results and interpersonal communication and that lead to more harmonious working relationships among colleagues and clients.

Outside work, Andrew enjoys sporting challenges.  A pilot’s license and an advanced scuba diving certificate are evidence of his long-term interests.  He lives in Switzerland with his partner Francesca, their West Highland Terrier, and -- as of February 2008 -- their brand new baby boy!

The University of Lausanne was where Veronika received her management degree, and the University of California at Berkeley was the site of her participation over several years in a technical research project.  Then, in a corporate environment – Jelmoli, a department store chain – she served both staff and line functions and gained on-the-ground experience in the fields of marketing and market research, finance, administration, and sales.  She also completed a series of training programs in personality assessment, team management techniques, and process-oriented psychology.  Recently she obtained a diploma as a certified mediator.

Veronika is a pioneer in executive coaching in Switzerland.  She founded her own coaching firm in 1991 and, during the 1990s, authored several German-language articles in I.O. Management and HandelsZeitung on coaching as a stand-alone management development tool.  Through her coaching, she has strengthened businesspeople in several kinds of institutions and at a variety of organizational levels.  Most of her work has focused on the coachee’s process of change and growth or on mediation in conflict situations.  Among Veronika’s clients are the Swiss Post, the Swiss Television Network, and several international corporations including ABB, EDS, 3M, Roche, Siemens Nixdorf, and Zürich Financial Services. 

Besides constantly developing her own skills as an executive coach, Veronika has been teaching at colleges such as ZHW Zürcher Hochschule Winterthur.  She also engages in experimental projects such as introducing new coaching approaches – leadership circles, peer coaching, etc. – for the Swiss Television Network as well as designing workshops to enhance effectiveness through increased creativity.

Veronika’s commitment of over 20 years to non-profit organizations and her experience in politics are expression of her social involvement.  She tries to “walk the talk” in her worklife balance, discussing with her two grown children topics such as one’s philosophy of life and the future of mankind.

Dario earned a degree in electrical engineering in 1987 from the University of Catania, followed in 1991 by an MBA from SDA Bocconi in Milan.  He began corporate life as a researcher for IBM in Zürich.  He then spent two years with McKinsey & Co. in Milan, working on strategic, organizational, and operational issues for large multinationals.  In 1994, he joined the staff of a renowned Italian political leader and a member of the European Commission.  In this role Dario led projects for the City of Catania that included the design and delivery of an extensive executive development program.

In 1997, Dario became the COO of SIFI SpA, a pharmaceutical company with activities throughout Europe and the Americas.  His main responsibilities were to coordinate R&D, business development and licensing, manufacturing, new product development, and international marketing and sales.  Among his accomplishments were creation and strengthening of strategic international alliances as well as major organizational changes to align strategy and organization.  He paid special attention to SIFI’s people strategy, overseeing training and development activities at all levels.

In 2004, Dario became an independent consultant.  Besides executive coaching for senior managers and top leaders, his engagements have included the development and delivery of programs and workshops focused on strategic leadership development, functional team alignment, personal mastery, change management, and leader-as-coach.  His clients have included American Express, Banca Intesa, Gruppo Sanpaolo IMI, Enel, Citibank, Richardson Electronics, Chiesi Farmaceutici, and Finmeccanica.

Dario is a licensed user of Strategic Leadership Development™, a 360° assessment tool, and a certified user of the Computerized Assessment of Personal Potential.  Dario has attended several leadership development workshops such as the McKinsey Facilitator Development Program (FDP) and, at IMD in Lausanne, Mobilizing People.  He has completed the Foundational Coach Training Program and Mentor Coaching Groups at The Institute of Life Coach Training.  Dario is an active participant in the European Facilitators’ Network that McKinsey & Company has established as part of its International Mindset & Capabilities Practice, and he is also an executive coach for IMD.

Dario loves nature, animals, classical music, and traveling around the world to get in touch with new cultures and to discover the beauty in this world.

Francesco received a masters degree in computer science from the University of Milan in 1985.  His professional preparation for coaching includes a high performance coaching certification from Performance Unlimited and an executive coaching course at the Wharton School; he also holds certifications in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (in which he is both a master and a trainer) and counseling.  He is certified to apply the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and the Cultural Orientation Indicator.  Finally, Francesco is an expert in Systemic Coaching, a methodology that applies an ecological approach as leaders improve their management of personal, relational, and organizational issues. 

Francesco has a broad business background, developed as he worked for major international organizations including Olivetti, where he served as the key expert in educational technology; Gemini Consulting, where he worked as a management consultant; Oracle, where he was a sales director; and at the European Union, which he served as a consultant.  He also worked briefly as a manager for a venture capital fund sponsored by Unicredit Group.  In 2002, Francesco dedicated himself full-time to executive coaching and leadership development, working all across Europe as well as in his native Italy. 

Francesco’s areas of strength include leadership, teamwork, relationship management, cross-cultural competencies, emotional intelligence, work-life integration, and career transition.  He often incorporates 360º feedback into his coaching as well as personality and cultural assessments for individuals and teams.  As one of his coachees remarked, “Francesco has excellent business management know-how and a lot of expertise in personal growth. The combination of these two qualities produces a very balanced and respectful approach that enabled me to make the next step” (to president of a global industrial company). 

When Francesco is not busy with work he enjoys cooking for his friends, traveling, reading, or riding his bicycle.  He loves to relax in the countryside of the pre-Alps close to Lago Maggiore, enjoying quietness and nature.  Another of his interests is learning about human cultures, spirituality, and personal development.  Francesco has created an impressive CD collection with music gathered from all over the world.

Lidija received her first degree in sociology from Ljubljana University.  She completed an Executive MBA at the IEDC – Bled School of Management, and a four-year postgraduate program in integrative psychotherapy at IPSA Institute in Slovenia.  Lidija’s coaching accreditation is from Ashridge Business School.  She is certified as a management developer by the European Foundation for Management Development, and she holds licenses for several assessment instruments. 

Lidija’s career spans more than a quarter century of professional service within a variety of cultural and business/industrial contexts.  She has lived as well as worked in Europe and the Middle East; her longest international assignments were in Germany, Egypt, and Greece.  She is fluent in her native Slovenian as well as in English, German, and Croatian/Serbian. 

Lidija began her career as a media researcher, then joined an airline company and worked in a variety of capacities in Slovenia and abroad.  After completing her MBA, she spent seven years as a senior HR advisor with Nova Ljubljanska Banka, the largest financial institution in Southeast Europe.  Her responsibilities included management development, talent management, corporate culture change, and the establishment of an employee pension fund.

In 2004 Lidija began her independent career as an executive coach and organizational consultant.  Her clients were primarily in the manufacturing and service sectors.  They included major global firms such as AT Kearney, AVL, Deloitte, Deutsche Telecom, Novartis, Renault, and SWECO as well as leading companies based in Southeast Europe such as Akrapovic, Gorenje, MOL, Nexe Group, and NIL.  Besides executive coaching, she delivers 360° feedback and intensive developmental support for senior executives and high potential middle managers, both as individuals and within teams.  In 2010, Lidija became a founding partner of a U.K.-based firm offering executive coaching as well as supervision and change consulting throughout Europe.

Lidija enjoys living in a multicultural family.  She goes to sea when she needs to refill her energy.  She is passionate about discovering new horizons.

Magnus holds a bachelor’s in science and a Ph.D. in theoretical ecology from Lund University; recently, he attained a bachelor’s in psychology from Stockholm University.  Besides this academic education, Magnus has received training in therapeutic work for personal development, and in group-development work from the perspectives of team- and group-dynamics.

Magnus started out with parallel professional careers.  After becoming an officer in the Swedish Army reserve, for 26 years he served in Sweden and in U.N. peace-keeping missions in the Middle East.  In civilian life, he became a scientist studying decision-making in Sweden, the U.S., and the Netherlands.  In 1997, Magnus was named as Head of Logistics & Operations at the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat (SPRS).  He planned and led expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic for seven years.  All expeditions were staffed multi-nationally and entailed international coördination and negotiation.  Magnus also has held several international commissions.  Since 2006, Magnus has worked as a management consultant at Kontura International, where he addresses leadership, management development, and cross-cultural challenges.

Magnus’s executive coaching has mainly been focused on managers transitioning into new positions.  For example, at the Swedish Polar Research Secretariat he coached scientists and staff members who were appointed as expedition or team leaders.  At the Ängsbacka Centre, he coached participants in that organization’s leadership programme.  He also has provided executive coaching for individuals who have sought his services privately.

In 2009, Magnus’s book on work motivation and management, Skapa mer inre motivation, is being published by Liber in its Exec series (www.liber.se).  In addition, he has written some 30 scientific articles, most of which have been published in international, peer-reviewed journals.  He also has written material for university courses in ecology and a Field Course Handbook for the SPRS.

Magnus lives in Stockholm, where he enjoys having nature close-by.  From his perspective, what could be better than a night in a lean-to by the fire, fighting the mosquitoes?  He also loves travelling to the tropics and to big cities, as well as meditation, dancing, and kick-boxing.

Educated in the U.K. and China, Beth gained a First Class Honors Masters from the University of Edinburgh, winning the James Littlejohn Award for her research on leaders and cultural development (published as Culture Matters).  For her Ph.D. research at the Universities of Cambridge and Tibet, she undertook a pioneering project on leaders and organizational change in China.  Fourteen years of work and research worldwide – in Asia, the Americas, Africa, and Europe (41 months in nearly 50 countries!) – provides Beth with a thorough comprehension of human behavior in cross-cultural context.  She specialises in Latin America, India, and China, speaks Spanish fluently, and is practised in several other languages.

Beginning in 2007, Beth directed a global consultancy’s bid to become Telefónica’s exclusive leadership training provider.  The consultancy’s values-based program bested other contenders from around the world, enabling nearly 1,400 senior managers to effectively guide their teams and units through turbulent times.  Beth also designed and delivered a successful global strategy development program in collaboration with 37 of Unilever’s most senior leaders as a key input to their corporate brand development.  In 2009, Beth consulted to the U.K. Home Office on a global cultural database initiative.  Finally, for Oxford Leadership Academy, Beth is responsible for the “Self-Managing Leadership” and “Strategic Focusing” trainings for global consultants. 

To support and advance her corporate work, Beth is trained in Cultural Transformation Tools, MBTI, Action Learning/Evaluation, SenseMaker, Strategic Focusing, Self-Managing Leadership, Non-Violent Communication, and TEFL.  A Cognitive Edge Accredited Practitioner, she has experience using both World Café methodology and CoVision’s collaborative meeting technology for virtual and large-scale global conferences.

Beth’s consulting is principally with established multinationals and government institutions.  Recent engagements include interventions with Unilever, Telefónica, ING, BNP Paribas Securities Services, Watson Wyatt, Vedior, Crowe Chizek, the U.K. Department for International Development, and the U.K. Home Office.  For business schools such as Columbia and IMD, she has served as an advisor on the development and integration of strategy and leadership programs.  Beth’s first book, Inter-National Encounters, will be published by Global Oriental in 2010. 

Beth has been an intrepid traveler and loves outdoor activities, including hiking and scuba diving.  She recently relocated to Spain but maintains a residence near London.

Alla earned two master’s degrees from Columbia University, one in 1994 in public administration from the School of International and Public Affairs, and one in 2004 on organizational psychology and leadership from Teachers College.  She also holds a master’s degree in foreign language teaching from the Moscow University of Linguistics. 

Alla was the administrative director of Columbia University’s Genome Center from 1997 till 2002.  In this capacity, she led a professionally and ethnically diverse team that was building a high-performance organization.  She also took on the responsibility for coaching the senior faculty on leadership issues and cross-cultural competencies, and for mediating intra-staff conflicts.  Alla’s prior work experience in Russia include coordinating numerous projects within the framework of a U.S.-Russian collaboration in cardiology.  She was actively involved in the organization of international conferences and symposia, and managed various exchange programs sponsored by the National Institute of Health (U.S.) and the National Cardiology Research Center (Russia).

Alla recently co-founded a consultancy based in Moscow.  She and her associates consult with global companies on issues of human resource development and training program design.  Alla herself is an executive coach for senior leaders and managers of international and Russian companies.  Her clients include TNK-BP, Conde Nast, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, GM, Bacardi, and Vimpelkom (Beeline). 

In 2005, Alla completed professional coach training at Erickson College International (Canada) and a course in global executive coaching at the Summer Institute for Intercultural Communication (Oregon).  She is proficient in applying 360° assessments as well as the Survey of Influence Effectiveness (SIE) in her work.  She consistently attempts to adapt her coaching style to each client’s cultural profile. 

Alla is a member of the International Coach Federation and a vice-president of the Russian ICF Chapter.  She is known in the global coaching community for her pioneering efforts in making executive coaching a success in Russia.  She regularly travels to the U.S. to participate in professional events dedicated to development of human potential in organizations.

Alla has a bilingual-bicultural daughter who is at Reed College in Oregon.  When not involved professionally, Alla reads the history of her native city, Moscow, and occasionally guides private tours through historic sites there.

After graduating with a master's degree in mechanical engineering, Carmen worked as an operations, design, and research engineer with several Romanian companies and research institutes, focusing on new technologies and socio-technical systems.  In 1990 she began her academic career in the Department of Management at "Gh. Asachi" Technical University in Iasi, Romania.  A Fulbright grant enabled her to obtain a masters degree in organization development from Loyola University in Chicago.  She then went on to attain a Ph.D. at “Gh. Asachi” with a dissertation on the relationships between corporate culture and technology transfer.

Carmen is now an associate professor at "Gh. Asachi" Technical University, carrying out research on corporate culture, cultural diversity, intercultural communication, and leadership from the personal and organizational performance perspectives.  She is also a visiting professor of management and a range of other specialties at the Canadian MBA program in Bucharest as well as four other MBA Programs around Romania.  Carmen is extensively published, including Culture, Change, and Competition, winner of the 2003 Best Book Award from the General Association of Romanian Economists.  Three of her numerous published articles are listed in the Global Leadership section of GROVEWELL's Professional Knowledge Center.

In the course of her work, Carmen has obtained and carried out grants for programs and projects focusing on HR training for technological-innovative business structures, organizational culture and E.U. integration, European dimensions of quality assurance, and several others.  Her international project experience also includes, among more than a dozen others, two international joint-venture simulations, one focused on global technology management and the other focused on organizational effectiveness (both of these in conjunction with Cooper Union of New York).

Carmen has regularly consulted with a score of Romanian companies (private and undergoing privatization) and also provides her expertise to businesses throughout Europe.  Her consulting, training, and institution-building contributions have focused internationally on the development of enterprises, quality and excellence in business and in education, and cross-cultural and minority issues in business.  Carmen is vice-president of the Romanian Association for Sustainable Development and Performance.

Carmen loves classical music, opera, and eastern philosophies.  Her son, Andrei, is the logistics director for a construction company and a student of economics.  They both enjoy hiking and touring abroad.

Abdulhamied received a bachelors degree in business administration from Kuwait University and an MBA from California Lutheran University.  He also holds a doctorate in human resource development from George Washington University.

Abdulhamied started his work career as an economic researcher with the Abu Dhabi Fund for Arab Economic Development in 1972; after receiving his MBA, he was appointed as the administration director there.  In 1978, he joined U.A.E. University as a faculty member at the School of Business Administration. After attaining his doctorate, he returned to the university and taught a number of business and management courses.  In 1983, he left the university to start his own management and training company, the first in the United Arab Emirates. 

Well known in the Arab Gulf region in the fields of human resources, management consulting, and training, Abdulhamied has designed and implemented many development programs and has been retained as a consultant for leading organizations in the public and private sectors.  His work focuses on intercultural training, human resources consulting, career development, individual coaching, and microfinance.  His clients include the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the National Bank of Abu Dhabi, ADCO, ADGAS, GASCO, the Abu Dhabi Businesswomen’s Council, and the Sharjah Government Department of Human Resources. 

Abdulhamied has delivered lectures and professional services not only throughout the Middle East but also in the United States, Australia, Malaysia, France, India, the United Kingdom, Malta, the Philippines, Thailand, Canada, Brazil, and Ireland.  He is a founding member of the Middle East branch of the Society for Intercultural Education, Training, And Research (SIETAR).  Frequently hosted on national radio and TV programs, he has written articles for Training and the ASTD Journal.  He is the co-author of the Cultural Detective: Arab Gulf.  He has authored three books on career explorations and is about to finish a fourth, Working and Living in the Arab Gulf Countries.

The United Arab Emirates is home to Abdulhamied.  His two adult daughters work in Dubai and Sharjah.  Even though writing is a major component of his professional work, he also composes poetry.

Born in Pakistan to parents who had migrated there during the 1947 partition from India, Sharjeel received his basic education in Saudi Arabia, then studied business administration in Paris at the American Business School.  He is now completing both an MBA from the University of Strathclyde and accreditation from the International Coach Federation.

Sharjeel began his professional career in Evansville, Indiana, as an investment analyst with Concept Development Associates; there he handled the financial analysis of investment opportunities and deal-structuring.  Subsequently, he worked for France-based Michael Smith International, specializing in financial training and taking a leading role in developing e-learning strategies.  In addition, Sharjeel has worked for New York University’s School of Continuing & Professional Education as their representative for Europe.  More recently at the request of the Russian provincial government, Sharjeel authored recommendations and provided consulting advice for the establishment of local venture capital investment funds.

As an independent consultant, Sharjeel has consulted, coached, and trained managers in more than 30 nations.  A short-list of his clients includes Rolls Royce, Oracle, Texas Instruments, General Electric, Dell, Occidental Petroleum, British Petroleum, The Nigerian Petroleum Corporation, Petromin, Pfizer, Abbot, Novartis, Bristol Myers Squibb, BNP-Paribas, The New York Stock Exchange, Bank of America, AIG, Swiss Re, Société Générale, UBS, HSBC, J P Morgan Chase, Honeywell, General Dynamics, Boeing, Pepsi Cola, Alcoa, Canon, Cargill, Avery Dennison, Colgate-Palmolive, BASF, Ciba, Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, McKinsey, Universal Studios, Monsanto, Caterpillar, Archer Daniels Midland, Unilever, Dow Conning, 3M, Michelin, Vodafone, and many others.

Sharjeel is member of Asia Pacific Alliance of Coaches as well as the Society for Intercultural Education, Training, And Research.  In his spare time he carries out research to explore the values and attitudes that drive the under-40 generation of managers who are Gulf nationals.

Sharjeel is married and has one young son.  He divides his times between Dubai/Muscat and France, enjoying the delights and frustrations of raising TCKs (Third Culture Kids).

Henry holds a master’s degree in international human resource management and business administration from Copenhagen Business School.  In the process of completing this degree, he carried out studies at the Cranfield School of Business in the United Kingdom, at EM Lyon in France, at ESADE in Spain, and at the University of Wisconsin in the U.S.A.

Henry started his professional career as an international HR consultant with Danone, in which capacity he helped build the company’s new global leadership development program.  In 1999 he moved to Aperian Global (at that time, Eaton Consulting Group), where he served as a consultant, coach, and trainer, and held a variety of positions including manager of training, director of consulting, managing director for Asia/Pacific, and managing director for the Middle East & Africa. 

In 2010 Henry commenced his career as an independent consultant.  He has worked with managers and senior executives, international assignees, virtual and multinational teams, and the staffs of global units.  In addition, he has contributed to the productivity of global mergers & acquisitions and joint-ventures, and has assisted in the design and delivery of international leadership development programs, including the assessment of participants.  While he was at Aperian Global and through his independent work, Henry’s clients have included AT&T, Avon, Bechtel, Carlsberg, Cisco Systems, Dell, Ernst & Young, Godiva, Goldman Sachs, IBM, Lafarge, LEGO, Lenovo, NOKIA, Novo Nordisk, PetroRabigh, Saint-Gobain, Saudi Aramco, Sipchem, SONY, Standard Chartered Bank, Starbucks, and Wal-Mart.

Since the beginning of his career, Henry’s work has involved him in more than 75 countries throughout the Middle East and Africa, Eastern and Western Europe, Asia/Pacific, and North and South America.  Specifically within the Middle East, Henry has supported clients in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Egypt, Tunisia, and Algeria; and within Africa, his has assisted clients in South Africa, Namibia, Angola, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, and Kenya.

Having previously lived for long periods of time in the U.S., the U.K., Spain, and Hong Kong, Henry now lives with his wife, Meryem, in Dubai, from which he travels extensively throughout the region and the world.  His pastimes include beach volleyball, squash, and badminton.

After completing a postgraduate degree in industrial and organizational psychology at the University of Cape Town, Gabrielle worked as an HR consultant in Cape Town for two years before emigrating to Australia.  There she held two positions: initially as a change management consultant for Andersen Consulting and, thereafter, as an internal OD consultant for Westpac Bank.  In the latter, she helped top executives design and manage the rollout of a group-wide strategic learning program.

Gabrielle returned to South Africa in 2001 as an internal OD consultant at Investec, an international investment bank.  There she was exposed to a sophisticated model of OD and gained expertise in facilitating individual and group processes that included strategic thinking sessions, team development, and diversity workshops.  She was instrumental in the rollout of a leader-development program including individual coaching. 

In 2003, Gabrielle founded her own consultancy, which focuses on the development of individuals and teams.  Her clients have included many South African corporations, government departments, and state-owned enterprises.  Gabrielle’s consulting approach is to intimately involve the members of her client’s business unit in the identification and resolution of the issues at hand.  She’s learned that promotion of client ownership enhances unit members’ capacity for learning, enabling them to anticipate and resolve future challenges.

Gabrielle’s approach to executive coaching draws on her authentic interpersonal style and well-developed intuitive skills.  She creates a safe space for dialogue and maintains an open agenda, thus enabling her coachees to freely explore their issues.  When necessary, she delivers firm feedback.  In her experience, these methods accelerate the problem-solving process and reveal opportunities for the coachee’s personal and professional growth.  Gabrielle has conducted coaching at Accenture, Gauteng Provincial Department, Investec Bank, Microsoft North Africa, and Pilot Crushtec.

Gabrielle is actively involved in implementing skills transfer for black clients who were “previously disadvantaged” in apartheid South Africa.  She also volunteers time to charities benefiting Aids orphans.  She enjoys yoga and cycling, and is currently studying Italian.  Finally, Gabrielle loves animals and dreams of founding an animal sanctuary.

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