Pilot, as an explorer of the human and of life
What I Have Lived
Life’s great questions have been with me since I was very young. As a teenager, I would observe the night sky through my telescope, and I then spent many years searching for answers through science and philosophy.
I began my professional life as a military pilot, a career I pursued for thirty years in total, including as a reserve pilot. There, I discovered what it means to build an identity around performance and the pursuit of excellence.
I have also been an airline pilot for thirty years, and today I fly long-haul routes for Swiss International Air Lines. Flying means confronting a hostile environment, but it also means stepping back and setting out to discover oneself and what we are made of. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, pilot and writer, expressed this beautifully: for him, the aircraft was not an end in itself, but a means of confronting what is essential. This métier has taught me something fundamental: you cannot lie to yourself when you are in the air, and the same holds true on the ground, if you do not want to miss your own life. This dimension of flying has always stayed with me and directly shapes the way I accompany my clients. For me, the value of coaching lies precisely in this awareness — in making conscious choices and fully accepting responsibility for them.
I also practice endurance sports, because movement, effort and nature are for me essential elements of life and inexhaustible sources of inspiration and learning. A serious knee injury forced me to undergo two operations. I am thus constantly reminded that what matters is not the destination, but the journey indeed and the way I choose to travel it.
The Path Toward Coaching
Throughout my life, among the countless challenges human beings constantly face, I have always been particularly moved by the ruptures in life — even when they are not negative in themselves, as with the realisation of an important dream. I have learned to look at both negative and positive ruptures with equal attention, because the capacity to change and resilience are required in both cases. Seeing men and women who had built their lives around a passion come face to face with the void left by its end led me to reflect on the meaning of what we build, and on what remains when it is over.
Feeling a growing desire to help others in their lives, and sensing that the time had come to act on it, I chose to become a coach. Coaching allows me to put my knowledge in service of concrete and effective support. Studies in psychology begun a few years ago (I am currently pursuing a Bachelor’s degree in psychology in Switzerland) provide me with a method and the knowledge to bring together experience and theory. Modern psychology offers a rigorous and rich framework for understanding human functioning, and it directly nourishes my coaching practice. I obtained my Executive Coach diploma at IMD (International Institute for Management Development) in Lausanne, a comprehensive programme that taught me to work with ethics and rigour. I am currently in the process of accreditation with the ICF (International Coaching Federation).
Let’s start by meeting
A free initial exploratory meeting, with no commitment required.