What does it take to bring coaching into the heart of a business and prove that it actually works?

In this episode of Connected Coaching, host Sinziana is joined by Simon Stawecki, HR Business Partner at Groupe Mutuel in Zurich, for an honest and wide-ranging conversation about coaching as a genuine driver of organisational change. Simon's career spans hospitality, IT, and now HR, and it's that breadth of experience that makes his perspective so compelling.

Simon spent five and a half years working with over 2,000 individuals who had lost their jobs, applying a solution-focused coaching approach to help them rebuild confidence and find direction. That hands-on experience shaped a firm belief: performance isn't just about skills. It's about clarity, self-awareness, and how people see themselves.

That philosophy went with him when he moved into HR, where he designed and led one of the most compelling internal coaching programmes you're likely to hear described. Starting with a deliberate "focused experiment" in a high-pressure customer service environment, Simon and his colleague coached 24 high-performing individuals over three months. The results? 100% programme satisfaction and over 90% of participants reporting a positive impact on both their wellbeing and professional performance.

But perhaps the most telling moment came next: the managers of those same employees came knocking, wanting to know what was going on and wanting some of it for themselves.

In this episode, Simon and Sinziana explore:

• How Simon came to coaching through a career that crossed continents and industries
• What coaching 2,000 job-seekers taught him about confidence, clarity, and the power of strengths
• How Groupe Mutuel built its coaching culture from the ground up, bottom-up, with real measurable outcomes
• The question of coaching and AI — where technology genuinely helps and where the human coach remains irreplaceable
• Practical advice for anyone considering a coach, including why you should probably look outside your industry and be willing to walk away if the fit isn't right

Simon also shares his personal practices around energy management, self-reflection, and breathwork, plus a refreshingly candid take on what it means to ask yourself: whose life am I actually living?

Whether you're a leader considering introducing coaching in your organisation, a professional at a career crossroads, or simply curious about what coaching can do when it's given a real chance, this episode delivers both inspiration and practical insight.

Get ready for an insightful conversation as we welcome Robert Garcia, Vice President of ICF Coaching in Organisations!

Robert, a seasoned executive coach who has travelled to 95 countries and counting, shares his passion for enabling the transformation of organisations through coaching. He discusses the vital work of ICF Coaching in Organisations—a mission to support entities from corporate offices to government agencies in building their coaching capabilities.

• The AI Revolution: Robert offers a sneak peek into the Future of Work and how AI will be integrated into everything we do. He explains how AI-enabled coaching can supplement human coaching and help democratise the experience, making it available to everyone in an organisation.
• The Human Touch versus The Algorithm: As AI tools like ChatGPT become everyday companions, Robert, a self-confessed "people person" , admits to his growing attachment to AI for research , but believes that human coaching is not going to go away. He explores the subtle differences, such as a coach's powerful use of silence and pause, that an AI coach has yet to master.
• Confronting Resistance: Robert shares his surprise that some coaches are still resisting or fearful of using AI, arguing that it is not the AI itself, but a person using AI who might become more effective. He frames the adoption of AI as a change management initiative best navigated with a coach.
• Building a Coaching Culture: The biggest challenge for organisations is often the lack of funding , which Robert counters with the necessity of providing metrics and ROI (Return on Investment) using indicators like engagement, turnover, and profitability.
• The ICF Toolkit: Discover the resources ICF Coaching in Organisations provides to help companies build internal coaching capabilities , including their Coaching Culture Compass — an assessment that identifies the delta (gap) between what a company promotes and what employees actually perceive.

Tune in to hear why those organisations who invest in a robust coaching culture are by far more successful and why the future of great mentorship will be the integration of all coaching modalities.