Future. Leadership. Self-Innovation.
Helping entrepreneurs make smart moves when the stakes are high.
For owners facing an acquisition, a succession, a new ambition, or a life that no longer fits the business. I cut through the complexity and help you find the move that is right for the business and for you.
Three ways in ↓“Calling Nicole Brandes a coach would be like calling Michelangelo a house painter.”
Peter Friedli · Investor & serial entrepreneur“I have become not only a better leader, but a better father, partner and person.”
Private banking executive · Translated from German§ 01The overlooked variable
An acquisition. A successor. An opportunity too good to ignore. Or the quiet realisation that you still love your business, but no longer the life that comes with running it.
Uncertainty comes from outside: AI, markets, pressure. And from inside: a role that no longer fits, an ambition you haven't named yet.
The numbers add up. But does it add up for you?
We examine the risks, the strategy and everyone with a stake in the outcome. Yet the person who must live with the decision is often the last one considered.
§ 02The approach
A decision can be strategically sound and still overlook the person whose life it shapes. So I start with you: your ambitions, your values, your relationships and your judgement, in the decision from the very first conversation.
We widen the options beyond the obvious ones, so you are not choosing between the two answers everyone has already put in front of you.
Every high-stakes decision carries interests nobody says out loud, including your own. We bring them into the light before they decide for you.
Not the biggest move. The one that stands up under pressure and is worth your time, your money and your commitment.
Change is no longer a phase we get through. It is the climate we lead in. Staying relevant is the great question of our time, and it starts with knowing what is worth your next chapter.
§ 03Work with me
One clear question. A bigger next chapter. Or counsel at your side while the stakes remain high.
For something important that needs a sharper perspective. Now.
Bring the decision, the deal, the conflict or the opportunity. We cut through the complexity, expose what you cannot yet see and identify your next move. You leave with a concise written takeaway.
When one decision is on the tableA clearer choice and a practical next move.
You've built a successful business. What do you want to build with your success?
Develop your own vision and a life philosophy you can actually use. Decide what to pursue, what to stop, and where to invest your talent, money and time. Success, meaning and freedom, as one question.
When the next chapter matters more than the next dealA new direction with business sense, meaning and freedom.
For the decisions behind the decisions.
Independent, discreet counsel through growth, succession, family dynamics or a new chapter. I take on a small number of confidential mandates each year, and each one begins with a private conversation.
When the stakes stay high for months, not hoursAn experienced mind at your side. Candid judgement. Continuity.
§ 04The experience behind the advice
For more than 25 years, I've worked in rooms of real power: alongside business tycoons, military generals, members of royal families and public figures.
From Swissair and Bank Leu to Queen Silvia of Sweden's Mentor Foundation. In Halifax, after the Swissair Flight 111 disaster, I led on-site care work and learned how much depends on what no business plan can capture.
Today, as a Future Advisor at the Zukunftsinstitut, I see the same blind spot everywhere: we prepare the business for the future, and overlook the person who must lead it there.
That's why I begin with the entrepreneur. The business benefits from what follows.
§ 05Speaking
I accept paid speaking engagements very selectively. Most of my time goes to living what I teach.
When I do speak, it is about the question every leader is facing now: how to make smart moves, and stay relevant, while everything around us keeps changing.
§ 06A free decision brief
A short brief for owners facing a consequential choice. One useful thought, five questions and one next action. Ten minutes to read. Useful for years.
Read and download the briefWhen something important is on the table, let's look at the whole picture. Confidential, personal and without obligation.
Send a private enquiry ↗ Advisory and speaking enquiries · Zurich · Working internationally