GET TO KNOW US.
The Global Coaching Group is led by Sebastian Witte, managing director, and the GCG team.
OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM
Sebastian – A Personal Story
A passion for developing business and human potential.
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After 13+ years in different management positions in the manufacturing industry I dare to say that I found my home at GCG in 2023. On the one hand, it is the entrepreneurial way of working that I am drawn to since I grew up in a family run business. Working ‘out of the box’, serving customer needs, fail, learn, and rise again – now all of this is part of my profession.
On the other hand, it is coaching! Being Christa’s (founder of GCG) nephew I was able to join a GCG conference in 2012 and learned how “good leadership and people management” can foster business success and growth. Having been in studies of Business Coaching & Change Management at that time I was fascinated by the content and real experience cases. Throughout the years on the job I asked myself more often how we collaborate, what drives people, what makes them follow a leader, what makes them develop themselves. I understood that coaching can play a key role in people’s and organizational success. The idea of having an impact on people and being rewarded by their mastery, that is what I enjoy. Hence, coaching is the second part of my profession.
In addition, sensing the expertise, dedication and cohesion of the coaches attending that conference was impressive. It makes me feel proud and humble to be part of GCG and to pursue Christa’s and Axel’s vision to fulfill human potential at work and society.
Our evolutionary story
Since 2015, the Global Coaching Group has been on its way to becoming a self-organized global community of freelance coaches and coach-minded transformation experts.
In 2007, Christa Schöning founds the Global Coaching Group. Her vision is twofold:
- To bring the best coaches in the world to the best global companies and
- To give the best coaches in the world a home.
In 2014 the book Reinventing Organizations written by organizational researcher and consultant Frederic Laloux, inspired the Global Coaching Group to get to the next step. Like many other executives, coaches and consultants, Christa fall in love with Frederic’s ideas. The book describes companies from a wide range of industries, which are successful because they are different: they work with fluid hierarchies, live their purpose and fully leverage the creativity of colleagues. Frederic calls these organizations “evolutionary”.
At the 2015 Global Coaching Group conference, we discuss our ideas with our clients and colleagues. We show how “evolutionary” leadership benefits organizational transformation and creates measurable value. We commit to becoming an evolutionary organization ourselves. Our clients encourage us to follow this path.
In 2016 the New Global Coaching Group takes shape. We re-define our purpose to “Connecting Business and Soul”. We formulate our values: Courage, Professionalism, Aspiration, Co-Creativity, and Humor. We introduce additional service offerings.
Standing firmly in our mindset as coaches, we are now a full-service provider on the human and cultural side of organizational evolution and transformation. More than ten self-organizing teams of coaches and professionals emerge to develop the Global Coaching Group. And we create our new logo, the tree of life; a symbol of fertility, creation and wisdom in many cultures around the globe.
At the next client conference, in 2017, we celebrate our 10-year anniversary and present the new version of the Global Coaching Group to our clients. There, we commit to supporting our clients to re-invent themselves and their organizations.
Stepping Stones
With great sadness and sorrow, we had to say goodbye to our beloved friends and founders Christa and Axel. After a 5 years long fight with cancer Christa’s life came to an end on the 24th of September 2022. After companioning her lovingly until her demise, Axel himself had to face a cancer diagnosis shortly after. He kept his positivity until he passed away 20th of July 2024.
With Christa’s positivity and energy, she was an inspiration for us and our clients always motivating us to look at the positive side and the opportunities life presents to us. A large part of our life goes with her, she was a role model for us for many years.
Axel’s dedication and tenacity was exemplary especially during difficult times. With his analytical mind and process thinking, he was the backbone of the Global Coaching Group. After Christa’s withdrawal from work, he became GCG’s focal point. We will miss his sensitivity and his many facets he brought into our lives.
Together they founded the Global Coaching Group with the mission to make this a better world. We will strive to continue that mission and honour their legacy.