Coaching.

I am passionate about coaching design professionals. I cherish the one-to-one private space and the reflective capacity it unleashes. Witnessing individuals engage with challenging questions, gain clarity, and build confidence is profoundly rewarding. It’s a journey for them, and equally for me.

Design Leaders and Practitioners.

My coaching services cater to both strategic design leaders and practitioners in various stages of their career:

Becoming a Better Design Leader

'Better' takes on different meanings for different leaders. Some seek effectiveness, others organisational alignment, or planning for scale. Regardless, you aim to reassess and evolve your leadership style, challenging the status quo to become the best leader you can be.

Getting Unstuck in Your Design Career

You might be struggling with misalignment between your values and those of the people around you. You seek to enhance your design effectiveness without losing your essence. You're looking beyond managerial guidance, on a quest to find your career's next growth step.

Coaching on
the Job

You are handling a difficult project or programme and lack guidance and support. This may involve redesigning a service, creating a journey architecture framework, or launching a customer-centric programme. You need someone who can provide support, and sense-check your work and decisions.

My Approach.

I customise my approach to meet your specific needs, avoiding a one-size-fits-all framework. Our initial session is about understanding your needs, learning style, and the right mix of support and challenge you need. Subsequent sessions are tailored based on these insights.

Creating a safe space for meaningful reflection is crucial. My role is not to provide answers, but to help you discover your own questions and answers. I advocate for small, experimental actions to explore new paths. These ‘prototypes’ are designed for engaging with the world in novel ways. Be ready to fail, learn, and grow.

With over 15 years of experience leading strategic design teams and driving design-driven transformation in large organisations, I bring a wealth of knowledge to our sessions, as well as a wide international network to draw from.

A Bit of Theory.

For those interested in geeking out, my approach is grounded in the systems psychodynamic theory. It offers a framework that considers individuals and organisations within larger social and cultural systems. This approach helps analyse and explain human behaviour in complex environments. Its key features include:

Unconscious
Processes

Understanding and addressing unconscious thoughts and feelings that influence behaviour in the workplace.

Organisational
Culture

How the culture of an organisation shapes individual and group behaviour, and how individuals in turn influence culture.

Leadership and
Authority

How issues of leadership, authority, power play out in the workplace, and how they affect organisational dynamics/individual behaviour.

Emotional and Social Intelligence

The development of emotional and social intelligence to better understand and manage interpersonal relationships and conflicts in a professional setting.

Systemic
Thinking

A systemic perspective, considering the individual within the broader context of the organisation, including its structure, culture, and external environment.

Reflective
Practice

Encouraging individuals to reflect on their experiences, behaviours, and feelings to gain deeper self-awareness and understanding of their impact on others.

Testimonials.

“We are highly satisfied with Marzia’s on-the-job coaching for our journey framework. Her response to our request was remarkably fast, and she demonstrated an adaptive and pragmatic approach tailored to our specific business context. Drawing from years of experience with multiple organisations, she provided valuable advice, clearly distinguishing between essential and less critical elements. You skillfully balanced challenging our status quo with providing reassurance, all in a constructive manner. Her practical tips on next steps were particularly beneficial. Thanks a lot for your support, Marzia!”

“Marzia led me to see what I could not grasp about myself at work, and she also provided practical insights and stories to inspire me. Each week, I saw tangible progress; it was amazing. I asked for Marzia's help because I wanted a promotion and didn't understand what wasn't working for me at work. I got the promotion, but Marzia gave me much more than that: she allowed me to be inspired again and to reclaim my professional identity untethered from my place of work or geography.”

“Marzia’s energy, knowledge and approach towards things is infectious. What I loved the most is how the coaching was tailored around my needs, aspirations and goals, making this entire experience 'user-centric' 🙂 I am seeing a visible difference in the way I want to move ahead with my leadership journey, along with some tangible pieces of evidence in sight.”

“I really appreciated how Marzia helped me define my next steps based on my strengths and goals for my future career, without forgetting my personal life. The fact that she has so much experience in the design field and how it can play a role in different organisations was one of the reasons I chose her and not an “average coach”. Her energy, attitude and ability to create people connections are definitely a plus. One of the key takeaways I will carry from this journey together is the importance of sincerely defining your own motivations and being the owner of your own opportunities. Thanks Marzia!”

“Marzia really brought a wealth of knowledge and experience as well as passion to our coaching sessions. She challenged us and how we were thinking, which helped us think in different ways about journey management within our organisation. Her knowledge and expertise is invaluable. We will definitely reach out for coaching when needed in the future!”

Coaching.

Design Leaders and Practitioners.

Becoming a Better Design Leader

Getting Unstuck in Your Design Career

Coaching on the Job

My Approach.

A Bit of Theory.

Unconscious Processes

Organisational Culture

Leadership and Authority