Notice
Recognise what happens within you when pressure arises.
Coaching · Leadership Embodiment
Lead with presence.
Lead with presence.
Even under pressure.
You already know what a good leader should do. But when pressure rises, your body sometimes makes a different decision. Leadership Embodiment trains you to recover space, choice and skilfulness — right where you need them most.
ICF Coach·EPFL Engineer·20+ years in tech
From reaction
to choice.
Centre
Recover grounding, breath and openness before responding.
Act
Choose a response aligned with what truly matters.
The body remembers. That is why we practise rather than simply understand.
Embodied leadership
What if change began before words?
A tense meeting. A decision to announce. A disagreement taking hold. Within milliseconds, your posture, breathing and attention shift.
This is not a lack of willpower. It is a human response to pressure. Leadership Embodiment offers simple practices to recognise this reaction and recover a more open, expansive and skilful state.
Less autopilot.
More freedom.
An approach created by Wendy Palmer
The how of leadership.
Leadership Embodiment brings body and mind together to develop a presence that is both grounded and open. It translates principles from Aikido, mindfulness and bioscience into practical exercises you can use in the middle of your working day.
Recover your centre
Simple physical practices help you move out of fight, flight or freeze reactions and quickly regain stability under pressure.
Expand your attention
Without requiring a formal meditation practice, you learn to observe your automatic responses and access greater choice and perspective.
Understand pressure
Insights from bioscience shed light on the connection between stress, posture and perception. Practising with the body helps establish more sustainable responses.
“Many programmes explain the what of leadership. Leadership Embodiment works on the how.”
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A practice, not a formula
The same situation.
The same situation.
A different inner space.
The aim is not to stop reacting altogether. It is to recognise your habitual pattern sooner and become able to choose something else.
Your pattern takes over
Reaction becomes faster than reflection.
By noticing these signals without judging yourself, you already create an initial space for choice.
- 01Your attention narrows
You only see the problem, the threat or what needs to be defended.
- 02You listen to respond
Nuances disappear. Every comment starts to sound like opposition.
- 03Your body contracts
Your breath shortens, your shoulders rise and your voice changes.
- 04You fall back on your usual solution
Control, avoid, give in or attack — even when the situation calls for something else.
You recover room to manoeuvre
Your response becomes more skilful than your reflex.
Centred does not mean passive. You can be both open and firm, available and clear.
- 01You regain the bigger picture
The situation becomes larger than the tension of the moment.
- 02You listen without taking everything personally
You can receive information, disagreement and emotion.
- 03Your presence becomes a resource
You feel grounded, your breath lengthens and your voice finds its natural pitch.
- 04You speak up for what matters
Even in the face of resistance, you can take a stand with clarity and respect.
Try it now
One minute to come back to yourself.
Make yourself comfortable. This short centring practice is not about performance: it is simply an opportunity to notice and adjust.
- 01Feel your support
Your feet on the floor, the weight of your body, the chair supporting you.
- 02Lengthen your exhale
Without forcing, let your breath flow out a little more slowly.
- 03Soften and expand
Release your jaw and shoulders. Broaden your gaze.
- 04Choose your intention
How do you want to be present for what lies ahead?
Guided practice01:00
60
seconds
Simply take a moment.
No recording · just a pause for you
My coaching services
Make presence
Make presence
an everyday practice.
No off-the-shelf formulas. We start with your real-life situations, practise together, then you experiment between sessions to embed useful and lasting change.
Coaching
Presence & impact
A confidential space to transform the way you hold your role, especially when the stakes and pressure are high.
- 6 one-to-one sessions of 75 minutes
- A programme spanning 3 to 4 months
- Short, targeted embodied practices
- Experiments between sessions
- In person or online
Your starting point
Talk about your situation
A difficult conversation, a leadership stance you want to evolve or a decision that matters to you.
Coaching
Direction & clarity
Three sessions to work on a specific situation and gain enough perspective to move forward skilfully.
- 3 one-to-one sessions of 75 minutes
- A concrete objective defined together
- Rehearsal of real-life situations
- A simple, measurable action plan
A few examples
Clarify what you need
Prepare a presentation, work through a conflict, set a boundary or make a decision.
Workshop
Leadership Embodiment
A practical, shared experience to improve cooperation, listen to disagreement and remain constructive under pressure.
- An interactive half-day session
- Exercises in pairs and as a group
- Scenarios drawn from your day-to-day reality
- A shared language to take forward
A tailored format
Design your workshop
Content, group size and logistics shaped around your context and objectives.
An initial conversation, with no commitment.
Thirty minutes to get to know each other, clarify your needs and see whether I am the right person to support you. If I am not, I will simply tell you.
How we work together
Understand. Practise. Embody.
Name what is happening
We start with a real situation. What triggers your reaction? What does your body do? What would you like to make possible?
Create a new experience
Through simple exercises and repetition, you discover a different way of being present — not just a different idea.
Bring it into your reality
You test it in your daily life, observe the effects and adjust. Gradually, the new response becomes available when you need it.
An engineer by training.
Human by practice.
Human by practice.
Your coach
Gilles Cherix
“I help you avoid choosing between high standards and humanity.”
An EPFL engineer, I spent over twenty years in tech building systems and supporting teams. I learned that the problems we call technical are often, at their core, deeply human.
Now an ICF coach, I put this hands-on experience at the service of leaders, managers and teams. Leadership Embodiment informs my approach: it allows us to work closely with lived experience, with rigour, warmth and a healthy dose of pragmatism.
ICF CoachEPFL EngineerFrench-speaking Switzerland & online
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What coaching makes possible
More grounded. More flexible.
More grounded. More flexible.
More yourself.
With Gilles, you go deep, fast. I found my inner stability. I feel more flexible and more steady at the same time — my teams feel it too.
I was able to explore the source of my beliefs in a setting that was serious, caring and light all at once. I came away with a clear view of new behaviours to test, then adopt.
Frequently asked questions
Before we
Before we
begin.
Have another question? Email me directly.
bonjour@gillescherix.chDo I need to practise Aikido or meditation?
No. No martial arts or meditation experience is necessary. The exercises are simple, accessible and adapted to your comfort. They are designed to help you observe your reactions and practise new responses, not to teach you fighting techniques.
Is this purely physical coaching?
No. We discuss your challenges, objectives and decisions as in conventional coaching. The body becomes an additional doorway for noticing what is happening and concretely practising new ways of acting.
What happens during a session?
We begin with your situation and your objective for the session. Depending on what you need, we alternate between conversation, observation, simple standing or seated exercises and scenario rehearsal. Every session ends with a practice or experiment to continue.
Are remote sessions available?
Yes. I work in person in French-speaking Switzerland and as far as Bern, or online. Exercises can be adapted to the online format. For team workshops, we will determine the most suitable format together.
How do I know whether this approach is right for me?
That is exactly what the initial 30-minute call is for. You tell me about your situation, I explain how I work and together we check whether it matches your needs. With no commitment.
The first step is simple
Shall we talk about your reality?
Tell me a little about the situation that brings you here. I will reply to arrange a free, no-obligation 30-minute call.
In person in French-speaking Switzerland · online everywhere else