Alice Zagato - Systemic Coach - Keeponexploring

25/03/2026

Why is random fish so important ?
.. what we call “chaos” would love to teach you that unless you can solve everything, nothing you do is worth doing.

That lesson is fake.

Your email was never meant to compete with a bombed city. Your dinner with friends was never meant to outweigh a regime. Your small act was never meaningful because it was large.

27/01/2026

I would love to proceed with our Cynical Masterclass. But the year just started, and January is being cynical enough for many of us.

So today’s newsletter won’t be sarcastic, won’t be cynical, and won’t even be very ironical. It will contain dumplings (because who doesn’t love dumplings and also because they are short paragraphs, but stuffed with information) to start your 2026 with some new inspiration to make your relationships clearer, more fulfilling, and maybe even sweeter in some cases. Let me know if anything especially resonates with you.

Link in comments

19/01/2026

Relational and communication skills rest on emotional competence.

Most of us were never taught this. Yet it drives how teams decide and work together, how careers grow, and how our bodies carry stress.
And yes, how fulfilled we are in our everyday life.

As AI scales across domains, the human edge is relational.

If the same issues keep showing up at work or at home, it’s not fate. It’s a pattern you can read, rewrite, and transform.
This isn’t about blame; it’s about choice: what you welcome, refuse, reinforce, and create.

What we can work on

🔵 Notice how your presence shapes a meeting and shift it in real time.

🔵 Build emotional regulation for you and your team.

🔵 Integrate body cues, relationships, and craft in daily practice.

🔵 Tune timing, self-disclosure, and the shifts between me, you, and we.

🔵Above all, restore connection, creativity, and clarity in how you relate.

Formats

Indoors, in nature, on site, or at my practice in Basel. For teams and individuals.

You can message me here to pre-book February indoor packages. Outdoor “Action & Emotion” returns in spring

25/09/2025

1 last coaching package available for this autumn

When people think of coaching, they think of goals, performance, strategies.
All true - yet I see it as an ecosystem:
• if you work on the mind, you also need to include the body
• if you want real impact, you need to understand emotions
• if you are looking for clarity and efficacy, you need strong relationships around you

That is where deep change begins.
And until the weather stays kind, you can choose: in person, online, or outdoors with movement.

👉 Curious about what NOT to do?
In my newsletter Exploring Happiness you will find “cynical masterclasses” on how to demolish a team in a few practical moves - and yes, comment or DM me your best “destructive miracles" or questions. I’ll pick some to develop in the next newsletter.

Always backed by practice + science.

Curious whether the is the right moment for you?
Book a clarity session and we will see together if it is a fit.

10/09/2025

📐7 rules for the differently wired leader 🧠

Some leaders think differently.

They do not “think outside the box.”
They were never in it.

Their usually self-taught, lifelong training goes the other way: learning other people’s boxes, how to enter, exit, and not kick them over.

They might have learned, in their own way, that people may like “different”… but not too much. Just the right amount of different.
They have learned that the context they want to belong to often screens for “fit”.

Now, using the word leader can be prickly. And yes, you might not always consider yourself a leader. Let me explain: leader as in anyone who has a shot at acting on or influencing others. Hence they bear responsibility … and visibility.
When you are in a place of influence, you become more exposed, more visible, which might be a perk… or lose the team’s trust in many different ways.

To lead often means to clear paths, remove obstacles, and then step aside so others can walk them on their own.

It is about the influence you have, how you “regulate” others in moments of stress, and how it shows up in concrete, compounded results over time.

In practice, that path is rarely linear.

These are “field notes” from 16+ years working with leaders who think otherwise: healthcare professionals, executives, watchmakers, entrepreneurs, artists… and yes, parents.

Among them, those who succeed do so precisely because they think differently and they learn, over time and fluidly with the ever-changing environment, how to leverage this.

Their rhythm, perception, relational styles, and problem-solving do not fit the usual templates.

Today, some of these traits would be described as neurodivergent.

Now, when translated well, that difference in wiring is not a liability. It can be one of the greatest assets.
1. Translate it → make your rhythm legible to others.
2. Leverage it → use the unique lens where it solves problems others cannot.
3. Buffer it → build routines and relationships that protect you from its costs and help you give your best.

If this perspective resonates with both your assets and your challenges, let me know.
I am glad to continue the conversation.

08/08/2025

“But let us be honest: not everyone wants smooth, open conversations. Comfort is boring. Innovation is confusing. If you long to make your workplace as awkward and unsettling as a naturist pool party in Tehran, I have a simple list of instructions for you.

How to demolish your team or organisation in three simple steps:

Step One: Lack of Trust Use stereotypes like parmesan on spaghetti. Being curious about people makes them feel seen. Avoid at all costs. You know who they are. You can infer it from skin color, clothes, gender…”

You can find the rest of the instructions in my newsletter.

Link in comment

07/08/2025

When you post a bit more often on LinkedIn, this is what you might see. It always amuses me when someone calls you the “most” anything without showing the metrics.
Meta has it own methods too, ofcourse.

The architecture of this message is:
• Ego boost: You are “one of the most-viewed profiles.” You are seen and valued.

• Exclusivity: You are in a select group… allegedly. No clue who your “peers” are or who is actually looking. Makes you want to protect or enhance that special status.

• Call to action: Right after the flattery, you are nudged to “add verification,” just when you are feeling good.

• Implied popularity: Supposedly, lots of people are looking at you. You are popular, in demand. Not classic “social proof,” but it plays on your sense of being noticed.

• Opaque criteria: No one tells you what “most-viewed” actually means, by whom, where, or how many people we are talking about.

29/07/2025

BRUTALLY HONEST POST

And a couple of POWERFUL secrets you’ll almost NEVER hear in any COACHING or THERAPY training.

And yes. Alas, it happened again today.

At least twice a month, I get enthusiastic messages from people (or friends of people) who want to “have a quick chat” because they’re thinking about opening their own business, starting a therapy or coaching career, taking the Great Leap into self-employment.

(And yes, with 20 years fully in the business, I’ve seen all the trends of the last 25 years…along with a healthy dose of ups and downs.)

The script is almost always the same: lots of enthusiasm, a bunch of questions about the profession, and a request for an “EXCHANGE”which, surprise surprise, inevitably turns into a FREE CONSULTATION disguised as a friendly chat between “peers,” always ending with:

“So, how do I get clients?”

Just so we’re clear: exchange what, exactly?
If you’re interested in my invoicing method, I’m happy to share my IBAN.

Working in this field, self-employed, means building everything: skills, experience, trust, reputation, and a client base, mostly from scratch.

I know you want to optimize away the hard work, just like anyone else.
And you want to make the world a better place, just like me.
But let me be brutally honest and tell you something you won’t be told in most coaching trainings

⭐️ NO ONE CARES ⭐️

If you want to do this for real, it’s a business, and you’ll need clients.

If you’re genuinely interested in a professional conversation, I’m always happy to share my experience and expertise. I can help you with consultations, mentoring, and support programs.

But out of respect for my work (and for everyone else in this profession! Including you future self), time spent answering professional questions is not free.

If, on the other hand, you just want a casual chat as equals, let’s talk about theatre, books, summer hikes, or the latest fashion trends. My door’s always open, and those conversations are on the house!

Thanks for your understanding.

❤️Hugs (those are still free, unless you’re about to ask for my business plan).

24/07/2025

ADHD is not always a solo act, think again. Many of us collect comorbidities like others collect fridge magnets:

• Depression? 30–63% of adults with ADHD get that badge (higher for women).
• Anxiety? About 47%, but some studies say up to 73%. (Again… women mostly)
• PTSD or Complex PTSD? Anywhere from 10% to 36%. Nearly 1 in 4 women with ADHD ticks that box too.

Having all three? Congratulations, you win… a messier journey to getting the right support.

And here’s the plot twist:

Not every professional is an ADHD expert.
I’ve seen way too many
therapists, doctors, even teachers
who think they get it, but actually end up being punitive or just missing the point entirely.

So, double-check those credentials, and make sure you feel safe.

You deserve a proper (differential) -diagnosis and support that actually fits your brain not someone’s assumptions.



https://www.facebook.com/share/r/16jc5N9Dxn/?mibextid=wwXIfr

01/07/2025

 Like every summer, you can book outdoor sessions and workshops for teams (up to 10 people) until October.

Yes, getting outside clears the head, increases wellbeing, and helps grow trust, agency, relational and emotional clarity, freedom, and leadership.

Or, book an “Ugly Workshop”:

Monsters & Challenges: Face the real issues that are holding you and your team back.

Loaded Questions: The art and hazard of tricky questions. Learn to spot them and use them if you dare.

Would you like to explore further?
Discover what tools developed for and by neurodivergent minds can teach everyone, practical and often enjoyable strategies that make life and work smoother, wherever you are.

Curious? Contact me to book or to get more details.
Come on! Step outside and let’s make this season interesting.

29/06/2025

WHOSE FEELINGS ARE THESE ANYWAY ?!

If you’re curious and want to read more:

* Eisenberger, N. I., Lieberman, M. D., & Williams, K. D. (2003). Does rejection hurt? An fMRI study of social exclusion. Science, 302(5643), 290-292.
* Rotge, J.Y., et al. (2014). A meta-analysis of the anterior cingulate contribution to social pain. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 9(10), 1393–1403.
* Beaton, E. A., et al. (2022). Experiences of criticism in adults with ADHD: A qualitative study. PLOS ONE, 17(2), e0263366.
* Ginapp, C. M., et al. (2023). Emotional dysregulation, rejection sensitivity and experiences of criticism in adult women with ADHD: A qualitative study. PLOS ONE, 18(10), e0292721.
* Rubia, K. (2018). Cognitive neuroscience of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and its clinical translation. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 100.
* Fan, Y., et al. (2022). Dynamic functional connectivity of insular subregions in children with ADHD. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 16, 890596. In Research and Practice

Or ask me!

19/06/2025

Boys don’t cry

Having a bad day?
🥊Feel like punching a door? Piece of cake. 💧Letting a tear slip out?
Oh, now THAT’S embarrassing!

For some, that’s how it goes; you grow up learning that certain emotions are “manly,” while the rest are best swept under the rug.

The result? It all comes back to bite you - aches, tension headaches, insomnia, a stomach in knots… all those little surprises, even when you think you’re in control.

Working with the body and mindfulness - even starting without big conversations - helps you tune in, finally call things by their name, and maybe discover that vulnerability isn’t a flaw but, especially if you’re a man, might actually get you some credit.

And help you find more connection
🛜
No, not that one
I mean human connection.

Take a look below if you want to read more and - if you like - tell me what you think.
(DE, FR)