ICF Master Certified Coach
ser·vusServus:interjectionAustrian for hello. Also for goodbye.
I grew up in Schattendorf, a small town in Austria with fewer than 3,000 people. Since then I’ve moved ten times across three continents and visited more than ninety countries. These days it’s Santa Monica and two cats, and I still count in German under pressure.
Thirty years in the room where decisions get made. Now I help the people making them.
Before I was a coach, I was the executive across the table, running global planning teams at Burberry, Tory Burch and Gap Inc.
A life across continents
Originally from Austria, I’ve built my career and my life at the intersection of cultures, industries, and ways of thinking. I moved myself across the world, from Schattendorf to Santa Monica. Every move taught me something about how culture shapes power, communication, and the pace at which people are willing to trust.
Drag the globe to spin it
My first apartment of my own.
First time living in someone else’s house. Also the last.
My commute was a walk. Very un-Californian of me.
Moved to the city after my divorce. I had missed it so much.
Learned to read a room without a shared language.
Fabulous years at Gap. Biking, wine country and more.
Fast doesn’t begin to describe it.
Learned to say difficult things more politely and wear fabulous clothes.
Where I stopped apologizing for having an opinion.
Ocean air, two cats, and finally, a slower morning.
What I’ve learned along the way
After Tory Burch, I turned down another VP role. I didn’t want my next ten years to look like the previous ten. I started coach training instead, founded BetterTogetherGroup in 2019, and earned my Master Certified Coach credential in 2024.
I describe myself as a so-called half and half: half intellect, half intuition. My corporate years built the first half. Two decades of my own personal growth work, meditation practice, and study of psychology and neuroscience built the second. I no longer treat those as separate people.
By nature I’m a conflict avoider. I had to learn the value of disagreement.
Intellect
Intuition
I spent over two decades inside the fast-paced world of global retail, leading planning and allocation teams of 40 or more people across the US, UK, and Asia. I know what it feels like to sit in the room where the numbers, the politics, and the people all collide at once.
That experience is why my coaching doesn’t stay in the abstract. When a client is navigating a boardroom dynamic, a transition, or a decision under pressure, I’ve usually lived some version of it myself.
Beyond the work
Change your perspective, change your life. The unexpected question is the gift of coaching.
Things I believe
Leaders don’t create performance. They create the conditions for performance.
The right question beats the right answer, every time.
Trust is built conversation by conversation. It can disappear in one.
Your response to bad news determines whether you’ll hear the next one.
Half intellect, half intuition. Ignore either half at your peril.
Assume positive intent. It changes everything downstream.
Burnout is a signal, not a character flaw.
Compete against your own last version, not everyone else’s.
The quality of your leadership is visible in the quality of conversations your team is willing to have.
Better questions create better conditions. Better conditions create better behavior.
Change what you tolerate and you change your culture.
Years of watching these patterns became ATTUNE™, the framework I use with leaders and the teams around them. attuneframework.com
The Seven Principles
Gandhi popularized the Seven Social Sins in Young India in 1925. They were originally Frederick Lewis Donaldson’s. My leadership framing turns each one into a principle.
The social sinAccumulating money or riches without giving honest effort or contributing value.
The principleCreate prosperity through real effort, value creation, and contribution to others.
The social sinEnjoying comfort or fun while ignoring the pain or harm it causes to others.
The principleEnjoy life and its pleasures while staying aware of their impact on others.
The social sinLearning and intelligence gained without building moral integrity or honesty.
The principlePursue learning and intelligence with integrity, honesty, and a commitment to truth.
The social sinDoing business or making a profit while ignoring ethical standards.
The principleDo business and create profit while upholding ethical values and contributing to society.
The social sinMaking new technical or scientific discoveries without caring for human life.
The principleUse scientific and technical progress to improve human life and the well-being of the planet.
The social sinPracticing a faith or worship through empty routines without real service or humility.
The principleLive your faith through humility, service, and a willingness to sacrifice for others.
The social sinSeeking power or leading people without a commitment to truth, justice, or the common good.
The principleSeek and exercise power with integrity, justice, and a commitment to the common good.
Inspired by Gandhi’s Seven Social Sins. Adapted from a talk at Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine. Leadership framing by Claudia Beck, MCC.
Selected writing and conversations
Business Origin Stories
Ep. 112: “Conscious Leadership: Why High Achievers Must Slow Down to Lead Better.”
Success Leaves Clues
“Lead Beyond IQ, EQ, and WeQ,” on the three intelligence frameworks behind executive performance.
Unveiling Journeys with Tiffany Alexander
“The Truth About Leadership Growth: Consciousness & Change.” May 2026.
The work I do today
BetterTogetherGroup is the work I do. ATTUNE™ is how I think about leadership. This site is the person behind both.
Coaching, advisory, team programs and inquiries live on those two sites.
Stay connected
Reach out, I actually read these myself.
For a confidential conversation about working together, start at BetterTogetherGroup
claudia.beck@bettertogethergroup.co