Nicole Brandes

What’s Next-Done Right | Advisor & Ally to Founders, Leaders, Top Executives | When Stakes are High | Creating Next Chapters that Compel | 25 Years In Rooms Of Real Power

Switzerland

About

For 25 years, I've worked with people who carry impossible weight. Founders. Generals. CEOs. Artists - and many other extraordinary people, who don't fit into systems but build & carry them. I don't optimize people. I discover and build what carries them. That's where more success evolves - but one that inspires, energizes not drains What forged me Crisis lead during the Halifax incident — largest investigated aviation disaster in history. Built the global ultra-high-net-worth network at UBS and Swissair as Delegate of Top Management. Got awarded for institutional transformation as CMO, Bank Leu. Head of Business Affairs, Queen Silvia of Sweden's Mentor Foundation. Advisory Board to the Swiss Lieutenant General on Military 4.0. Future Advisor, Zukunftsinstitut since 2016. Seventeen years running my own practice for leaders at thresholds. What formed me An MBA in Strategic Management, yes. But also: 8 years with a Chinese Taoist grandmaster. 6 years studying Frankl's existential psychology. Lee Strasberg, Hollywood, studying human behavior. Continued work in exponential technologies and AI, Silicon Valley. When life raises the stakes, I help leaders become more successful and powerful — and stay whole. When I'm not working, you find me in the mountains. My home is by Lake Zurich. My work is global.

Experience

  • Founder, Advisor at Nicole Brandes Advisory Intl
    Apr 2009 - Present · 17 yrs 3 mos

    Strategic personal and professional advisory for accomplished leaders.

  • Author - When Success Isn't Enough at Nicole Brandes
    2016 - Present · 10 yrs 6 mos

    When my agent said, “Write a book,” I laughed. I never wanted to be an author. Yet here we are—three books later, two more coming—all exploring the same obsession: What happens when you wonder "what's next?". My books are born from real people, real thresholds, and the search for what makes us truly thriving and alive. • WE-Q (2016) — Why the lone-wolf model is dead • Weiblich, Wild & Weise (2019) — The Winner's Trap for Female power • Das kann’s noch nicht gewesen sein! (2020) — The Winner’s Trap decoded • English edition coming 2026 Each book is a conversation I wish I’d had earlier. Maybe you need it now.

  • Future Advisor at Zukunftsinstitut GmbH
    Nov 2016 - Present · 9 yrs 8 mos

    Future Advisor to and of the Zukunftsinstitut, one of Europe's most renowned think tanks. Joining forces to power up leaders for what's coming is inspiring. We combine perspectives, challenge assumptions, and create insights neither could reach alone. Every collaboration reminds me why this matters: helping leaders stay clear, connected, and courageously human when everything else feels artificial. Because in extreme transformation, our humanity isn't the problem—it's the solution.

  • Future Advisor, Member of the Advisory Board at Innovation World Switzerland
    Nov 2016 - Present · 9 yrs 8 mos

    Advisory with and to the CEO, Keynotes & Workshops on Future Leadership, People Empowerment and Transformation in Extreme Times of Change.

  • Future Advisor at SWISS EXCELLENCE FORUM
    Apr 2009 - Nov 2025 · 16 yrs 8 mos

    Contributing expert on Future & Leadership, how leaders master adversity and stay effective in a rapidly shifting world.