Supporting Leadership Transitions

Sometimes it’s about unblocking a career path by coaxing new perspectives from within. Sometimes the focus is on renewing your sense of purpose. Other times it’s because an important life event led you to confront a professional pivot. Whatever the source may be, my work supporting leaders making a transition is focused on helping them design their best landings

  • For External Career Transitions I rely on my years as a partner at Egon Zehnder, one of the world’s most important executive search firms, to counsel executives on what matters from the point of view of the "other side of the table". There are many layered facets to this process and the executive’s readiness and seniority determines the length of commitment required.
  • For Internal Transitions I adapt best-in-class lessons from established thought leaders such as Michael Watkins (The First 90 Days) and Herminia Ibarra (Working Identity). This is a four month Programme that includes facilitating team meetings.

“Partnering with an experienced leadership advisor during internal transitions absolutely accelerated the impact of our senior leaders in their new roles”

– Susan Kelliher, Global CHRO

Succession Planning + Executing Succession

Perhaps the most consequential decision that CEO’s and Boards grapple with is selecting the future leader’s from inside of an organization. This process not only gets you to the Who, but it also shows you the How to execute a succession based on a decade of experience leading complex successions at global enterprises

  • This process can be applied to functional team, a country organization, a business team, or to the C-Suite of an Enterprise.
  • It can also be designed as a Leadership Development Program capable of being rolled out across teams of 15-50 leaders, over a couple of years.
  • A Succession Process is often coordinated in partnership with the HR team, and its output integrated into the existing annual talent cycle.
  • For CEO Succession the process has several unique aspects to ensure Board Alignment, meet market scrutiny, and integrate regulatory Risk Management requirements.

“I cannot imagine engaging in a CEO Succession without using a structured and independent process like this one”

– Nominating Committee Chair, Publicly Listed Company

Leadership Assessment / Development

Relying on world-class and publicly documented methodologies that combine quantitative and qualitative approaches, Leadership Assessments are the proven method to build an accurate and fact based photo of an individual leader.  It’s also the most useful tool to measure the aggregate capacity of a team if applied to a group during succession planning or in an M&A situation.

  • In-depth half-day behavioural based interview process that assesses one's leadership competencies, benchmarks their career arc, uncovers the keys to motivation, and highlights key priorities for Personal Development
  • Supported with a 360 degree interview with supervisors, peers and direct reports helps build a broader holistic view of the whole person
  • Provides an outline of Individual Potential indicating the attributes in their DNA that are the key to unlocking Potential
  • Book-ended with a Psychometric Assessment helps the individual understand their natural default behaviors
  • Produces an 8-10 page report with examples and quantitative data to be able to track progress
  • Includes a critical in-person feedback session 2-4 weeks after the Assessment is completed
  • It’s possible to supplement a Leadership Assessment with a structured 1-2 year Individual Development Plan

“These Leadership Assessments were a cathartic experience.  They awakened each Partners’ awareness of where they stood individually, and provided a collective view of the Firm’s leadership capacity”

Pedro Rebelo de Sousa, Founder and Managing Partner, SRS Legal