Recent Case Examples
| Company profile | CEO concern | Initial Project | Project Outcomes | Business Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $20 million venture-backed consumer products start up | Top team dysfunction in final growth stage pre-liquidity event. Starting the new year completely aligned on priorities | Top team diagnostic and Q1 launch session. Coaching intervention with key disruptor | Broader understanding of strategic intent. Refined key top team roles and governance practices. Mapped core customer planning and product innovation processes. Set 10-month leadership game plan to liquidity | Growth momentum restored, business on plan. Liquidity ‘optionality’ preserved |
| $2 billion private equity-backed media company carve-out | New CEO charged with melding diverse mix of talent into a high-performance team | Six-month team building program. Personal coaching with CEO | Refined top team roles and goals. Set team performance criteria and milestones. Built leadership game plan for engaging broader 6000-person organization. Established CEO personal leadership plan | Growth momentum established, business hit or beat all financial milestones over following 3 years |
| $12 million partner-owned software outsourcing company | Misalignment between three partner-owners on end goal, strategy and operating practices | Strategy alignment working session. Coaching engagement with Managing Partner / CEO | Agreement between partners on strategic intent and three-year goals; agreement also on end game / liquidity goals. Role better differentiated; operating norms established | Growth momentum established. Company sold in three years, now a $42 million division of full-solution public outsourcer |
| $250 million family-owned retail service business | Professionalizing company management practices and developing next generation leadership | Survey top 90 leaders on strategic and operational issues and options. Assess leadership development and talent management capability. Top team working session and action plan | Developed 3-year leadership game plan with top team addressing strategy, goals, governance, and employee engagement. Road map for developing leadership capability of the future, family and non-family | Steady overall business growth, improved performance to plan by the various units, engagement scores in 90+% range. Leadership depth for growth |
For client recommendations about my work, see my LinkedIn profile. https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredadair
Prior Experience
Work with CEOs on Top Management Team Leadership
- Large Telecommunications Company.
Worked with CEO and Top Management Team of $8B consumer unit of larger corporation to address declining revenues and market share, outdated product portfolio and moribund culture. In series of assignments over three years, collaborated to create a customer-centric organization design, select and launch new top management team, align goals and management processes around new strategy, coach key top team members to improve overall teamwork, and launch companywide employee engagement process to create a customer-centric culture. Efforts led to a halt in revenue decline, revenue and profitability significantly above budget, and record employee engagement scores.
- Express Logistics Start-up.
Worked with CEO, board, and Top Management Team of $500M Private Equity-backed express package carrier to identify and address full range of strategy, leadership and organizational issues impeding integration of acquisitions and fulfillment of investment thesis. Collaborated to design post-merger organization, launch new top management team in fast-cycle strategy deployment / alignment workshop, and create business integration / change management team to warrantee success. Efforts launched top three management levels into new business year with strong alignment on roles, goals and action plans, and significantly increased morale.
- Global Commercial Insurance Company.
Worked with CEO and Top Management Team of the North America division of a Top Five Global insurance company to address flat growth, poor customer focus and inconsistent team process. In a series of assignments over twelve months, collaborated to develop consensus top team role, operating principles and governance structure, launch broad organizational engagement effort to deploy a new growth strategy and shift the culture, and redesign talent management system to support the change. Efforts led to establishment of solid growth trajectory, improved top teamwork 50-100% on key effectiveness measures, and broad improvement in customer engagement by employees.
Work with Boards of Directors
- Private Design / Construction Company.
Worked with Chairman of this $750M business to address unfocused board meetings and strained board-management relationships, and to overhaul board role, structures, and processes. Realigned board role to company strategy, worked with CEO and COO to redesign roles and establish framework for planning succession, and developed game plan for continued development of board effectiveness. Reenergized board-management relations leading to significant increase in candor in meetings, crisper discussion / decision making, and higher value added from board to management.
- Multi-national Diversified Holding Company.
Worked with Executive Chairman and Lead Director of this $350M family-owned conglomerate to address unproductive board meetings, uneven family representation and participation, and stalled succession planning. Assessed board composition, role, structure, and processes against business strategy and external best practices, and worked with Chairman and Governance Committee to develop agreed action plan for implementation of recommended changes.
Work with CEOs on Personal Leadership Effectiveness
- Numerous assignments with CEOs of start-up, small, medium and large companies.
Ongoing work with a number of CEOs and other top leaders as a sounding board, team builder, facilitator, objective outside observer and personal coach on the full range of leadership topics, from business strategy to personal leadership effectiveness, and with stops in between for top management teamwork, organizational engagement, strategy execution and talent management.
Executive Assessment Work
- Numerous assignments across all industries.
Conducted in-depth assessment of executive leadership competencies for top management decision making associated with a range of jobs in companies of all sizes, including pre-hire, pre-acquisition/investment, and pre-promotion situations; leadership development; organization design/restructuring; succession planning; and performance management.