Independent strategy judgment for moments that matter

I help CEOs and boards rethink strategy when the ground shakes.

Most strategies fail not because the ideas are bad, but because assumptions go untested, choices remain implicit, and alignment is mistaken for agreement. When the environment shifts, those weaknesses surface quickly.

My role is not to facilitate discussion or produce frameworks.

It is to help leaders make clear, coherent strategic choices that hold up under pressure.

How I work

I approach strategy as a discipline, not an event.

That means:

• Starting with ground truth, not aspirations
• Making assumptions explicit rather than implicit
• Treating tradeoffs as unavoidable, not inconvenient
• Separating strategy from planning and execution
• Helping leaders decide deliberately, not reactively

I don’t promise certainty.

I help leaders regain control by improving the quality of their decisions.

Who I work with

I work exclusively with CEOs, board chairs, and nonprofit leaders who are mission-driven and facing complexity, uncertainty, or meaningful change.

These are leaders who understand that strategy is not about having all the answers, but about being prepared to make the right choices when the cost of being wrong is high.

Experience that informs judgment

I’ve spent more than three decades advising executives across industries and organizational sizes on strategy, governance, growth, and risk.
That experience matters not because it is impressive, but because it produces pattern recognition. Most strategic problems are not unique. They are familiar problems wearing new clothes.

Independence matters

I am independent by design.
I don’t sell downstream services.
I don’t stay on to manage execution.
I don’t benefit from prolonging the work.

That independence is not theoretical. I served as Chair and CEO of the Institute of Management Consultants USA and acted as a professional ethics officer for two decades. I have been recognized as a Fellow and received a Lifetime Achievement award in the profession.

Those roles reinforced a simple truth: independence and integrity matter more than cleverness.

That independence allows me to ask uncomfortable questions, challenge weak logic, call false alignment, and push for clarity when ambiguity feels safer.

My incentives are aligned with yours: better decisions, made at the right moment.

What clients value most

Clients don’t come to me for reassurance.
They come because I:

• Bring calm judgment to high-stakes situations
• Help leadership teams focus on what actually matters
• Reduce risk by making assumptions visible
• Turn debate into decision
• Leave them clearer and more confident than when we started

If the work feels easy, we’re probably not doing the right work.