Professional Services Firms Served
Reduction in Partner/Senior Turnover
Engagement Score Improvement
Revenue Growth Supported
The complexity of leading knowledge workers and partnership models
Professional services firms—consulting, legal, accounting, architecture, engineering—have unique leadership challenges. Your people ARE your product. Talent retention is existential. Partnership models create political complexity. And billable hours create relentless pressure.
Your competitive advantage is your talent and culture. We help you build both.
Your people's expertise, judgment, and relationships ARE what clients buy. Talent is everything.
Partnership structures create unique politics, decision-making challenges, and leadership development needs.
Billable hours pressure, up-or-out models, always-on culture—burnout is endemic. Top talent leaves.
How do you scale without losing the boutique quality, culture, and client relationships that made you successful?
Associates need development but partners are too busy. Sink-or-swim approach loses talent.
Great practitioners don't automatically become great leaders. Technical expertise ≠ leadership capability.
You promote based on client delivery excellence and technical expertise, but partnership and leadership require completely different skills. The best doers often become the worst leaders.
The Problem: Your best people leave after 2-4 years. They cite lack of development, burnout, better opportunities elsewhere. You're a training ground for competitors.
Related Solutions: Coaching Culture | Culture Transformation
The Problem: Billable hours pressure, always-on culture, weekend work normalized. People are exhausted. Quality suffering. Long-term this is unsustainable.
Related Solutions: Culture Change | Partner Coaching
The Problem: Junior professionals learn by osmosis and trial-and-error. No systematic development. Partners too busy to coach. The talented survive, many struggle and leave.
Related Solutions: Development Programs | Partner as Coach
The Problem: Partnership creates complex politics. Decision-making is slow. Individual fiefdoms vs. one-firm culture. Conflicts avoided. Strategy hard to execute.
Related Solutions: Partnership Team Effectiveness | Partner Coaching
The Problem: You're growing—new offices, new practice areas, new partners. But the boutique culture and quality that made you successful is diluting.
Related Solutions: Scaling & Growth | Culture Scaling
The Problem: Senior associates promoted to partner based on client work, not leadership capability. They struggle with business development, team leadership, and strategic thinking.
Related Solutions: Partner Coaching | Leadership Development
Firm: 600-person professional services firm | Challenge: 40% turnover, burnout, no development | Duration: 20-month transformation
Traditional consulting firm with sink-or-swim culture. Partners too busy for development. Associates burned out and leaving after 2-3 years. Engagement at 52%. Losing talent wars to firms with better cultures. The firm was a training ground for competitors.
"We were hemorrhaging our best talent. People left citing no development and burnout. We needed to fundamentally change how partners lead and develop people." - Managing Partner
| Metric | Before | After (20 mo) | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employee Engagement | 52% | 76% | ↑ 46% |
| Voluntary Turnover | 40% | 18% | ↓ 55% |
| Development Satisfaction | 38% | 81% | ↑ 113% |
| Internal Promotions | 45% | 82% | ↑ 82% |
| Glassdoor Rating | 3.2 | 4.5 | ↑ 41% |
"Building a coaching culture was transformational. Our people are engaged, growing, and staying. We've gone from losing talent wars to winning them. This is now our competitive advantage." - Managing Partner