At senior levels, the issue that needs attention is not always obvious at the outset.

It might begin with a difficult relationship between two partners. A senior executive whose impact is starting to concern others. A succession decision that needs careful thought. A leadership team that is functioning, but not quite as a team. Or simply a CEO, Managing Partner or General Counsel who would value an experienced, independent perspective before deciding what to do next.

Strategic Leadership Advisory provides an ongoing relationship rather than a series of separate engagements.

I work closely enough with your organisation to understand its people, context and dynamics over time, while remaining sufficiently outside it to offer clear thinking, challenge and confidentiality.

That means you can bring me in when something matters, without having to decide first whether you need a coach, facilitator or consultant.

Sometimes the right response is a conversation. Sometimes it is coaching. Sometimes I need to speak with several people, understand what is happening and help design an intervention.

And sometimes the most useful thing I can do is tell you that the issue is bigger than any of those things and needs a separately scoped piece of work.

Strategic Leadership Advisory can be particularly valuable when:

• A CEO, Managing Partner, General Counsel or other senior leader needs a trusted external sounding board

• A highly valued executive or partner is succeeding in some respects but creating difficulty in others

• Someone is moving into a substantially bigger role

• There is friction, mistrust or an unhelpful pattern between senior colleagues

• A leadership team needs to address something it has been avoiding

• Succession, role or leadership changes require careful navigation

• You need an independent view of what is really going on before deciding how to respond

• An issue is significant enough to warrant attention, but commissioning a formal consulting project would be disproportionate

One relationship. Different kinds of support.

The value of the retainer is that the response can match the issue.

Rather than establishing a new coaching or consulting engagement each time something arises, you have ongoing access to an external adviser who already understands the organisation and can work across individual, team and organisational dynamics.

Senior leader access

Ongoing confidential access for the CEO, Managing Partner, General Counsel or another nominated executive sponsor.

This includes scheduled conversations as well as priority access when something needs thinking through quickly: a difficult conversation, an organisational decision, a sensitive leadership issue, a succession question or a situation where an independent perspective would help.

Individual work with senior leaders

Up to four nominated executives or partners can work with me during the year, with the mix changing as organisational priorities change.

The work is tailored to the individual and the situation. It may involve executive coaching, transition support, leadership development or focused work around a particular challenge.

Common areas include judgement and decision-making, enterprise leadership, influence, difficult relationships, organisational authority, leadership impact, conflict, significant change and readiness for increased responsibility.

Targeted stakeholder, diagnostic and intervention work

Where useful, I can go beyond the individual leader to understand the broader situation.

That might involve speaking with selected stakeholders, exploring differing perspectives, identifying patterns or helping determine what is driving a persistent problem.

The objective is not to launch a major diagnostic exercise. It is to gather enough high-quality information to understand what is happening and determine where intervention is most likely to make a difference.

I may then work with the individuals involved, facilitate a difficult conversation, support the sponsor to address the issue, or recommend a different course of action.

Leadership and partner-team work

The retainer includes four facilitated leadership or partner-team sessions during the year.

These are built around live organisational priorities rather than generic leadership content. Depending on what is happening, we might work on team effectiveness, enterprise leadership, trust and conflict, decision-making, accountability, strategic alignment or the way the team is leading through change.

New-role and succession support

Significant transitions often benefit from more than a conventional coaching program.

I can support a newly appointed executive or practice leader, help an identified successor prepare for a broader role, work with the relationship between a new leader and their key stakeholders, or bring an independent perspective to the leadership shifts required at the next level.

Annual strategy or leadership offsite

The relationship also includes one substantial half- or full-day intervention each year.

This might be a strategy or leadership offsite, a team reset, work around enterprise leadership or culture, or a facilitated conversation about something important that the group needs to address collectively.

Continuity changes the quality of the conversation

The more I understand your organisation, the less time we spend explaining the backstory.

Over time I come to understand the players, the pressures, the history and the patterns. I can notice when an apparently isolated issue resembles something happening elsewhere. I can challenge assumptions with greater confidence. And when something difficult occurs, we can get to the substance quickly.

At the same time, I remain external.

I am not part of the reporting structure, internal politics or organisational hierarchy. I do not take on HR responsibilities or formal decision-making authority, and individual coaching conversations remain confidential.

That combination - context without organisational entanglement - is central to the value of the relationship.

What’s included

The annual relationship typically includes:

• Ongoing counsel for the CEO, Managing Partner, General Counsel or other nominated executive sponsor

• Individual coaching and advisory work with up to four senior leaders at any one time

• Priority access for time-sensitive leadership situations

• Four leadership, executive or partner-team sessions

• New-role and succession support

• Targeted stakeholder, diagnostic and intervention work

• One annual strategy or leadership offsite

Travel disbursements are charged at cost.

Where an issue becomes a larger piece of work

The retainer is designed to give you meaningful access and the flexibility to respond to issues as they arise. It is not an uncapped consulting arrangement.

Targeted diagnostic and intervention work connected with the ongoing advisory relationship is included.

Where an issue develops into a substantial standalone assignment - such as an extensive stakeholder interview program, culture or organisational review, detailed written report, investigation, major organisational design exercise or another project requiring sustained consulting input - we will recognise that boundary before the work proceeds and scope it separately.

The aim is to avoid unnecessary contracting around every small intervention while maintaining clarity when something genuinely becomes a consulting project.

What you are really retaining

Not a fixed number of coaching hours.

You are retaining an experienced, independent adviser who knows your organisation and senior people well enough to be useful when the stakes are high.

Someone senior leaders can think aloud with.

Someone who can challenge without being caught in the organisational system.

And someone you can call before a difficult leadership issue becomes a much more expensive one.

Annual retainer

AUD $125,000 plus GST

Book a conversation

Strategic Leadership Advisory is intentionally limited to a small number of organisations at any one time.

If you are considering whether an ongoing advisory relationship might be useful for your organisation, book a confidential conversation and we can explore what that could look like.

Book now or email me at contact@madeleineshaw.com.au