Principal Counsel
"I need one person who will tell me the truth."
The problem
The higher you go, the less accurate your information becomes. Your team manages what reaches you. Your board sees the version prepared for them. Your peers are competitors. Your spouse is tired of the company.
And the decisions have gotten harder to talk about, not easier a succession you cannot signal, a partner who is no longer carrying the work, a pursuit that would double the firm or break it, a question about whether you still want the job.
What we do
A standing relationship with a small number of executives at a time. Deliberately capped, so that the person you call is available when you call.
Monthly working sessions, direct access between them, and preparation before the conversations that matter: the board meeting, the partner conversation, the all-hands after the layoff. We rehearse. Not scripts: the second and third questions, the objection you are hoping will not come, and what you will say when it does.
The obligation runs one way. I have no stake in your remaining a client, no introduction fees, and no adjacent service to sell you. If the honest answer is that you should leave the company, I will say so.
What you get
Standing advisory retainer and direct access
Decision preparation and rehearsal
Executive team and partnership repair
Succession and transition counsel
Board and stakeholder positioning
Confidential outside perspective on your own career
Shape
Two-quarter minimum, then quarter to quarter. Monthly fee. Capped roster.
When not to hire us
You want a sounding board who agrees with you. There are pleasant, expensive versions of that available.
What you need is therapy. That is a different profession, it is a good one, and I will help you find someone.
You cannot commit to a monthly session. The value compounds across the relationship; a session every third month is worse than nothing because it arrives without context.