Background
This 1000-person firm has been a leader in a several investment management niches over 25 years. For many years they’ve had strong growth. When that growth slowed, fractures in the partnership resulted. The CEO of the firm engaged the Sundheim Group to help align the partnership on a strategic path forward.
How we supported the client
Identified internal-facing strategic priorities – Through interviews and surveys, we identified the team, leadership, and organizational challenges posing the greatest risk for the firm. The three biggest challenges were: ineffective decision-making, poor execution once decisions were made, and lack of communication. We wove solutions to these challenges into everything we did.
Identified external-facing strategic priorities – We also helped facilitate a process to get alignment on the highest-value new business opportunities for pursuit. By creating a coordinated picture of the best opportunities in the market, partners were better able to prioritize focus and collaborate on topics that mattered most.
Facilitated annual partner meetings – We used annual partner meetings as the primary venue to discuss and align new strategic directions. As well, we created a safe environment for difficult and contentious issues to be raised and addressed.
Supported “on the ground” execution – We provided direct support to teams tasked with executing some of the new strategic agenda items. This included project coordination, meeting facilitation, and leadership coaching and advising.
The engagement has spanned 1 year.
Results
There has been significant positive momentum. Examples include partnership alignment on allocating resources to a promising new product, decisions on key new hires, and increased collaboration and communication across the partnership.
“What I appreciated most about working with The Sundheim Group was that they moved quickly. They didn’t waste time messing around with over-engineered consulting processes. They got in, got a good understanding of our issues, and were able to identify useful and helpful strategies to help us improve in 6-12 months.”CEO