Eminent Referrals

I. GENERAL REFERRALS

With performance (results/outcome) based fees

    Strategy Consulting (engagement teams) - Bain & Company; its results-based fees, called "tied economics" are curiously buried at Join Bain on its website in English, with a link to it, even more deeply buried, on the German website at "Bain ist anders - was wir bewegen." The websites give more play to the True North speech by its charismatic chairman, Orit Gadiesh. True North makes for a nice statement of Bain's values, but results based fees are what make that statement credible. Further information about Bain is given on its subpage.   

    Strategy Executive Coaching - at the risk of immodesty, BridgeS E C. Psychology based Executive Coaching (e.g. leadership, 360⁰ feedback) - Marshall Goldsmith, discussed at II. below.

With standard fees

    Strategy Consulting (engagement teams) - McKinsey & Company, Boston Consulting Group (BCG), Monitor and the boutique strategy consultancies. Some of the better ones are spin-offs from the big three, founded by former partners there. Notable among them would be the consultancy in Japan headed by Kenichi Ohmae, formerly of McKinsey.

    Strategy Executive Coaching - those individual executive coaches who have C-level experience.

    Psychology based Executive Coaching* - PDI Ninth House, discussed at "The Four Lords of Coaching - and Coaching R&D" at FAQ.

Books

    Throughout this website we recommend a number of books, giving links to Amazon.com to them. Feel free to use a link to purchase one of them. The modest commission is your "donation" to website maintenance.

* In Munich the leading firms with an emphasis on psychology-based coaching for executives include (in alphabetical order): www.coaching-fuerst.com, www.ert-coaching.de, and www.vonschumann-consulting.de.  All have nicely done websites and the principals of the firms also have significant business experience.

II. SPECIFIC REFERRALS 

1) Marshall Goldsmith, leadership coaching                                                 2) English Communication Tools, English and presentation training              3) Jeffery Gitomer, sales training                                                                   4) MacLabor, Apple computer services. 

    They all provide eminent value, frequently far superior to that of their direct competitors. They have come to appear on our web site the old fashioned way: they earned it.

    Nevertheless, no one is perfect (and certainly not Bridges, cf. "Losses" at Testimonials). Hence on their respective subpages under drawbacks we also add what we perceive to be some of their weaknesses. Note that excessive strength can easily become a weakness. As Abraham Maslow (1908 - 1970, the U.S. psychologist renowned for the Hierarchy of Needs) noted, "He that is good with a hammer tends to think everything is a nail."

    In addition to the four referrals made below, recommendations are made at "Negotiation Strategy" at Expertise and in the Papers “Offshoring DP/IT Projects" and "A Web Site Primer."

1) Marshall Goldsmith, PhD - Behavioral & Leadership Coaching, primarily U.S. www.marshallgoldsmithlibrary.com                     

Audience: The CEO desires leadership or lifestyle coaching.

The free access to his multimedia library of coaching materials is useful for you.

Outstanding Characteristics

    Marshall Goldsmith bills on the basis of results! He is paid only if the executive improves in the eyes of those who work with him, determined by a system to measure specific behavioral changes.

2) English Communication Tools - Business English and Presentation (Eng. & Ger.) Training www.english-communication-tools.com

Audience: C level officers (CEO, CFO, CIO, COO) board members, partners) wish to polish their English skills in general, or their presentation skills (in English or German) in particular.

The company is in the energy industry and the board wishes advisory services.

Outstanding Characteristics

    They combine extensive experience in teaching business English with exceptional public speaking skills and solid management experience both in for profit and not-for-profit enterprises.

3) Jeffrey Gitomer - Sales Training, U.S. (& London), Sales Caffeine E-zine and his CRM "Ace of Sales," cf.      www.gitomer.com and www.trainone.com

Audience: C level officers, marketing managers, sales directors and salesmen, indeed anyone who wishes to polish his sales skills.

Outstanding Characteristics

    He has written a string of bestselling sales books are complemented by his constant seminars in the U.S., with regular appearances in Europe and occasional other international appearances as well. Practicing what he preaches, "first, provide value," he publishes a free weekly E-Zine, "Sales Caffeine."

4) Maclabor GmbH - Apple computer services, Munich, Germany www.maclabor.com

Audience: You use Apple computers.

Outstanding Characteristics

    The president and founder of the firm, Hans Peter Kroll, a Dipl. (i.e. M.Sc.) engineer, is the embodiment of "first provide value" and thrives on technical challenges.

5) Bain & Company - Management consulting, with a core strength in strategy, www.bain.com and www.bain.de.

Audience: C level officers of multinationals who are ready to invest over $100,000 a week in an engagement team. Note that, similar to McKinsey and BCG, Bain is more oriented towards "whale" engagements of $20 million as opposed to relatively minor $2 or $3 million dollar ones with a more narrow focus, e.g. just on strategy.

Outstanding Characteristics

    The firm tracks the stock market performance of its clients and is proud that they do better than non-clients. The firm will work on a performance basis, "tied economics," although it certainly does not flaunt it. A Bain partner, Darrell K. Rigby, initiated the annual survey Management Tools and Techniques, an Executive's Guide. Lastly, the Chairman of the firm is the remarkable Orit Gadiesh.

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