How to Build a Startup Leadership Team
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerBuild a startup leadership team by hiring against what the business genuinely needs next, in sequence, rather than filling a generic org chart. Prioritise the most critical gap first, hire builders comfortable with ambiguity, and be honest that the team which gets you to the […]
Signs of a Bad Executive Hire (and How to Respond)
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerThe early signs of a struggling executive hire are usually about fit, judgement, and trust rather than obvious incompetence: a leader who cannot build relationships, whose judgement worries you, who avoids hard calls, or who the team quietly loses faith in. Recognising these honestly and […]
How to Work With an Executive Search Firm
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerTo get the most from an executive search firm, treat it as a genuine partnership: brief them thoroughly, give them real access and honest information, stay engaged and responsive through the process, and trust their guidance on the market. The best outcomes come from clients […]
What Is Executive Search?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerExecutive search is the specialised process of finding, assessing, and securing senior leaders — done by proactively identifying and approaching the right people, rather than advertising and waiting for applicants. It is built for roles where the cost of getting the hire wrong is high, […]
What Is Succession Planning?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerSuccession planning is the deliberate work of ensuring a business has the leaders it will need for the future — identifying critical roles, developing internal candidates, and knowing how each key position would be filled if it became vacant. Done well, it turns leadership transitions […]
What Is a Headhunter? Headhunter vs Executive Recruiter
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA headhunter is a recruiter who proactively approaches and recruits specific individuals — typically senior or specialist people who are not actively job-hunting — rather than advertising and waiting for applicants. In practice, “headhunter” and “executive search consultant” describe much the same proactive, direct-approach work […]
CEO vs COO: What’s the Difference?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerThe CEO owns the direction, strategy, and ultimate accountability of the business and largely looks outward and forward; the COO owns execution and day-to-day operations, turning strategy into results. At their best they are a partnership — the CEO deciding where the business goes, the […]
COO vs President: What’s the Difference?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA COO owns operations and execution across the business; a President’s role is broader and more variable, often encompassing operations but sometimes extending to commercial leadership, a division, or a near-CEO remit. Where a COO is defined by function (operations), a President is defined by […]
What Does a Chief Experience Officer Do?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA Chief Experience Officer owns the end-to-end experience a customer has with a business — across every touchpoint, channel, and interaction — as a single, coherent responsibility. It exists where experience is a competitive differentiator too important to be split across marketing, product, and service, […]
What Does a Chief Customer Officer Do?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA Chief Customer Officer owns the business’s relationship with its customers — their satisfaction, retention, loyalty, and advocacy — and represents the customer’s interests at the executive table. It exists to ensure that the customer has a single senior owner, rather than being everyone’s concern […]
