How to Get on a Board: Becoming a Non-Executive Director
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerTo get on a board, be clear about the value you would bring, build the relationships and visibility that lead to opportunities, and be realistic that first non-executive roles often take time and may start with smaller or nonprofit boards. Board appointments are largely relationship- […]
What Is Management Due Diligence?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerManagement due diligence is the assessment of a business’s leadership team as part of a transaction — typically for a private equity investor or acquirer evaluating whether the management can deliver the value the deal depends on. It examines the team’s capability, strengths and gaps, […]
Leadership in a Turnaround: What It Takes
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerTurnaround leadership demands a leader who can act decisively under pressure — quickly diagnosing what is wrong, stabilising the business, making hard decisions others avoid, and rebuilding toward health. It calls for a particular blend of urgency, clear-headedness, resilience, and the ability to lead people […]
How to Assess Leadership Potential
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerAssessing leadership potential means looking beyond current performance to whether someone can succeed at a bigger, more complex role — examining their capacity to learn and grow, their judgement, how they lead people, and their motivation and self-awareness. Because potential is about the future, it […]
Managing Director vs General Manager: What’s the Difference?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerBoth a Managing Director and a General Manager lead a business, unit, or market and own its performance, and in many contexts the roles are similar. The differences are largely regional and structural: ‘Managing Director’ often implies leading a whole company or market with more […]
Chairman vs CEO: What’s the Difference?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerThe CEO runs the company — leading management, setting and executing strategy, and being accountable for performance; the Chairman leads the board, which oversees the company and holds management to account on behalf of the owners. In short, the CEO runs the business and the […]
What Does a VP of Operations Do?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA VP of Operations leads and runs a business’s operations day to day — the processes, systems, and teams that deliver the product or service reliably and efficiently. It is a hands-on, executional leadership role, typically focused on running and improving operations, and often reporting […]
CFO vs Financial Controller: What’s the Difference?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA CFO leads finance strategically — owning financial strategy, planning, capital, and the business’s financial direction, as a member of the executive team; a Financial Controller leads the core accounting function — the books, reporting, controls, and compliance. Broadly, the Controller ensures the numbers are […]
What Does a General Counsel Do?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA General Counsel (or Chief Legal Officer) leads a business’s legal function — managing legal risk, advising on major decisions and transactions, ensuring compliance and good governance, and increasingly acting as a strategic advisor to the CEO and board. The role has grown well beyond […]
What Does a Chief Strategy Officer Do?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA Chief Strategy Officer owns the development and execution of a business’s strategy — leading how the company decides where to compete, where to grow, and how to win, and helping turn that strategy into action. It exists where strategy is complex or consequential enough […]
