The Board-CEO Relationship: Getting It Right
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA strong board-CEO relationship rests on clarity about roles, mutual trust and candour, the right balance of support and challenge, and good communication. The board governs and oversees while the CEO runs the business; keeping that distinction clear, while building genuine trust, is what makes […]
Leading a Remote or Distributed Team
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerLeading a remote or distributed team takes deliberate communication, intentional culture-building, a focus on outcomes over presence, and extra effort to build trust and connection. What happens naturally in a shared office must be made to happen on purpose when a team is distributed — […]
Executive Presence: What It Is and Why It Matters
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerExecutive presence is the combination of qualities — confidence and composure, clear communication, sound judgement, and authenticity — that makes a leader credible and able to inspire trust and confidence in others. It is not about being the loudest or most polished; at its core […]
What Does a Chief Administrative Officer Do?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) oversees the internal administrative and operational functions that keep a business running — often a mix of areas such as HR, facilities, IT, legal, and operations, depending on the business. It is a broad, coordinating role that lets other leaders […]
How to Close an Executive Candidate
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerClose an executive candidate by keeping them engaged and building genuine conviction throughout the process, understanding what really matters to them, moving decisively when you have decided, and handling the offer as the start of a relationship rather than a negotiation to win. Strong candidates […]
What Does a Chief Transformation Officer Do?
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA Chief Transformation Officer leads major, business-wide change — driving a defined transformation programme (digital, operational, strategic, or cultural) with dedicated focus and authority. It is typically a role for a specific period and purpose: making sure a critical transformation actually happens, rather than stalling […]
Second-Time CEO: What’s Different
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA second-time CEO brings the invaluable experience of having done the job before — knowing what the role demands, what mistakes to avoid, and how to lead from day one. The challenges are different: resisting the assumption that what worked before will work again, adapting […]
Family Business Leadership & Succession
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerLeadership and succession in a family business are uniquely complex because they blend family relationships, ownership, and management — three overlapping systems that do not always align. Succeeding means being clear about these roles, making leadership and succession decisions on merit and the business’s needs, […]
Leading a Scale-Up: What Changes as a Business Grows
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerLeading a scale-up means shifting from doing to building — from hands-on founder-led execution to building the teams, structure, and systems a larger business needs, while protecting the speed and culture that made the business special. It demands leaders who can add discipline and scale […]
The First 100 Days for a New Leadership Team
By Annabel Norman, Managing Partner · Norman Consultants The short answerA new leadership team’s first 100 days should focus on building alignment and trust, agreeing priorities and how the team will work, and establishing early momentum — before pursuing sweeping change. Teams that invest early in becoming a genuine team, rather than a group of […]
