2. Our purpose as a firm is client
focused:-
2
Our reason for being is simple. The Leading Partnership’s (TLP) passion is to
see our clients substantially and sustainably improve their results & more
effectively deliver on their promises to customers, owners, clients & other key
stakeholders.
Our work with Boards, CEOs, senior managers, key professionals & teams
focuses on the most important aspects of business effectiveness:
► Clarifying mission/purpose & key objectives
► Aligning strategy & governance with organisational goals
► Establishing clear priorities
► Developing a sustainable value proposition & a competitive business model
► Driving superior implementation
► Ongoing capability development through business, team & individual performance
assessment & coaching
3. The challenges that matter:-
3
A healthy, sustainable and equitable society is underpinned by healthy and successful
commercial, not for profit, arts and educational sectors. As a nation we need strong businesses
both large and small AND strong institutions.
The key challenge for business is achieving the necessary returns on the financial & personal
equity invested in them. Success is never guaranteed nor can it be taken for granted in the
highly competitive, global business environment of the 21st century. Complacency is not an
option but is, in our view, all too evident in Australia at times.
Mission-driven & not-for profit organisations face similar challenges in living out their
purpose/mission & achieving a return on the emotional & financial investment stakeholders
make in their success. Having a great mission is no longer enough, you need great strategy, a
focussed team, a business model that works & top class implementation.
Failure to drive sustainable outcomes has its own results:-
At best: Value is not maximised and opportunities are squandered
At worst: Administration or just struggling to survive day to day
We are skilled at identifying & partnering with enterprises that are ready to move to the next
level of performance as well as those needing to improve to turn their results around.
Working with The Leading Partnership maximises your chance of success.
4. Our value proposition:-
4
Some consulting and strategic advisory firms can be very disruptive in the way they work. Others project a
sense of superiority while coming up with analyses and recommendations that fail the “reality check” test for
management, let alone make sense to ordinary staff members. Our approach is one of partnership: working
with the management team, drawing on their expertise and our own to collaboratively come up with options
and solutions that are innovative and “doable with stretch”. Because we work with and support company
leadership they typically have as much, or more, ownership of the outcomes than we do.
In choosing to work this way we strive to:
Understand the client’s business or organisation quickly, efficiently & with minimum disruption
Work with client to establish their strengths & weaknesses, opportunities & threats
Identify key risks & opportunities and what it will take to deliver on the opportunities and manage risks
Agree short & medium term priorities & strategies
Assist the senior team and/or Board to clarify its role & focus its efforts
Support clients in implementing their agreed plans in a disciplined way – typically the hardest aspect of
running any business or enterprise
Act as a bridge where appropriate between owners or members (for profit or not for profit) or
management & board
In all we do we seek to be accountable, transparent , professional and, most importantly, helpful. In one
sense we “act as though we own the business” in that we will always do all we can to ensure our clients
succeed in a long term, sustainable manner.
5. Purpose
Strategy
Action
What TLP does best:-
5
Our work:
1. Purpose: Clarifying what
business you are in, why you
exist & why success is
important
2. Strategy: Working with
management & the Board to
develop competitive, robust &
flexible strategies
3. Action: Partnering with clients
to drive implementation, keep
score & develop capabilities
Success is easy on paper. Its about working out why we
exist and what we want to do (vision and mission/
purpose), how we are going to do it (strategy) and what
actions we need to consistently take to deliver on our
promises to shareholders, members, staff, stakeholders
and even society as a whole. Actions in turn inform
strategy and purpose. Our clients tell us we do these
things well.
6. Our service offering -
6
► Board Strategy &
Performance Review
We work with commercial and not-for profit Boards in a broad range of industry sectors to assist in setting, clarifying
and reviewing strategies as well as company and Board performance. We also assist clients to align governance with
strategy or mission. We are all Fellows or Graduates of the Institute of Company Directors and Philip also holds a Post
Graduate Diploma in Applied Corporate Governance.
► Strategic & Business
Planning
TLP has extensive experience in developing strategic and business plans in a range of industries. We operate
collaboratively with managers and key professional staff to ensure widespread ownership of the plan and to ensure
effective implementation. We also assist clients to regularly review progress against their objectives.
► Digital Transformation
We work with clients to identify how digital technology can enable their business to grow and compete more
effectively. We bring an early focus on establishing a ‘digital roadmap’ of opportunities that will have greatest impact
for the client in their unique context. Is it the core business, organisation and culture, technology and processes,
customer relationships… or several? We support our clients to lead their own coherent digital transformation
programs with strong executive ownership, measurable goals, and clear implement plans.
► Strategic Sourcing
In our highly connected and globalised economy, modern businesses can exploit service providers who offer deep
experience, at high scale and often for lower cost than can be achieved internally for specialised capabilities. We have
evaluated and implemented sourcing partnerships with clients to increase flexibility and performance whilst
maintaining or reducing costs, often involving sophisticated IT systems.
► Joint Ventures (JVs) &
Strategic Relationship
Management
Our clients are working in increasingly complex contexts often involving incorporated or un-incorporated JVs and/or
loose partnerships that may consist of commercial, institutional and government stakeholders and funders.
Establishing an agreed value proposition and focusing on results in such situations is a major challenge. TLP has deep
capabilities in value-adding to business ventures in “complex systems” across many sectors.
► Change Management
As a consulting firm we do not believe “change management” is an end in itself. We do believe it is a critical enabler
of strategy and we are skilled and experienced in assisting our clients to effectively manage the impact of new
business strategies, the introduction of new products, growth or turnarounds.
► Leadership Development
Leadership is an art, not an academic discipline. All leaders – including ourselves as TLP Directors - need to constantly
improve the way they lead and manage themselves, their superiors (upwards), their colleagues (laterally), and their
teams (downwards). Our leadership programs are based on the client’s real business priorities.
► Coaching for Performance
As successful sportspeople know, individual and team coaching provides a potentially valuable way to achieve better,
more sustainable results. We often find that the coaching services offered are over-complexified or lacking in focus.
We do not set out to “change” our coaching clients but to assist them to lead to their strengths and manage their
weaknesses.
7. Our partners:- Senior Consultant
Nigel Wild FAICD
• 35 years founding & running
businesses
• Large listed company & SME
assignments
• Extensive experience across diverse
business sectors in Australia & several
overseas jurisdictions
• Contributed major input into several
highly public turnarounds
• Excellent skills in complex business
environments including joint ventures
in Australia, Asia and Africa
• 20 years in strategic consulting
• Company Director for 35 years
• Fellow of the Australian Institute of
Company Directors
• Qualified Myers-Briggs consultant
Philip Pogson FAICD
• 20 years founding & running
businesses & organisations
• Many national-level & international
assignments
• SMEs & large companies
• Not for profit Boards in
superannuation, health & research &
development
• Complex un-incorporated joint
ventures
• Works effectively with senior teams,
boards & owners as applicable
• 15 years strategic consulting
• Company Director for 12 years
• Fellow of the Australian Institute of
Company Directors
• Qualified company secretary
Stuart Jones GAICD
• Founder of own consulting practice
with 15 years experience
• Deep experience in professional
services, education, research &
government
• Led strategic sourcing deals to
improve service and reduce costs
• Translate strategy to practice using
change management methods
• Company director for 4 years
• Graduate of the Australian Institute
of Company Directors
• 5 years in strategic consulting
• PhD in IT innovation, University of
New South Wales
• Organisation capability assessment
& development – SFIA qualified
8. Our practice:-
8
50 years combined consulting and strategic advisory experience at senior levels:
• Superannuation Funds
• Private Equity in Australia & New Zealand
• Major Universities in Australia and overseas
• Legal and professional services firms
• Asset Managers
• Insurers and reinsurers
• Large Infrastructure Projects - Australia, Singapore, South Africa
• Health, Medical Research & Pharmaceuticals
• Arts organisations
• SMEs & NGOs
References from our clients are available on request.
9. For further information:–
9
The Leading Partnership Trust t/a The Leading Partnership
abn 15 730 703 878
mail suite 105 / 25-29 berry street north sydney nsw 2060 australia
voice 02 9922 2569
email tlpinfo@theleadingpartnership.com.au
• Philip Pogson + 61 (0)412 459 156 Partner
• Stuart Jones + 61 (0)412 500 900 Partner
• Nigel Wild + 61 (0)412 555 347 Senior Consultant
• Michelle Stewart + 61 (0)2 9922 2569 Office Manager
