Frequently Asked Questions

I’ve worked for multiple employers in varied HR leadership roles for more than 20 years. I’ve also run an independent consultancy for nearly ten years. These stated areas of expertise are a source of great passion first applied in my “internal” career, ultimately affording me confidence to pursue an “external” business venture, WK Leader Solutions. Many of my LinkedIn endorsements and references come from past staff members, client leaders, and customers. I encourage you to peruse my LinkedIn Profile.

Yes. I’ve been know to take on adjacent work such as customized leadership training, workforce management and talent planning, even mergers, acquisitions, and divestiture support. Also, know that I have many trusted peers with whom I’ve partnered on projects. If my bandwidth is stretched I can sub-contract or reference peers as independent assets outside of my consultancy.

I prefer flat rate fees versus tracking hours. I’ll construct a proper Statement Of Work defining scope, timelines and metrics, and cost. There may be a partial up-front payment required for some work, depending on services/spend/project duration.

It depends. Discovery stage involves me interviewing session participants, which (coupled with leadership objectives) informs us on potential areas of focus. Then we prioritize, design the meeting(s), and determine a facilitation plan. This is custom work, not canned content. Some discovery topics may be in my wheelhouse, e.g. team dynamics, operating norms, facilitated team feedback. Likely, other discovery topics reside in various disciplines and are better managed by team members. For example, a looming new product launch could be a great opportunity for Commercial and Operations leaders to partner on an aligned path forward. That requires focused preparation and cross-functional input. Often times that is Work In Progress (WIP). Of course I’ll guide and contribute to all meeting segments, but SMEs should play an active role. These leaders ultimately own key session outcomes. They benefit from structure designing their plan, collaboration, and focused peer feedback. These are working sessions and, have no doubt, we quickly understand where alignment exists and when further work is required.

My experience is heavy HR Business Partner and moderate Talent Management leadership, global in both cases. I collaborate regularly with various HR disciplines (e.g. HR Operations, Total Rewards, Labor Relations). Having said that, I wouldn’t typically take on a dedicated COE leadership role unless there was a very strong (SME) team in place. I have effectively led HR functions as an internal executive and as an external contractor. I travel regularly, and have no problems taking on project work in other states or geographies.