Introducing Our Three New Strategy Advisors
The thing that makes a company tick is a schedule of goals. And for most companies, those goals happen in a regular cadence: you’ve got your quarterly goals, your 1-year goals, your 3-year goals, and of course, a long-term vision. We help companies to set and realize these goals, and while we have them outlined for ourselves, sometimes we need to activate our coaching muscles and remind one another to stay on track!
That’s exactly what happened with our biggest goal for this year—to hire three outstanding strategic planning advisors. As the third quarter skidded to a halt and the final quarter took hold, we were falling short on our biggest goal: to hire two incredible advisors. Let me tell you about it.
Each year, we get together as a team. This is a big deal because we work remotely, and so for a few days all heads are together in one room. And of course, we discuss our goals. So in our Airbnb living room in Whistler, we were hard at work brainstorming and one theme was standing out. We were behind on our most crucial goal. It was time to double down.
Keep in mind that we weren’t without hustle. At this point, we had talked to more than 30 advisors, but we had to focus our strategy, give more of our time, and reach out to our networks. Fast track to the end of the retreat and we were laser focused on finding our next A-Players. And by year end, we were thrilled to have welcomed three absolutely amazing leaders to the team to help drive growth strategy for our clients.
Although our goal was to secure two new strategy advisors, we couldn’t turn down a third incredible advisor. And, so it’s the beginning of a new chapter, one we’ve been dreaming up for quite some time now.
I’d like to introduce you to three new amazing people that have joined our team: Elizabeth Dutton, Chris Howe, and Marty Yaskowich.
Upon meeting Elizabeth Dutton, it was clear we had a new A-player.
Helping others achieve their best gets Elizabeth up in the morning. She excels at instituting processes and shaping cultures to help people and organizations solve problems, identify opportunities, and achieve results.
Having worked for organizations large and small in Toronto, New York, Seattle and London, Elizabeth has leadership experience across a myriad of business teams and cultures. Now living in Victoria, B.C, Elizabeth has served as VP Digital for Black Press, the largest privately held Canadian media company. For the last six years, Elizabeth has been a founding/managing partner with Women’s Equity Lab, a series of international female venture funds across Canada and the US. She has also served as a mentor, advisor and board member for numerous start-ups in various verticals, such as consumer packaged goods, green tech, healthcare and education.
We look forward to sharing Elizabeth’s expertise with you!
The consensus was absolute—after connecting with Chris Howe, we knew he would become a treasured member of our team.
For Chris, strategy is the sweet spot. With more than a decade of strategic expertise, Chris approaches strategic coaching with a motivation to unlock leadership potential by empowering executive teams to face the brutal facts and commit to momentous growth. He has solved strategic and operational challenges in Retail, Food tech, Edtech, and Aviation.
Known for his ability to get to the heart of the matter with thoughtful and probing questioning, Chris holds teams accountable to critical and challenging questions. He has developed his strategic lens through the ’Scaling Up Methodology,’ and Jim Collins’ principles, and in his work as a counselor. He prioritizes practical frameworks to facilitate enduring change. Above all, Chris is motivated by quality and human curiosity.
We’re excited to welcome Chris to the team.
In 2023, at our annual retreat, we set our top priority for the year: recruit and onboard two new advisors.
When we met Marty Yaskowich, we knew we had to make room for a third new advisor.
Marty knows how isolating leadership can be for CEOs and Executive teams. As an ICF-certified (ACC) executive coach, he wants to be a trusted, critical thinking partner to leaders who are trying to grow and thrive and build generationally-resilient businesses. He also wants the leaders he works with to be able to balance the demands of work with the joy and abundance that comes from having strong mental and physical interests and resilience outside of work.
Marty’s 20+ year career has taken him from DDB Canada to Canada’s first full-online insurance company (Sonnet.ca), where he helped revitalize a dated brand (Capital One) and helped launch one of America’s beloved department stores (Nordstrom) into the Canadian market. More recently Marty was the Chief Operating Officer for iQmetrix.
We look forward to what Marty can bring to your team!
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I started with a mission to help scale one company at a time. I loved the ability to connect meaningfully and make an impact in an organization.
Thirty years later, Lawrence & Co. has grown measurably, but our sentiment has remained the same. Our goal is to help drive strategic planning and the growth plans of our clients, and have fun while we do it!
Our work depends on great people, and it’s an honor to bring Elizabeth, Chris, and Marty into the Lawrence & Co. family. We’re confident they will do great work and we’d love to facilitate an introduction if you or someone you know is interested in driving their growth strategy and strategic planning. Connect to learn more about one of these advisors and how they approach this work. Connect with me at kevin@lawrenceandco.com.
Lawrence & Co’s work focuses on sustainable and enhanced growth for you and your business. Our diverse and experienced group of advisors can help your leaders and executive teams stay competitive through the use of various learning tools including workshops, webinars, executive retreats, or one-to-one coaching.
We help high-achieving leaders to have it all – a great business and a rewarding life. Contact us for simple and impactful advice. No BS. No fluff.