CEO Advising
You built this. You shouldn’t still be the only one holding it together.
You started the day with a clear list. You ended it with a longer one — and none of your own items touched.
Your senior leaders bring you problems and wait. They point out what’s broken, then look at you to fix it. Even in departments you didn’t build and don’t run. Your days start with the work you actually want to do — the visioning, the selling, the building — but by 9 AM that window is closed and the day belongs to everyone else.
You hired people so you could lead the business, not babysit it. Instead, you’re writing PTO policies, mediating between people who should be solving their own problems, and sitting in meetings that shouldn’t require you.
You have less freedom now than when it was just you. And then you feel guilty for thinking that because isn’t having a team what success looks like?
This isn’t a character flaw. It’s a stage. And we’ve walked enough leaders through it to know: there’s a way through that doesn’t require another “sprint.”
A trusted advisor who isn’t on your org chart
Every person around you has a stake in your answers. Your board. Your team. Your investors. Your family. That means there’s almost no one you can think out loud with, no one you can be uncertain with, without it costing you something.
CEO Advising gives you that space. Someone who isn’t in the hiring or firing chain. Someone who will push back without an agenda. Someone who’s worked with enough leaders to know what’s a temporary fire and what’s become a pattern.
And unlike executive coaching, there’s no fixed schedule. CEOs don’t need another standing meeting. You call when you need it. You go quiet when you don’t. The relationship is built around your calendar and your chaos, not the other way around.
“My months with Marc were my best months as a leader.”
Before you make that next big hire
Most of the CEOs we work with are somewhere near a major decision. A COO. A VP of Operations. Someone to finally take the weight.
That hire can change everything — if the leadership culture is ready for it. If it isn’t, you’ve just given the same problems a more expensive address.
CEOs often hire an operations person too soon and hand them two incompatible jobs. Fix everything internally and be as effective externally as the founder is naturally. No one can do both. When it doesn’t work, the founder concludes they hired the wrong person. Usually, the real issue was the system they were hired into.
CEO Advising helps you get clear on the role before you make the hire, so the person you bring in is walking into a real leadership system, not the same mess you’re trying to escape.
This is for you if…
You’ve been at the game, but you weren’t really there. Your partner has stopped asking how work is going, because the answer is always the same and there’s nothing they can do about it.
You know who needs to go. You’ve known for months. Your best people have known even longer. And are quietly exploring other options. Because every week that person stays, it tells the rest of your team what gets tolerated here. The people who care most about the culture are usually the first ones to leave over it.
You want a thought partner who doesn’t have a stake in your answers. Someone who understands what’s actually going on in your company — not someone who needs you to perform confidence you don’t feel.
What this relationship looks like
- No required schedule. No meter running. You reach out when you need to — phone, text, WhatsApp, email. There’s no per-hour billing pressure and no guilt about the gap between calls. The relationship flexes around your reality, not the other way around.
- Not just you — your whole team. When it’s useful, Marc can work directly with your leadership team: coaching key direct reports, facilitating hard conversations, or helping you build the kind of team that stops waiting on you to think for them.
- Tools when they help. No busy work. You’ll have access to assessments and leadership tools, including the Quadrant 3 Leadership framework, when they’re useful. Nothing is required. Nothing extra gets added just to make this feel more official.
“I had the pleasure of participating in Marc’s Quadrant 3 Leadership framework session as part of our Blackbaud Institute experience. It immediately resonated with me and I could completely recognize myself in the stages of the Leaders Journey. And despite it being only a 45-minute presentation, I left with actionable steps and key takeaways that I am continuing to explore. Thank you Marc for these valuable and validating insights!.”
Where this fits in the Leader’s Journey
CEO Advising is built for that stage. Not to give you one more thing to manage, but to help you make clearer decisions, build more ownership around you, and stop being the only one holding the whole thing together.
Ready to get your Sundays back?
No pitch. No pressure. You already have enough of that.
The first step is to connect with Marc. All you need to do is request an exploratory call.
Not sure if CEO Advising is what you need? Take the 2-minute Leadership Style Quiz to discover your starting point.
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“Marc is the CEO’s coach. He knows leadership…I like how he’s dynamic in front of groups and easy going one-on-one. Marc helps the whole leader, available as a sounding board for both work and life. He discretely and professionally helps CEO’s lead in their unique style, not letting them get forced into someone else’s mold.”
