Interviews
- »One on One with Ed Hess
Grow or Die. It’s probably the most common business axiom, and the least accurate, according to the new book “Smart Growth: Building an Enduring Business by Managing the Risks of Growth” (Columbia Business School Publishing). To better understand the book’s implications for firms, Consulting’s One-on-One sat down with the book’s author, Ed Hess, a former Arthur Andersen strategy consultant and current professor at the University of Virginia's Darden Graduate School of Business.
- »One on One with Summit's David Litherland
When prospective employees interview for a job, they obsess over making a good, lasting impression. Firms should do the same. To learn how firms can avoid typical pitfalls, Consulting’s One on One sat down with David Litherland, managing partner of Summit Search Group, an executive search firm specializing in placing professionals within professional service firms.
- »One on One with PwC's Tom Craren
Senior executives are becoming immune to traditional marketing. Marketing consultants tell us that to pierce through the white noise of corporate communication, firms should consider “content marketing”. Instead of more traditional marketing, providing valuable insight and perspective in a blog or electronic newsletter can serve as a more effective door opener. One of the best examples is PricewaterhouseCoopers’ “10-Minute” series. For almost three years, PwC has boiled down complex thought leadership into small electronic pieces an executive can read in about ten minutes. To learn more about PwC’s marketing efforts, Consulting’s One-on-One sat down with Tom Craren, the firm’s brand strategy and thought leadership leader. His team of 20 writers produces between two to three 10-minute pieces each month, along with more detailed white papers.
- »One on One with Stanford Hospital's Kate Surman
Transitioning healthcare companies from paper to electronic records presents huge consulting opportunities.
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11
10
2009
»One on One with Carlisle & Gallagher's Alex Dickey
 Given the challenges facing the financial services industry, few consultants serving that industry are doing well. But one firm that is certainly outpacing its peers is Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting, which has grown by an average of 35 percent annually since it was founded in 2002. The 263-person firm continues to grow, expecting to employ approximately 300 consultants by January 2010. To learn more about the firm’s success, Consulting One-on-One sat down with one of its most recent hires, Alex Dickey, a 21-year veteran of Accenture who is now serving as Carlisle & Gallagher’s COO.
Consulting: Why did you leave Accenture and what made a smaller firm an attractive fit at this point in your career.
Dickey: I wanted to do something different. I loved the people I worked with at Accenture and the firm was very good to me. But, that said, the fewer times I see an airport the rest of my life, the better. When I agreed to join the firm full-time in September, [CEO] Bob [Gallagher] agreed to take all of the go-to-market/relationship side responsibilities. And I’m taking all of the supply side and operational functions. That doesn’t mean I won’t travel to other offices or clients from time to time, but it’ll be far less travel than I previously did.
Consulting: What specifically attracted you to Carlisle & Gallagher?
Dickey: First, I enjoy being able to help shape the firm’s vision for the future. We’re currently defining how we are going to change what we do to improve on the best of what we do.
Second, the firm is big enough without being too big. When I joined Arthur Andersen, there were 5,000 professionals. When I left two years ago, there were 160,000. I didn’t want to join a 20-to30-person firm with just a couple of clients. If we can grow from 250 to 500 people to 600 people, that’ll be fun and exciting. I have no vision of working for another 10,000-person firm.
Third, I wanted to say in my local community [in Charlotte]. I’m involved with Big Brother/Big Sisters here. I’ve lived here for a long time. And that's important to me.
Fourth, and most important, I have a 12 year-old son and a daughter who is almost 10 years old. I like to coach football and soccer. I want to be around more while they still think it’s cool to have Dad around. For the last two years, it’s been great to pick them up from school and see them almost every day. I wouldn’t trade those two years for anything.
Consulting: Why do you think Carlisle & Gallagher has been so successful?
Dickey: Much of the growth can be attributed to deep client relationships. But the firm wasn’t immune to the downturn. The leadership had a very conservative approach for 2009; we planned to be flat. Internally, there was clear communication around how we were going to get through a slow six months.
And through June, the firm’s revenues were flat. Between March and June, the firm picked up a lot of talent when other firms were letting them go. There were some white-knuckle days in July when the firm had all of these people on the bench. But we used the new talent to go into new clients. While other firm’s downsized, Carlisle & Gallagher invested in start-ups and new clients.
Consulting: What's one of the biggest challenges you face?
Dickey: One of the things that I have to do is to expand our services and figure out how we can remain truly differentiated in the marketplace. Specifically, we’ve got a business consulting group that’s got 50 people and a technology consulting groups with about 175 people. One of my jobs is to figure out how to best integrate those two groups.
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