For business-unit and transformation leaders
Drive the change.
Without all the answers.
I help leaders set the direction, get their people behind it and make it happen.
Six years at Google. Two at Amazon, leading a 100-person organisation. CPO of a listed company. Trained and collaborated with Marty Cagan.
Companies I’ve worked with
16
large organisations worked with
19
programmes run with them
400+
people worked with directly
€250bn+
their combined annual revenue
From plans that stalled in meetings to two proposals signed off
Nestlé Purina PetCare, European customer supply-chain team
Nestlé Purina’s European customer supply-chain team learned Amazon’s Working Backwards method and got two proposals signed off, even by the budget holders who had pushed back.
Read more
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Where change gets stuck
AI, or something just as big, is changing your market and how the work gets done, and it’s on you to work out what that means. Most leaders I work with are wrestling with at least one of these:
Five leaders, five answers.
Lots of pilots, little change.
Decisions get made and pilots get launched. Months later, the way the business works is much the same, because the old way is still what gets rewarded.
Change fatigue.
Your people have been through restructures, new tools and new priorities. They’re anxious about what AI means for them, and short on the energy and skills the next change needs.
All eyes on you.
Everyone’s looking to you for answers you don’t have yet. You’re confident in the room, and less sure at 11pm.
The AI question.
You can see AI changing your market. You don’t yet have a view of what it means for this business that you’d bet on.
What would another year of this cost? Count the pilots that didn’t spread, and the months a competitor had to move first.
What it looks like when it works
Ask your leaders where you’re going, and you hear one answer.
The pilot that worked is now just how the work gets done.
Proposals start from the customer, and they get signed off.
Product managers bring a business case to the decision.
Your people know what the change means for their jobs, and they have the energy for the next step.
You have a view on what AI means for this business that you’d stand behind.
How I work
Find out which one it is.
We start with what needs to change, what’s happening now and what’s getting in the way. Then the work follows the problem:
No clear view on AI: strategy work with you and your leadership team, until you have a view you’d bet on.
Five leaders, five answers: a facilitated session that ends with one plan, written down, that everyone can explain.
Pilots that don’t change anything: clear owners, decisions on what to scale or stop, and changing what still gets rewarded.
Change fatigue: deciding what to stop, helping people through what the change means for their jobs, and building their capacity for the next change.
All eyes on you: 1:1 coaching, with someone who’s been in that room and will tell you what he sees.
Something else: we work out what’s in the way and design the work around it.
Most leaders have more than one. My job is to help you work out which matters most, then turn that into something people do differently.
Support for you, as the leader
If the change depends on you, you might want one-to-one coaching for leading change →
The work, named plainly
Strategy workshop
A day or two with your leadership team to agree one direction.
You leave with: a short strategy your leaders agreed together, and the first decisions that follow.
See the workshop →
Working Backwards (Amazon’s PR/FAQ)
Teams learn Amazon’s way of starting from the customer, on their own real ideas.
You leave with: teams who start from the customer, and proposals that show it.
See the workshop →
Product-management training
A programme built around your product managers’ real business cases.
You leave with: product managers who think commercially and can make the case.
See the workshop →
AI strategy
What AI changes for your customers, your product and the way you work, and what you’ll do about it. Strategy, not tool training.
You leave with: a view you’d stand behind, and the first decisions.
See the workshop →
Coaching for leaders
One-to-one coaching for the leaders running the change, and the people growing into bigger jobs because of it.
See the coaching →
From running projects to making the business case
European software group, 76 product managers
A European software group with 76 product managers moved from running projects to making the business case for products, tested with real customers.
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From busy and adrift to one shared strategy
International arm of a Fortune 500 news and media group, senior leadership team
The international arm of a Fortune 500 news and media group, adrift after leadership changes, agreed one strategy at an offsite and set goals that kept it focused all year.
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From eight product ideas to four that launched
Large European e-commerce marketplace
A large European e-commerce marketplace taught its product managers Amazon’s PR/FAQ. At least four of the eight product ideas they wrote up went on to launch.
Read more
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Results
Leaders in bigger organisations got their teams deciding in writing, agreed one strategy, and turned new ways of working into how the work gets done.
“
A conference that actually produced something
The conference was one of the best, if not in fact the best conference I have attended… we actually produced something during the two days… And we achieve what we in the Leadership Team had set up as a goal, to get the mindset on the team to work together at "row" in the same direction going forward!
Håkan Johansson
Lead Business Developer
Tietoevry
Who I help
You run a business inside a bigger one: a unit, a subsidiary, a product line with a P&L. AI is changing what your customers will pay for, and it’s on you to decide what to do about it. Your title matters less than the responsibility you hold.
I've been there
I spent six years at Google, then two at Amazon, where I led a 100-person organisation with over $1B in revenue impact. Since then I’ve worked with leaders running transformations, from the Fortune 500 to ten-year-old startups.
I know what it’s like to make difficult decisions with incomplete information, lead people smarter than me, and sit in the room where everyone expects you to know what the big change means for the business.
I’ve also been CPO at a listed company, and worked as an operator, executive and consultant. Transformation needs more than good leadership: strategy, incentives, structures, skills and politics all matter.
Today I bring that experience into my work as an ICF-accredited professional coach.
Know someone this would help?
Here’s a line you can paste:
Richard helps leaders in large organisations set the direction for a big change, get their people behind it, and make it happen.
Here's the page: https://richardrussell.co/transformation
Next steps
1
Book a call
A 20-minute Clarity Call. Free, confidential, no preparation needed.
2
Then a Strategy Session
Free, with the right people on the call. We go through what you’re responsible for, what isn’t working and where the problem really sits, and you leave with a plan for what to do next, whether or not it involves me.
3
A clear proposal
Shaped around the change you need to make: 1:1 coaching, facilitation or training. A clear scope and price, so you can say yes or no.
Frequently asked questions
What if I'm not leading an AI transformation?
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Do you work with individuals or teams?
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Is this consulting or coaching?
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Do you help with AI strategy?
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Will you train us on AI?
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Will you help with our technical implementation?
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Will you tell us which AI models or tooling to use?
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Can I pay for coaching myself?
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Not quite what you’re looking for?
Your own company is outgrowing how you run it?
Wondering whether this is still the work you want?