ADVISORY & TRANSACTION COUNSEL FOR CEOS
An experienced hand for the moments that matter most — major transactions, difficult negotiations, and getting a leadership team aligned and pulling in the same direction.
Trusted, practical advice from a former CEO who has been in the seat.
About
I spend my time helping CEOs work through the situations that are too important, too sensitive, or too complicated to hand off — and that a leader shouldn’t have to face alone.
Over a long career, I led a global commercial real estate finance business through its most consequential moments: recapitalizing it, selling a majority stake to a KKR-led investor group, and doing it without breaking the culture or the team that made it work. Before that, and since, I’ve been the person others call in to handle the difficult stuff — a stalled negotiation, a strained relationship with a key employee or customer, a transaction that has to be done right.
I’m not here to build a big consulting firm. I take on one or two clients at a time so the work gets my full attention. My aim is simple: to be a trustworthy, practical, and encouraging partner to the leader I’m working with — and to leave the organization stronger than I found it.
I tend to do my best work with leaders who understand that it was never about them. The strongest companies I’ve been part of were led by people who took the blame when things went wrong, pushed the credit to their teams when things went right, and refused to settle for mediocrity. That’s the kind of leader I want to help.
“People tend to trust me quickly, which enables us to skip the posturing and get to the real issue faster.”
Who I work With
I work with CEOs of small to mid-size organizations — for-profit and nonprofit — usually at a moment of change or decision.
My experience runs widest in financial services, commercial real estate, and construction, and I also work with mission-driven nonprofits, where I’ve spent years in board and leadership roles.
Most engagements start with the CEO. From there I may work with the broader leadership team, but my direction — and my accountability — always run back to the person at the top.
I’m at my best with leaders who genuinely want a candid second opinion.
How I Can Help
A trusted, confidential sounding board for the decisions you can't talk through with your team or your board. Available on an ongoing, on-call basis or through a monthly arrangement — so when something comes up, you can just pick up the phone.
Hands-on help buying a company, selling a company or business unit, or working through a difficult negotiation. I've led these deals from the CEO's chair and know where they go sideways. Typically project-based, for a defined stretch of time.
Some situations need someone who can walk in calm, listen first, and lower the temperature — a strained relationship with an employee or customer, or a problem no one internally can untangle. I've long been the go-to person for exactly this.
Getting your leadership team genuinely aligned — not just agreeing on a list of words on a wall, but agreeing on what those words actually mean and giving each other permission to hold one another to them. It sounds simple. Most organizations never do it, and it changes how a team works together every day.
Every engagement is shaped around what you actually need. The best next step is a short conversation.
Experience
Led GMAC Commercial Holding Corp. / Capmark Financial Group — operations in 12 countries with more than 3,000 employees. Moved the business off parent-company funding to become an independently capitalized, investment-grade enterprise, and led the sale of a 79% stake to a KKR-led investor group — while keeping the management team aligned and the culture intact.
Required terrorism insurance over sponsor resistance as a non-negotiable condition on the World Trade Center financing in 2001 — six weeks before September 11. Structured $200M in mezzanine financing on the Time Warner Center. Walked away from a financially attractive casino opportunity when the strategic fit wasn't right.
Built leadership-team alignment around clearly defined values — not slogans, but shared definitions people agreed to and held each other to. Used it to steady a leadership team through reorganization, and again in the nonprofit world.
Served as CEO and Board Chair of a nonprofit directing operations for 850+ children across eight homes in Kenya, and holds board and finance-committee roles across for-profit and nonprofit organizations.
I’m at my best with leaders who genuinely want a candid second opinion.
Testimonials
"When I became CEO of Chariots for Hope, Bob was my board chair and he's still my mentor. Bob is the first person I call when a decision is too sensitive or too complicated to work through anywhere else. He listens first, asks the question I've been avoiding, and gives me a candid answer whether or not it's the one I want to hear. He's steady when things are tense, and he's never once made it about himself. I'm a better CEO, and Chariots is a stronger organization, because Bob has been in my corner.”
CEO, Chariots for Hope
"I engaged Bob to guide me through the divestiture of one of my businesses. When red flags surfaced in the buyer's proposed contract, Bob restructured it to protect my interests — impressing my attorney enough that he adopted Bob's language into his own templates. Those same provisions later let us walk away from a buyer who couldn't meet the deal terms, while retaining the entire nonrefundable deposit. Bob's involvement was critical to the best possible outcome. I highly recommend him and will absolutely turn to him again."
President & Key Principal,
Equipment Sales & Service Business
Let’s Talk
If you’re facing a decision, a transaction, or a situation where a trusted outside perspective would help, the best next step is a short conversation. No pitch — just a straight talk about whether I can be useful.
