Stephen – a top executive coach, headhunter, economist, marketeer, author, lecturer, facilitator and keynote speaker – comes with 25 years of experience with executive coaching, 20 years of experience with executive search, and 15 years of experience with global marketing. He has written two bestselling books and is an Associate Professor in Strategic Market Management at Copenhagen Business School since 1996.
During his career, Stephen has always worked globally and with global clients. His 15 years of marketing (1982-1996) were with The Coca-Cola Company, L’Oréal, and other blue-chip multinationals. His 20 years of executive search (1996-2015) established him as Managing Partner for Korn Ferry, Denmark. His more than 25 years of executive coaching include clients like Baker McKenzie, Deloitte, EY, Maersk, Pandora, and PwC.
Stephen describes his executive coaching work as an amalgamation of corporate, academic, entrepreneurial, and consulting competencies. One effect of his strikingly varied, yet coherent experience is that he has honed a pattern recognition mind. Stephen’s Nordic leadership style means he is totally transparent as he values trust and respect when working with clients and colleagues.
Over the last 25 years, Stephen has built a solid reputation as a leadership expert, advising top executives and other leaders all over the world. His highly energetic and inspirational style also makes him a sought-after keynote speaker. Concurrently, Stephen has developed his top executive coaching system, The Personal Business Plan, a unique 10-step system for personal and professional development.
Stephen has personal entrepreneurial experience from running his own executive coaching company, where he – together with his wife – is building a franchise of coaching partners around the world. In 2017, they launched The Personal Business Plan system as an online Toolkit, which now has users in more than 90 countries. Stephen has detailed the Personal Business Plan system in two bestsellers, “The Personal Business Plan – A Blueprint for Running Your Life (Wiley, 2013) and “Your Next Career – The Headhunter’s Guide to Lifelong Success (Lindhardt & Ringhof, 2012) (in Danish).
Today, Stephen is on a dual mission. Through his executive coaching programme, he answers this fundamental question from clients: “When I’ve Done Well, then What?”. At the same time, he democratises executive coaching by making his leadership expertise and business acumen available to everyone through the user-friendly and cost-effective The Personal Business Plan Online Toolkit.
Stephen is both Danish and French and lives in the countryside near Copenhagen with his wife. Together, they have 4 grown children, who continue to build on the strong family values, which are also the foundation of Stephen’s work: Life Ambition, Personal Reinvention, Learning Agility, and Courage to Commit.