About Ira
Executive Coach
Leadership Consultant
Team Facilitator
Ira is from Chicago and London, and works in English and French. He lives in The Hague and has a good appreciation of the cultures across Europe and North America. He sometimes brings his love of horses into his coaching work, as well as his enjoyment of rowing on the canals of Leiden. He has two teenage daughters and two cats at home.
In his professional capacity, Ira co-designs solutions with leaders and their teams to address their most important 'People and Organisation' challenges that come with growing a company.
Maybe you are a business leader who is looking for an experienced and relational trusted advisor. Perhaps someone who will listen and provide counsel on the real-world demands you face and in whom you can confide.
Ira coaches, consults and facilitates leaders, their teams and organisations to firstly make sense of what they are encountering, and secondly to design practical solutions.
In the spirit of co-creation, Ira designs engaging and practical solutions that are systemic. Such solutions can be implemented for individuals, teams and the company as a whole. The focus is on doing
real work as you prepare for
future growth
as well as addressing
the issues you are facing today.
Ira's work often involves
depth
in order to understand,
bridging to
the future and across boundaries, and
co-designing
to build commitment.
Clients value Ira's humility, personal style, experience and spirit of joint exploration and solution design. Now resident in The Hague, Ira has lived in the United States, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Building on his earlier in-company functional leadership roles in biotech, consulting and financial services, he now runs his own coaching and consulting practice, Leading By Design.
Growing your company by enabling you to navigate your most important 'People and Organisation' Challenges
It can get lonely at the top, and sometimes all you need is a trusted advisor. As a successful business leader are you addressing some of the following challenges, and perhaps searching for a sounding board? For example, how to enable expert leaders to transition to business leaders; as an entrepreneur how to instil a founder's mindset in the company, deriving the benefits of start-up mentality alongside the benefits of scale; bringing oil and glue to your expanding co-located teams; and designing your company for the future.
Ira’s mission is to develop leaders who develop themselves and their teams which in turn leads to growth in their organisations. Ira works with executives, leaders and emerging talent in organisations from diverse industries such as biotech, financial services and consulting located in EMEA, North America and Asia Pacific. This directly mirrors his own personal and professional experience.
Ira’s mission is to enable leaders to develop themselves, their teams and to grow their business.
Executive and Team coaching that delivers sustainable results
As leaders and teams face the challenges that come with growing their business, Ira is your trusted advisor and thought partner, co-designing and delivering solutions that lead to success for your people and your company.
Ira's Professional Background
Ira is a Chartered Psychologist and an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society, a member of the Organization Development Network and of the European Organisation Design Forum.
Ira has an MSc in Organisational Psychology from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST).
Why Ira and what makes him different?
Clients see Ira as their trusted advisor with their agenda as the starting point. He listens deeply, uncovers the underlying issues, uses soft power to guide his clients to solutions that they design and feel committed to. At the same time, he brings his experience, expertise and essence to add even greater value.
Ira’s boutique coaching, consulting and advisory practice – Leading By Design - has clients from North America, EMEA and Asia Pacific. Previously, Ira established the Leadership and Organisation Development function at Genzyme - a world pioneering biotechnology start-up - providing individual, team and organisation transformation services from C-Suite to high potentials across the company. His function was seen as a vital business partner in the company, contributing to significant growth in people and the business.
Testimonials
Marie Mathissen
CEO
Qvest.io
“Ira is an experienced coach with a finely tuned intuition. He will push you when you need pushing, and support you when you need supporting.”
Jan-Willem Schmitz
FOUNDING PARTNER
Biotech Commercial Advisors (BCA)
“Ira is really good in getting to understand his customer/client. He is able to tailor make his approach into the needs and move to the next level.”
John Carey
SUB-FRANCHISE HEAD
(Solid Tumours)
Sanofi Genzyme
“Ira recently facilitated an excellent workshop focusing on the value of effective teamwork. What stood out is how effortless he made it seem against the challenge of organising and delivering everything over Zoom. The impact was plain to see with many of the team implementing the learnings almost immediately. I look forward to working with him again in the future!”
Maria Pia De Caro
VICE PRESIDENT
Home Care Supply Chain Europe
Unilever
“Ira is an exceptional coach. He helped me develop a stronger self-awareness of my reactions, to better lead in times of change. He is human, witty and really insightful. Strongly recommended!”
Leading By Design starts with your context and your People and Organisation challenges and aspirations. One of the most important facets of a successful partnership is a shared sense of trust and connection.
Together we embark on a journey of discovery, design and transformation that is co-created thereby leading to outcomes to which you the client feels committed.
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