Doug Haynes, the managing partner of executive leadership consulting firm Council Advisors, acts as president of The Council, the business’s executive leader-focused practice.
Haynes, a long-time employee of McKinsey & Company, was a founding member of Council Advisors. He worked for the CIA, Point72 Portfolio Management, and GE Plastics as a software developer, a product designer, and a digital marketer.
As a West Virginia University mechanical engineering graduate and an MBA from the University of Virginia’s Darden Business School, Doug Haynes currently resides in New York City with his wife Laurice and their two children. They own and operate the Pond Inn in Ridgefield, Connecticut, which is located in a 1740s estate.
We’d want to learn more about your company and what you do.
We aim to enhance the company’s financial results under the direction of the CEO and his or her executive team. For senior executives, we provide real-world counsel and assistance that is based on our extensive industry experience. We help our clients reach their leadership potential through executive coaching and career development. As a result of our practical expertise, we are able to put plans into motion. With our help, you can create captivating messages that inform, inspire, and unite your audience. Every effort is made to ensure that our most senior team members succeed in their tough roles.
Please tell us a little more about who you are and how your company got its start.
For the most part, my first few years in the profession were spent working in highly technical industries like software development. Because of my consulting profession, I’ve always been fascinated by company leadership. Later, after working as the head of an asset management firm for a few years and putting it into practice what I had been espousing as a consultant, I decided to return to the field and establish a new type of consulting organization. I wanted to focus on leadership and give advice based on relevant knowledge and real-world experience. In the year 2020, I found a group of like-minded people with a wide spectrum of expertise, and we started working together to serve customers. Since then, we’ve joined forces with the former G100 companies, who had a wide spectrum of complementary capabilities, to work toward the same goal in 2021.
Do you or your new employer have any repercussions from the pandemic and lockdown?
I enjoy meeting with colleagues and patients face-to-face, even though working remotely is now available, because I believe this develops better human ties. This could be influenced by the interactions you have with coworkers on a daily basis.
What do you think is the best strategy to accomplish more?
My favored approach of getting stuff done before typical business hours begins is to work early in the morning. At least one hours a day is set up for writing, which takes up the majority of my workdays.