Executive Coaching For Consulting Leaders
Zurich · Switzerland
The Change Republic is a Zurich-based firm that provides executive coaching for senior managers, directors and partners across Big 4 and tier-1 consulting firms who are preparing for partner track, building a practice after promotion to partner, or shaping what comes next when consulting is no longer the right chapter.
Tünde Lukacs, founder of The Change Republic, was previously a Partner at one of the Big 4 firms in Zurich, Switzerland. She knows the partner promotion process, the sponsor system and the political reality of leading inside a partnership firm.
We work with people who feel capable, but not fully aligned with how they want to lead, position themselves or build their career. They want clarity, confidence and direction at the most consequential moments of a consulting career. We work with consulting professionals across Switzerland and Europe.
Human‑Centred Executive Coaching for Leaders Navigating Change
You carry a lot.
You make decisions that shape teams, strategies and results. You hold responsibility for performance. You are expected to stay calm when everything around you feels uncertain. And now, on top of all of that, you are dealing with AI transformation, market pressure and a pace of change that never seems to slow down.
At some point, even the strongest leaders need a space that is honest, private and completely free of politics.
That is exactly what executive coaching gives you.
I work with senior leaders inside Big 4 and consulting firms across Switzerland and Europe who want to think more clearly at the most consequential moments of their careers. Many of my clients are 18 to 24 months from their partner committee, newly promoted partners building a practice, or partners preparing for their next chapter.
Leaders stepping into bigger roles. Leaders driving organisational change or figuring out how AI fits into their business. Leaders who sense that the way they have been leading needs to grow alongside everything else.
Our work is rooted in Secure Base Leadership, a framework that builds both performance and psychological safety at the same time. We sharpen your thinking, challenge the assumptions holding you back, and strengthen the way you make decisions under pressure.
We look at how you communicate when things are unclear, how you show up in difficult moments, and how you bring an AI-ready mindset into your leadership without losing what makes you human.
You do not need more information. You need clarity. You need perspective. You need someone in your corner who has seen leadership at the highest levels and will tell you the truth.
This is executive coaching for Big 4 and consulting leaders who want to lead their career and their teams with intention, not just survive the partnership system.
Big4 Director Partner Promotion Roadmap
Preparing for director or partner promotion is a bigmoment of a consulting career. Most candidates prepare without a clear external view of how the process actually works: when the official call comes, who really decides, what your sponsor relationships need to look like, and where the real points of influence sit.
This roadmap walks you through the work that consistently matters, from foundation building 12 to 18 months out, through the formal pipeline, to the final panel and the silence after it. It is written by Tünde Lukacs, previously a Partner at one of the Big 4 firms founder of The Change Republic, coaching many consulting professionals on this path.
Inside the roadmap:
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The hidden stakeholder map: who really decides on your promotion
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Equity vs non-equity partner: the distinction that shapes everything
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The 12 to 18-month foundation phase and the 10-month formal pipeline
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The mindset shift: stating versus asking permission
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Have a Plan B: strategic optionality
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AI and the changing consulting business model
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The final panel: preparation, performance, and managing the silence after
What Does Coaching Look Like For Big 4 and Consulting Leaders?
Coaching for Big 4 and consulting professionals is a confidential, structured partnership designed to sharpen thinking, strengthen leadership impact and support better decision-making during the most consequential career transitions in a partnership career.
It is not generic career coaching. It is not generic executive coaching. It is precision work that uses both depending on where you are in the journey: career coaching closer to the partner committee, executive coaching once you are a partner or director leading a practice.
Who Do We Work With In Executive Coaching?
Executive coaching at The Change Republic is designed for leaders who carry real responsibility.
- SENIOR MANAGERS AIMING FOR DIRECTOR: building the strategic profile, sponsor relationships and visible point of view required for the next promotion.
- DIRECTORS PREPARING FOR PARTNER TRACK: 12 to 24 months out, building book of business, strengthening sponsor coalition, sharpening the partner case.
- NEWLY ELECTED PARTNERS: navigating the shift from "doing the work" to building a practice, leading teams and developing your own platform inside the firm.
- ESTABLISHED PARTNERS: leading at C-suite client level, building executive presence, managing politics inside the partnership and growing scope.
- PARTNERS IN TRANSITION: considering the move out of consulting into industry, board roles, independent advisory or your own venture.
If you are accountable for results, culture and direction, and you want a sharper edge in how you lead, this work is for you.
What Are The Focus Areas For Executive Coaching For Consulting Leaders?
What We Work On:
Partner Case and Strategic Career Decisions
The path to partner is one of the highest-stakes decision processes in a consulting career. The coaching at The Change Republic sharpens how you build your partner case: where to invest time and energy, which clients and engagements build the right story, and which sponsor relationships matter most. For directors 12 to 24 months from committee, this is where the real strategy happens. For partners, the same thinking applies to business development decisions, account portfolio choices and where to take measured career risks. Tünde Lukacs brings direct experience of the partner committee process from her own years as a Partner.
Executive Presence with Clients and Inside the Firm
The work focuses on how you show up in C-suite client meetings, how you communicate strategy under pressure, how you handle pushback in steering committees, and how you build influence inside your firm with partners and sponsors. The tools are authentic leadership and clear storytelling, not performance or scripted answers.
Making Partner and Building a Practice
The first 24 months after making partner shape the next decade of your career inside the firm. New partners routinely underestimate how different the work becomes: building a practice, generating sustained revenue, leading teams, managing partnership politics and developing your own platform. The coaching at this stage protects against the common first-two-years stumble and accelerates the shift from "doing the work" to leading the work. For directors approaching committee, the same focus area covers the practice-building case that increasingly decides modern partner elections.
Career Transitions Within and Out of Consulting
Major transitions are a defining feature of consulting careers. The coaching supports leaders facing the most consequential moves: senior manager to director, director to partner, established partner to new scope, and partner to industry, board portfolio, independent advisory or founding a venture. The work is built around the specific questions of each transition: what do you actually want, how do you position yourself credibly, and how do you avoid the common mistakes of moving for the wrong reasons. Grounded in Secure Base Leadership principles, the work also strengthens the resilience and self-trust needed during periods of identity shift.
AI in Consulting Work and Client Advisory
AI is reshaping consulting from two sides at once. Clients increasingly want AI advice that goes beyond playbook answers, and consultants themselves are using AI tools that change how engagements are scoped, staffed and delivered. The coaching explores how to integrate AI into your own workflow without losing the human judgement that makes a consultant valuable, how to develop a credible point of view on AI for client conversations, and how to think about what AI changes in the long-term consulting business model. The work reinforces human judgement, ethics and accountability, not replaces them.
How Do We Work Together In Executive Coaching For Consulting Leaders?
Before founding The Change Republic, Tünde Lukacs spent years as a Partner at a global professional services firm. She knows the partner committee process, the sponsor system, the book-of-business pressure and the political reality of leading inside a partnership from the inside. The coaching is built for the specific career arc and pressure points of consulting, not adapted from generic executive coaching.
How the work is actually done: our methodology combines deep executive experience with structured leadership psychology.
The work rests on three pillars.
Secure Base Leadership
High performance and psychological safety are not opposites. In consulting, the leaders who win long-term are the ones who can hold both: decisive delivery and the kind of team environment where talented people choose to stay. The coaching strengthens both at the same time, drawing on the Secure Base Leadership framework developed at IMD.
A Blend of Human and AI Coaching
Between sessions, clients draw on an AI coaching tool for structured reflection, scenario modelling and data-driven feedback. For consulting professionals running heavy travel and client-engagement schedules, this extends the thinking between sessions and keeps the work moving even during weeks when a live session is not possible.
Tailored Session Structure
A typical coaching engagement runs six to eight sessions over several months. Sessions take place virtually, in Zurich, or at a confidential location of your choice in Switzerland. Most consulting clients work virtually for flexibility around client schedules and international travel. Every engagement is shaped around your firm, your career stage and the specific transition you are navigating.
What Formats Are Available To Work With An Executive Coach For Consulting Leaders?
Our programs and formats include:
One-to-One Executive Coaching
Private, confidential 1:1 coaching focused entirely on your consulting career and leadership agenda. 60 to 90 minute sessions, typically bi-weekly or monthly across a six- to eight-session engagement. Each session includes structured preparation, reflection prompts and optional Leadership Circle Profile (LCP) assessment with AI-supported insights.
Best for: partner committee preparation, the first 24 months as a newly elected partner, executive presence work with C-suite clients, or major career transitions inside or out of consulting.
Group Leadership Programmes
Hybrid programmes designed for cohorts of senior managers, directors or newly elected partners within the same consulting firm (6 to 12 participants). Combines live workshops, facilitated group coaching and AI-supported feedback loops.
Particularly effective for firms preparing a director cohort for partner committee, supporting new partner intakes through their first two years, or building a coaching culture inside a practice.
Best for: consulting firms investing in talent retention and partner pipeline development at scale.
AI-Powered Executive Coaching
or consulting professionals who want the work to keep moving between live sessions. Combines personal coaching with structured AI-supported reflection, scenario modelling and strategic planning tools. The AI components fit naturally into the consulting work model: scenario simulations for client situations, pre-meeting reflection on stakeholder dynamics, and rapid decision-framing between live sessions.
Best for: consulting leaders with heavy travel, complex client engagements or fast-changing project demands who want their coaching to keep pace with their work.
The Hidden Rules of Big 4 and Consulting Partner Promotion
Three in-depth articles exploring what really decides director and partner promotion at Big 4 and tier-1 consulting firms: honest feedback, stakeholder influence, executive positioning, and the language senior leaders use to move their case forward. Written for senior managers, directors, and consulting leaders preparing for the next stage of their career across Switzerland and Europe.
The Honest Feedback Big 4 and Consulting Candidates Need Before the Director and Partner Promotion Panel
Who Actually Decides Big 4 and Consulting Director and Partner Promotion: The Hidden Stakeholder Map
Stating, Not Asking: The Language Shift That Decides Big 4 Director and Partner Cases
This article breaks down the hidden influence network behind Big 4 and tier-1 consulting promotions. Beyond the formal org chart and partner panel, the article explains how sponsors, international stakeholders, service line leaders, operational leadership, and informal partner conversations shape promotion outcomes long before the official decision is made, and why stakeholder mapping is essential preparation work for serious candidates.
This article examines how language and executive positioning influence promotion outcomes inside consulting firms. It shows why high-performing candidates often weaken their own case by asking for permission instead of confidently stating readiness, and how subtle shifts in phrasing, visibility, and sponsor communication can dramatically change how director and partner cases land in formal promotion discussions.
This article explores why senior consulting professionals often receive polite but strategically unhelpful feedback before partner and director promotion panels. It explains how candidates can ask sharper questions, surface real concerns early, and combine internal sponsor conversations with external 360 benchmarking such as Leadership Circle Profile assessments to build a more calibrated and competitive promotion case before the formal panel year begins.
Success Stories: Our Clients Say
“Tünde's ability to listen deeply, challenge my perspectives, and provide practical tools helped me gain clarity on my leadership style. Through the CHANGE and BRAND frameworks, I gained a clearer sense of direction, build on a deep understanding of my unique strengths and potential."”
P. V., Global Finance Transformation Lead, Netherlands
"The coaching session really opened my eyes to some deep behavior patterns and roadblocks I’ve been stuck in for a long time. I learned how to actually notice when I hit one of those internal walls—how it feels, how it shows up—and what to do when it happens. Instead of freezing or avoiding it, I’ve learned to face it and keep moving forward, even when fear shows up like a mountain in front of me. I learnt to stay on my own track, being true to my values—even when it’s hard."
European Energy Trader
For more client voices, visit our Testimonials page.
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