Stephen is his own brand of leader. Free-spirited and refreshingly original, ask Stephen for an opinion, and you’ll get it with candor, color, and style.
Ask Stephen about Expressworks, and his passion is immediate, palpable. As Managing Partner, he safeguards Expressworks’ two founding ideals – help our clients change, for the better and help our consultants flourish as individuals. He sees himself as the guardian responsible for “protecting the orchid” that is Expressworks’ culture and the company’s delicate balance between profit and purpose.
Growth, for Stephen, means going higher, not wider – strengthening existing partnerships and cultivating the right new ones. Growth means elevating the level, reach, and impact of Expressworks’ efforts while fostering community. With clients and consultants alike, relationships are everything to Stephen. “I like the fact that our whole network can fit into one room and most people know everybody else. There’s power in that,” he says.
Stephen draws on some 30 years of multinational change experience and possesses an instinctive understanding of the risks, requirements, and rewards of transformation. He seeks excellence across every engagement and finds ways to eliminate obstacles that keep Expressworks’ consultants from delighting clients.
For Stephen, the journey should be enjoyable and who you share the journey with is as important as the journey itself.
Esa is fond of what she calls “seemingly impossible projects.” These often start with a business-critical challenge that requires thoughtful and timely resolution to avoid the business suffering significantly.
Daunting to others, this is where Esa excels. Outcome-focused and calm, she uses her considerable business acumen and political savvy to help clients navigate thorny and often obscured paths to success.
For Esa, the “seemingly impossible” is made possible only through true teamwork and strong partnerships. She is a skilled coalition leader able to articulate a vision and recruit both clients and consultants to achieve it. “When Expressworks has the trust and faith of our clients, when we work shoulder-to-shoulder, we're able to make magic and deliver value, together.”
Whether operating at 30,000-feet or 3-inches, Esa is adept at managing both the big picture and the details. As Managing Director, Strategy, her focus flexes from looking after the general health of key global accounts to overseeing our day-to-day service of them. She also keeps a pulse on Expressworks’ market position and applies that understanding to developing new opportunities.
Ever the consummate professional, Esa stands ready for the next challenge.
Working through a problem with Juan always leaves you feeling a little better, knowing you’ve been heard. Known for his thoughtfulness, clients and colleagues alike seek Juan’s counsel. Juan gives you his full attention and is generous with his time. Even better, he’s generous with his ideas.
An empathetic thought partner, Juan’s insight is the product of his critical thinking skills, his ability to synthesize complex inputs, and his earnest desire to see people succeed. He sees potential that others miss, solutions where others see dead ends, and he draws on his entrepreneurial mindset to create opportunity where others see barriers.
Even when he is absorbed in the operational details of the international energy engagements he oversees, Juan’s eyes are on the horizon. As Managing Director, Energy, Juan’s focus is on innovating the way we create and deliver client value and cultivate consultant capability.
Whether his vision of the future state is modest or grandiose, he looks for new ways to improve performance, up level strategic direction, enhance execution, and strengthen relationships.
A natural change agent, Juan is always clearing the path to better.
Vivian finds people fascinating and can talk to anyone. Learning about who they are, how they think, and what they need feeds her curiosity and fuels her compassion. These conversations often turn into lasting relationships at the intersection of Vivian’s work and personal life, where her two worlds intertwine and thrive.
Vivian approaches relationships from a place of caring and with a spirit of collaboration. If she sees a need, she offers help. If she has a good idea, she happily shares it. No hidden agendas or ulterior motives, no pretense – just helpful, engaged, and easy to laugh, whether you’re a colleague or a friend.
As Managing Director for emerging accounts, Vivian approaches her job the same way, with an openness that makes it easy for clients to share their challenges and trust her counsel. Her goal? To find and partner with likeminded companies seeking change that both clients and Expressworks consultants can feel good about. Whether in the trenches of a digital transformation or helping a client decide how best to structure change, Vivian is personally invested in her client’s success.
For Vivian, business is personal.
Laura loves a good jigsaw puzzle, and that’s why she loves accounting. She takes all the individual pieces – budgets, forecasts, audits, margins, cash flows – and fits them together to complete each year’s fiscal picture. Year over year, it’s been Laura’s job to keep Expressworks financially healthy, and it’s been her passion to fund its commitment to social responsibility.
In Laura’s mind, the puzzle that is Expressworks’ P&L should reflect our financial performance as well as our values, our altruism, and our culture. To that end, she happily finds room on her balance sheet to invest time and resources into community outreach. Laura believes that working with people she trusts and with whom she shares common values is equally vital. And she delights in underwriting opportunities to strengthen the connection among our colleagues.
Profit and purpose are key pieces of Laura’s puzzle. Mismatched pieces for some, but for Laura, they fit perfectly.
William believes the hero in each of us is just waiting to be set free. “If we look inside,” he counsels, “we can uncover our superpower – that authentic strength that is uniquely ours.” And when we use this strength to connect with and uplift others, we become heroes.
As our People Champion, William advises us to use that superpower to create our own mold, rather than fit into someone else’s. Passionate about diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, he focuses on opening doors so our differences are seen and acknowledged, and our voices are heard.
William’s work ensures that our individual capabilities are valued and utilized by our clients and Expressworks. His energy also extends into the community where he works to build partnerships that expand our outreach.
He’s definitely a people person, but don’t assume William is a push-over. His superpower? Telling the truth and having the courage to talk about tough subjects we like to avoid.
If you call or send Ruth Grouell an email, you will get an answer – without fail. She’s known for that. It’s what she calls her “follow up and follow through” philosophy. It’s how Ruth goes about cultivating consultant relationships that can last for years.
As Expressworks’ People Ambassador, Ruth leans on her background in organizational development and behavioral change to connect with potential matches. For the past 16 years, she has focused on relationship recruiting and spearheads Expressworks’ referrals, sourcing, and onboarding.
Ruth is energized by meeting new people and prides herself on finding candidates who meet clients where they are and can then take them where they need to go. She’s looking for individuals – not cogs to fit our wheel.
Rushing the process is inconceivable to Ruth, “How can I vet someone in 30 minutes when I want them to stay for 20 years?” She looks for consultants who, like her, are proud to call Expressworks home.
