PICA Member Spotlights

Q&A with independent consultants who successfully “made the leap” and created the consulting career of their dreams

Q: Why did you decide to take the independent path?

A: I actually didn't intend to go out on my own, ironically enough. I was at the big firm, traveling around the world, and my life no longer felt like my own. As a traveling consultant living on the road I started waking up not knowing what city I was as I was changing cities multiple times in a week. During that hectic time, I had moved to the beach. And I LOVE life at the beach. I started thinking, "Airplanes are for the birds." I started looking for opportunities and found a small consulting firm locally. I left the big firm for a micro-firm. And as life has it – I learned quickly it just wasn't the right fit for me. My mind was in circles, and I was like, "Now what?" And then I thought, "Well, you know, I'm pretty resilient, pretty smart. I'll figure it out." So I ended up starting my own business probably about two months after I left the big firm.

Q: How did you come up with the name Panthera Leadership?

A: That's a great question. When I was trying to figure out a business name, I wanted a name that wasn’t my name. I was running out of creative ideas, because how many different ways can you talk about leadership? I started researching a play on my last name of Lyon, and started looking at the mythical and the spiritual definitions around Lyon and came up with Panthera, which is the family name for the big cats like the lion, tiger, jaguar and panther. It was a cool play on my name. Then looking at the spiritual side of a lion, it was the powerful, bold, fearless leader, but also the caretaker of the tribe. The lion led from the front and the back to make sure that the whole tribe stays safe. To me, it really hit at the heart of what a leader is - being able to lead from the front and from the back and bring the whole organization with them in a concerted effort. The parallel really resonated with me.

Q: In the last five years, what would you say are the top two things you've learned about entrepreneurial spirit or small business mindset?

A: I was considered an entrepreneur within the big firm, and I thought I knew what it meant. But I had a salary, a framework within the business, and a team. I could move a lot of mountains within that framework. The weight of cash flow to pay your mortgage wasn't there, so you could take different kinds of risks that you may not take as an independent. That was the one thing, shifting to that mindset of being scrappy, doing less with more. I still struggle with being more focused because I'm an idea generator. I can come up with six different services, and six different white papers, and six different marketing campaigns, but there's only one of me to pull it off unless I go hire six more people. So I'm learning, continually, to challenge myself. Is that the best use of my time? Is that the right idea to follow? Or is that the right service offering to put forward in the market and spend time on? And so that has been an evolution over my five years. Even more so working in the big firm, you’ve got to be completely market relevant and agile to evolve as the market evolves. In line with the Panthera branding, that's been a part of my evolution as well. To get really clear on serving technical leaders, focus on leadership development and organization design, and keeping it in that smaller nugget.

The other big learning that's helped me serve my small business clients better, is what I’ve learned by working on a pro bono consulting team with a group of former CEOs. The advice that you would get from the former CEO of a Fortune 100 company is based on revenue coming in and having hundreds of people to pull off a new product line, versus the $60 million business run by the founder who has his whole family working in the business. The Founder/CEO is not going to take that same risk as the Fortune 100 company – her whole family is depending upon her to make sound decisions. That was a differentiator for me as a practitioner with a recent client. Because I understood how to do less with more and what it means to wear multiple hats in your business to make your business grow, and only adding on resources and staff as the business is more sustainable and predictable to absorb that. That's been the fun part, translating my own experience and learning to how I serve my clients.

Q: What's next for Panthera Leadership?

A: I have a three-pronged plan for Panthera. First, is doubling down with my clients on organization restructuring.  In light of today’s business climate, having a streamlined operating model and org structure is a critical success factor to weathering the downturn.  Second, is welcoming deeper conversations with my clients in 1:1 executive coaching, helping tech leaders and CIOs who’ve hit a plateau reach that next level performance so they can lead more effectively, better inspire and engage their teams, and increase the impact they have in their business. And the third prong is a platform for women leaders. I do a lot of advocacy around inclusive leadership and aim to solve the challenge on how can we get more inclusion at the leadership level. I'm actually launching a C-Suite Readiness Mastermind at the end of September. It's a mastermind where we'll come together over six months to hone in on what it means to be the CEO of your own career, learn how to play the game of today's business environment - all without sacrificing your soul.  We will work through how to show up authentically, but know, particularly as a woman leader, that there are still certain attributes that you will be judged on – and how to manage that. We’ll build deeper relationships with each other in the Mastermind and become a trusted, supportive place for each member to flex new skills and work through all of necessities that come in today's business environment. This Mastermind will help pave the way for more diverse leadership and change the conversation around women in leadership.

Q: What do you recommend if people want to learn more about you or C-suite Readiness program or about Panthera Leadership?

A: They can reach out to me directly at felicia@pantheraleadership.com. Or check out our website, Pantheraleadership.com. That's where the C-Suite Readiness registration is as well so you can find all the details online there. 🐆