Leadership solutions
The Essenta Difference
By understanding where you’re heading and what your leadership team needs to get there, we can give expert advice that’s specific to you and targeted support that builds a lasting advantage.
We do not rely on instinct alone. Our proprietary Essenta Discovery Process® assessment and independent leadership due diligence empower you to make confident decisions with the full 360 view of a leader.
Every Advisory brief starts with the business challenge. We look at the strategy, the team, the pressure points and the change ahead, then shape the programme around what the organization needs to achieve.
A strong Leadership Advisory relationship should leave you with clearer decisions, not just more information. We help turn insight into practical steps, whether that means developing the team, reshaping roles or planning for succession.
78% of our clients return to work with us again, because as the partnership deepens, the leadership advantage grows.
What we do
An objective read on individual capability, potential and risk. We uniquely combine Assessment with due diligence to provide the 360 view of a leader. Our integrated insights benchmark a potential hire against the business you are building, not a generic competency model, so the output is a decision you can act on rather than a profile you file.
Our integrated Leadership Assessment and independent due diligence enable you to validate the capability and track record of the incoming leadership team. We identify strengths, risks to mitigate and determine suitability for the next stage of growth and transformation.
Individually strong leaders do not automatically make a strong team. We assess how well the team is performing and where the key strengths and blockers are, then partner with you to translate those insights into powerful development programmes that unlock performance through offsites and targeted executive coaching.
Who is ready now, who is ready in two years, and what the gap costs you if a key leader leaves before then. We map the bench, name the risks and set out what has to happen to close them.
Case Studies
Discover how our Leadership Advisory work has helped high-growth businesses and private equity firms assess capability, improve team effectiveness and prepare for the next stage of change.
Our Integrated Services
Our Search, Interim and Advisory experts work together closely, bringing continuity, context and accurate judgement to every stage of the relationship. That means faster, better-informed decisions, the right expertise when you need it, and leadership solutions that are tailored to your unique needs.
View serviceOur Executive Search Services
More than your standard Executive Search. We combine market insight with rigorous Assessment to deliver leaders who power growth during transformation.
View serviceOur Interim Leadership Services
Essenta places Interim leadership at pace to protect momentum through transformation and change. Expert Interim management delivered with lasting impact.
View service
Natalya Sverjensky
Partner, Leadership Advisory
Leadership Advisory
London
Harriet Grinyer-Doswell
Partner, Leadership Advisory
Leadership Advisory
London
Laurence Frantzis
Senior Partner, Interim, Leadership Advisory and Central Operations
Central Operations
Interim
Leadership Advisory
London
Abi Chubb
Project Coordinator, Leadership Advisory
Leadership Advisory
London
James Neil
Principal, Head of Leadership Intelligence
Leadership Advisory
London
Ellen Wilsker
Senior Partner, Leadership Advisory
Leadership Advisory
Florida
Sarah Holland
Principal, Leadership Advisory
Leadership Advisory
London
“What got you here won’t get you there.” It’s the principle at the heart of Natalya’s work, and the one she helps boards and CEOs navigate. A Partner within the Leadership Advisory practice at Essenta, she is a trusted adviser to CEOs and investors on driving the leadership performance that unlocks lasting growth and transformation.
Natalya partners with ambitious businesses at pivotal moments to define the leadership capabilities the next chapter requires, benchmark today’s leadership against that standard, and embed the new skills, habits and ways of working teams need to build for the future. She specializes in mid-market, PE-backed businesses and has worked with teams across industries in the US, UK and Europe.
Before joining Essenta, Natalya spent more than 15 years building Advisory practices in boutique consultancies, including Within People, an executive coaching firm, and Nobl, a change management and organizational design firm.
She is accredited in the Essenta Discovery Process®, a highly objective assessment tool, and leads teams of specialists in executive coaching, succession planning and leadership development, advising clients on what needs to change in their teams and how to change it.
Her background in consulting firms at the forefront of executive coaching, organizational design, change management and leadership development gives her a distinctive blend of approaches to draw on, and she is an expert in building high-performing leadership teams.
For leadership teams navigating the dual challenges of growth and transformation, what got you here won’t get you there. I’ve always believed that taking the business to the next level means taking leadership to the next level. That’s the principle I work from at Essenta, and it shapes every client conversation I have.
One question sits behind everything Harriet does: does this person have what it takes to succeed in the specific context they’re being asked to lead in? As a Partner in Essenta’s Leadership Advisory practice, she works with private equity-backed and high-growth businesses to build executive teams that can deliver ambitious growth plans. She advises boards, investors, and management teams on executive selection, succession planning, leadership team development and coaching.
A business psychologist by training, with a BSc and PhD in Psychology, Harriet is rigorous and direct, and genuinely curious about what makes people and teams tick. She is accredited in a range of assessment instruments, including Essenta’s proprietary Discovery Process®, and pairs that methodological rigour with real commercial acuity, turning evidence into decisions clients can act on with confidence.
Before joining Essenta, Harriet spent more than a decade in talent assessment, organizational development and senior-level consulting, in roles focused on behavioural diagnostics, psychometric strategy and executive talent insight.
That grounding shapes her work today, helping clients turn evidence into practical decisions on selection, development, coaching and succession. What matters most to her is connecting insight to business context, so that individual leaders and their teams are equipped to succeed.
Leadership Advisory is most valuable when it reflects the business a leader and their team actually have to succeed in, and not when it leans on track record or data alone. Whether I’m supporting an appointment, succession planning, leadership development or coaching, I work closely with clients to understand that context and turn insight into practical action. I want to be a true partner, working alongside clients to co-design the conditions for lasting success.
Senior Partner, Interim, Leadership Advisory and Central Operations
Some businesses need experienced leadership quickly, to steer them through a critical period or deliver a specific outcome. Laurence helps them find it. He leads Essenta’s Interim and Leadership Advisory practices, partnering with private equity-backed businesses and PLCs across the UK, Europe and the US. He advises investors, boards and leadership teams on critical appointments and complex leadership challenges, from transformation, turnaround and value creation to growth and significant organizational change.
Before joining Essenta, Laurence held senior positions at leading Executive Search and Talent Advisory firms, specializing in Executive Interim Management and senior leadership appointments. In a previous role, he played a key part in integrating three complementary service lines, helping shape a more cohesive market proposition across Executive Search, Interim Management and Leadership Advisory. He built significant expertise in manufacturing, FMCG, consumer and healthcare, partnering with PE-backed, privately owned, and listed businesses on senior leadership and transformation mandates.
His work has also been recognized by the Institute of Interim Management, which named him Interim Service Provider Consultant of the Year in 2021.
Experience on paper only gets you so far. What matters is whether someone has the judgement, pace and credibility to operate in the specific environment they’re stepping into. My role is to understand both the business challenge and the individual, and make sure the two genuinely align.
A Project Coordinator within Essenta’s Advisory team, Abi provides project support across a range of Leadership Advisory engagements. She works closely with senior colleagues to coordinate projects, manage priorities, and keep client deliverables perfectly on-track.
Abi’s organizational skills speak to exceptional diary management, project coordination, candidate intelligence tracking, and seamless project support. Known for building trusted relationships, she acts as a central point of contact, while anticipating team needs and streamlining communication across key project bases.
Beyond these daily priorities, Abi has an active role in Essenta’s internal initiatives, contributing to the firm’s culture and supporting broader business operations.
Prior to Essenta, Abi has built vast experience in the education sector, including teaching and departmental leadership roles. This has inherently strengthened her strategic workplace communication and stakeholder management skills. She has also developed her ability to navigate competing priorities and manage fluid, often fast-paced, workflows.
I want clients to experience Essenta as warm, approachable, and genuinely invested in their success. By combining a high level of care with keen attention to detail, I ensure our clients always feel heard and valued. My goal is to be exceptionally responsive, dependable, and thoughtful in every interaction, bringing true dedication to everything I do.
James leads Essenta’s Leadership Intelligence and Due Diligence practice, where he helps private equity and growth investors make better-informed investment and leadership decisions. He answers the questions that matter most when an investor is sizing up an opportunity or making a critical hire. Through pre-deal and pre-hire due diligence, he shows not only what a leader has achieved, but how they lead, where their strengths lie and what risks may be hiding.
James’s work gives clients a deeper understanding of leadership capability before they commit, supports more confident hiring decisions, and helps new leaders become effective faster and create value sooner.
He is especially interested in how leadership quality shapes investment outcomes, and in helping investors find the leaders who drive performance, handle complexity and unlock long-term value.
Before joining Essenta, James spent more than a decade as a senior member of Korn Ferry’s Forensic Referencing practice. He completed hundreds of assignments for private equity clients, assessing management teams and senior executives to support investment and hiring decisions.
He also led and contributed to more than 100 GP and fund due diligence assignments across private equity, venture capital, infrastructure and private credit strategies worldwide, helping LPs evaluate GPs as part of their fundraising and allocation decisions.
Every team has different requirements and ways of working, so I focus on understanding what they need and finding practical ways to make our systems work for them. Successful change takes more than installing a new tool. It means understanding how people work, explaining changes clearly and giving colleagues the support and confidence to use new tools well.
Ellen is the sounding board C-level and senior executives turn to when a leadership decision really matters. Her specialism is Leadership Advisory: helping clients work through complex leadership challenges, assess talent and make informed decisions, from succession and leadership development to transitions and critical senior appointments.
Relationships are at the heart of how she works. Ellen takes the time to learn a client’s business, leadership team, culture and priorities, and those relationships tend to outlast any single assignment. That depth lets her spot leadership challenges and opportunities before they surface.
Before joining Essenta, Ellen built her career where Leadership Advisory, business development and relationship management meet.
Her expertise spans executive coaching, assessment, Leadership Advisory, executive transitions and senior appointments, alongside a strong record of originating and growing client relationships. Over her career she has generated more than $125 million in revenue, a figure that reflects how well she builds partnerships that last.
I joined Essenta because it pairs deep expertise with a genuinely personal approach. We take the time to understand our clients: their business, culture, people, priorities and the context behind their biggest decisions.
With AI and technology reshaping so much, I believe human connection matters more than ever. It leads to deeper conversations, better questions, sound judgment and counsel that technology alone can’t provide. Whether we’re advising on leadership, talent, organizational change or wider business challenges, we aim to be true partners. For me, that personal connection is our “leadership insurance”: the insight, experience and objective counsel clients need to decide with confidence, and to cover the risk of getting it wrong.
Sarah helps CEOs, boards and investors find out whether a leader or a team is ready to deliver. A Principal in Essenta’s Leadership Advisory practice, she specializes in leadership assessment, development, succession and executive coaching, advising on critical leadership decisions and helping clients define what success looks like. Her question is always whether the people involved have the motivation, capability and readiness to achieve it.
Her work spans senior appointments, succession, team effectiveness and leadership development, often at moments of significant growth, transformation or change.
Sarah combines rigorous assessment with deep qualitative insight to build a rounded view of leaders and the context they operate in. Curious, pragmatic and highly personal in her approach, she turns insight into practical action, whether that means making a critical appointment, strengthening a leadership team, identifying future talent or helping an individual realize their potential.
Prior to joining Essenta, Sarah was a member of Egon Zehnder’s Leadership Advisory practice in London, advising global organizations on executive assessment and leadership development. She is a certified executive coach and is accredited in a range of tools, including Hogan, 16PF and the Essenta Discovery Process®.
She graduated from Princeton University, where she competed as an NCAA Division I athlete.
Leadership decisions matter, and our role is to bring an independent view: looking beyond the obvious, getting underneath the data and being prepared to challenge assumptions. My approach is high care and high challenge. I take the time to understand the individual, the context and different perspectives, but I’m candid about what I see. The aim is not just to offer insight, but to create the clarity and constructive challenge that helps people make better decisions.
Tell us what the business needs to achieve. We will give you an honest read on the leadership challenge in front of you, and how you should approach it.
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