Answer:   Fortunately, when Greg was offered an opportunity to join a company and discontinue day to day work on his own business, he found a solution. He minimized risk by appointing an executive capable of developing his consulting business. Greg still remains the owner and can monitor day to day performance.

In his new role at the company, he outlined a series of steps that started with small consulting assignments to see if the relationship had the potential to mature into a full-time situation. Greg provided an update and everything is working out well. None of our concerns materialized.

The plan is that he will transition into the CEO role. He has assumed responsibility for production and logistics in addition to business development, sales and marketing. The company is growing, and he travels between offices and works remotely from home generally 2-days a week. He is now hiring a VP of Marketing which means his role is about strategy, leadership and management of the organization.

Here are some of his thoughts about his career and the issue of leadership.

Most importantly, “There is life after communications.”

“You go up the ranks in an organization and end up after 20-years in a leadership post; leadership skills are most transferable. You just happen to work in PR. That shift in your thinking is fundamental.”

“Some communicators are born leaders; they know how to take a group and focus them and be innovative. They know how to hunker down in bad times and keep the team inspired. They also know how to scale the organization during a period of growth.”