Approach
Built for the moments that test leadership.
Most search is built for steady-state hiring. Panacea Objective was built for the other moments: rapid growth, transformation and crisis, when a few decisions carry most of the risk.
Why I founded Panacea Objective
In a crisis, boards and CEOs make a small number of critical decisions, often with incomplete information and a great deal at stake. Large firms are not designed to give one client undivided attention at that moment. A private practice is.
Grey rhinos and black swans
The grey rhino
A threat that is likely, large and visible, and still ignored. A CEO succession nobody planned. A leadership team built for the last strategy.
The black swan
An event that is rare, extreme and impossible to predict, and obvious only in hindsight. A sudden departure. A market that closes overnight.
Either way, the board ends up asking the same question: who should lead now? I help you answer it before the answer is forced on you.
The critical signals
The signals that come before a leadership failure
- Leadership requirements defined in a hurry, when the options are already narrowing.
- Hiring decisions driven by urgency rather than a clear mandate.
- Too little time to prepare internal successors for the C-suite.
- Outside benchmarking too narrow to see the whole market.
- A pull towards familiar, lower-risk profiles over the best fit.
- Leadership teams drifting out of line under growth, pressure or change.
- New executives taking too long to reach full effectiveness.
The cost shows up later: growth targets missed, execution slowed, friction across the organisation.
Method
Decision-grade search
Five disciplines for an informed appointment
An appointment at this level is a decision made under uncertainty. My method is designed to reduce that uncertainty, so that the board decides on evidence it can stand behind, not on instinct or availability.
- Define.The mandate set out in outcomes, and agreed with you before anyone is approached.
- Map.The whole field: the finest leaders in your sector, and those beyond it worth meeting.
- Calibrate.Every candidate, internal or external, assessed against the same evidence and benchmarked against the market.
- Recommend.A shortlist with my reasoning, the trade-offs and the risks stated plainly.
- Integrate.Counsel through the offer, the transition and the first 180 days.
Throughout: a written update every week, and one advisor accountable for every step.
How I work
I lead every search myself, from the first conversation to the appointment, and take on only a few mandates each year: no conflicts, no distractions, no dilution. I start with the challenge rather than the job description, apply judgement rather than process, and stay involved after the appointment.
Discretion
Known only to you, and to me.
When a leader is to be replaced, or a move must remain unseen by competitors, discretion is not a courtesy. It is the condition on which the entire search depends.
Every mandate is conducted under a non-disclosure agreement from the first conversation. You have a single point of contact throughout, with no other agenda than to serve you. There is no research team, no advertising and no circulation of your brief. You decide what is said, to whom, and when.
- A single point of contactYou deal with me alone, from the brief to the appointment and beyond.
- Under NDA from the outsetEvery mandate is protected by a non-disclosure agreement before any detail is shared.
- No advertisingThe role is never posted, listed or circulated.
- You control the messageCandidates learn your name only with your agreement, and only after a confidential conversation.
Until you decide otherwise, the search is known to two parties: you, and Panacea Objective. When a leader is being replaced, or a competitor must not know, that is what matters.
"Andrew is the rare exception in the world of talent and search. He knows the right people and treats you as his priority."Chief Executive Officer, UAE retail company
Seeing a signal?
The earlier the conversation, the more options you have.