David Taylor
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Digital Marketing / Cross-Cultural Leadership

Leadership Consulting: CEO Mentoring & Operational Transformation

Retained as a leadership consultant for 18 months by the agency that acquired David's six-month-exit business. Mentored two successive CEOs and the wider team, ran leadership workshops in Thailand, helped build the agency's AI content creation systems, supported cross-cultural recruitment, and led operational transformation across 4 countries.

Client
International digital marketing agency (post-acquisition)
Industry
Digital Marketing / Cross-Cultural Leadership
Headline result
Reduced operational costs by 20%+ while improving team output by 35%, across teams in Slovakia and the Philippines, through two CEO transitions.
David Taylor presenting to a team

The Challenge

A fast-growing international agency with teams across Europe (Slovakia) and the Philippines had just acquired a smaller company. They needed experienced leadership to professionalise operations, reduce cost without losing quality, and steady the business through two successive CEO transitions.

The team was young, cross-cultural, and had no prior corporate leadership exposure. Morale and continuity through change were as much the problem as cost.

The Approach

Retained for 18 months post-acquisition. Mentored both CEOs hands-on, ran multi-day leadership training workshops at a company retreat in Thailand, and built performance frameworks, cost analysis reporting, and a staff certification pathway.

Mentored the wider team, not just the CEOs, and helped build the AI content creation systems that let the team produce more without adding headcount.

Supported recruitment across the cross-cultural teams, so new hires fit both the role and the culture.

Took direct ownership of operational cost reduction while protecting output quality. Made the tough calls on underperformers and promoted high-potential team members into leadership roles.

The Results

  • 20%+ reduction in operational costs.
  • 35% improvement in team output.
  • Successful navigation of two CEO transitions with team morale and operational continuity intact across 4 countries.
  • First formal leadership development for a team of early-20s professionals.

Key takeaway

“Operational transformation is rarely a spreadsheet problem. It's a leadership problem. Get the people right and the numbers follow.”

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