The deal closes on paper. Your people make it work.
If your organization is heading into a merger, an acquisition, or a sale, I help you keep your best people and turn two teams into one.
Change that nobody manages is where the value leaks.
Price, structure, and financing get attention in a deal. The people side often gets left to sort itself out. When it does, three things tend to follow.
Key people disengage or leave
The relationships and the knowledge they carry go with them, often before anyone notices.
Roles blur and cultures collide
Two ways of working meet, and no one has agreed how the combined team will actually operate.
The legacy is judged by what happens next
For a founder, the company is remembered by how its people were brought through the change.
Assess. Align. Anchor.
Three steps, scoped to your transaction timeline, so you know what happens and when before you commit.
Assess
Identify the people who matter most, map their strengths, and surface where cultures and working styles are likely to collide.
Align
Match people to roles that fit their strengths and give leaders a shared language for how the combined team works.
Anchor
Keep the alignment in place through check-ins and coaching, so the changes last beyond the first months after closing.
Leaders whose people carry the value of the organization.
If a sale or acquisition is about to test the people who built your company…
…I help you keep them, so they stay committed and the culture you built carries on.
If your firm is heading into a merger or a change of ownership…
…I help you keep your top people and your client relationships, so two firms become one practice.
Here is exactly what happens when you book.
- We talk about what's changing.You describe the transition you're facing and what you most want to protect.
- We name who matters most to keep.Together we identify the people and relationships the outcome depends on.
- We decide whether this work fits.If it does, I'll explain how Assess, Align, and Anchor would apply. If it doesn't, you'll know that too.
No cost and no obligation. Engagement details and pricing are shared once we've confirmed there's a fit.
Come ready to answer one question.
I'll start with something like:
Your answer is where the conversation begins.
In their words.
"Jim is a skillful coach and an exceptional listener. He recently coached me with thoughtful questions and a patient, steady presence to support a much appreciated shift in awareness for clarity and action."
Brenda Brown, PCCBrenda Brown Consulting
"Responsive and is a subject-matter expert."
Carl LawsonChief Operations Officer, Boston Cybernetics
"Jim pushes you to play your hardest, centers you on your own strengths, and helps you find your niche on the field. It doesn't matter if you're a startup or enterprise scale business, someone at your organization stands to benefit from the coaching experience of Jim."
Robert JamisonCEO, Hakz
Questions leaders ask first.
Do you advise on the deal itself?
No. I don't advise on valuation, structure, or negotiation. I work on the people side of the transition, alongside your attorneys, bankers, and integration leads rather than in place of them.
What is CliftonStrengths, and why do you use it?
CliftonStrengths is a Gallup assessment that identifies how each person is naturally wired to think, decide, and work with others. In a transition it gives you an evidence-based view of your key people and a shared language for how the combined team will work, instead of relying on opinion. Read more on the How It Works page.
Do my people need to know CliftonStrengths already?
No. I handle the assessment and the explanation. Your people only need to be willing to take it and talk honestly about how they work best.
Can this work be kept confidential?
Yes. The work doesn't depend on announcing anything before the deal is public, and we agree on confidentiality before we begin.
How is this different from general leadership coaching or an HR integration plan?
General coaching works on a leader in isolation. HR integration plans cover policies, benefits, and systems. This work focuses on the specific people your outcome depends on: who they are, what each does best, and where they fit in the combined organization.
How long does it take?
It's scoped around your transaction timeline, not as an open-ended engagement. Scope and deliverables are agreed before you commit.
Start with a conversation.
Tell me what is changing in your organization. We'll talk about who matters most to keep through it.
Assess. Align. Anchor.
Every engagement starts the same way: a free discovery call to confirm fit. From there, three steps carry your key people through the transition and keep them there.
Three steps, in order.
- AssessWe identify the key people your outcome depends on and map their strengths using the Gallup CliftonStrengths assessment. We look for where cultures and working styles are likely to collide, and for strengths on each side that the combined team will need.
- AlignWe match people to roles and responsibilities that fit their strengths and give leaders a shared language for how the combined team works. The aim is for each key person to know their role in what comes next.
- AnchorAlignment fades if nobody tends to it. Through coaching and scheduled check-ins, we keep the changes in place beyond the first few months after closing.
CliftonStrengths, explained.
CliftonStrengths is a Gallup assessment that identifies a person's natural talents: how they tend to think, decide, build relationships, and get things done. The full assessment ranks 34 themes, and the order matters, because it shows where a person is strongest and where they will have to work harder.
In a merger, acquisition, or sale, that gives you something rare: an objective picture of the people involved instead of a collection of impressions. Used well, it answers practical questions.
- Who is naturally suited to carry which responsibility in the combined organization?
- Where will two teams' working styles pull against each other?
- What does each key person need in order to stay engaged and perform?
I'm a Gallup-Certified CliftonStrengths Coach, and I use the assessment as the foundation for every engagement. It tells us where to look. The coaching and check-ins do the rest.
What lowers the risk of bringing in an outside partner.
Involving someone from outside during a transaction is a real decision. These are the terms I work within.
Confidential
The work doesn't depend on announcing anything before the deal is public.
Fits the deal calendar
It is scoped to your transaction timeline, not an open-ended engagement.
Complements your deal team
It supplements your attorneys, bankers, and integration leads. It does not replace them.
Clear scope and deliverables
You know what you get at each step before you commit.
See how this would apply to your situation.
The free discovery call is a conversation about what is changing in your organization and who matters most to keep. No cost, no obligation.
Find the situation that sounds like yours.
The work is the same in both: keep the people your outcome depends on aligned and committed through the transition. The starting point differs.
You built the company. Now a sale or acquisition will test it.
If a sale or acquisition is about to test the people who built your company, I help you keep them, so they stay committed and the culture you built carries on.
This may be you ifYou're a founder or CEO preparing to sell, or an operating partner or platform CEO integrating an acquired firm.
What you want to protectThe people who built the company, and the legacy or the deal thesis that depends on them.
A question we'd start with"Who in your company is the person you'd least want to lose through this transition, and what would it take to keep them?"
Your firm is changing hands, or merging. Your clients and top people are watching.
If your firm is heading into a merger or a change of ownership, I help you keep your top people and your client relationships, so two firms become one practice.
This may be you ifYou're a managing partner or senior leader in a merger, acquisition, or ownership transition.
What you want to protectThe client relationships and top producers that make the practice what it is.
A question we'd start with"When the deal closes, what do you most want your people to say about how it was handled?"
Not sure which one fits?
That's fine. Book the free discovery call and tell me what is changing. We'll sort out the rest together. See how the process works.
Why I do this work.
Service to others is the value that runs underneath everything I do, on and off the clock.
I named my company Awen, the Welsh word for inspiration, because that's the whole point. I love to inspire growth: first in myself, then in the leaders and organizations I work with. "Strategic" is my top theme in the Gallup CliftonStrengths Full 34 Assessment.
I spent 21 years serving in the U.S. Army and 20+ years leading operations and business development for organizations behind the scenes of national security. You learn to read people, ask the right question at the right moment, and show up for someone else's mission before your own.
Along the way I joined a company just after it was acquired, and I saw first-hand what happens when change isn't managed. That is why I start with the people. I'm not a deal advisor. I'm the person who helps your people through one.
The Maryland Innovation Center recognized me with its Best Listener award, and that's the compliment I'm proudest of. Listening well is where every real breakthrough starts.
Based in the Baltimore-Washington Region
- Founded Awen Strategy in 2023
- Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned
- Maryland Innovation Center Best Listener award
- Connect on LinkedIn
Check them yourself.
ICF ACC (Associate Certified Coach)International Coaching Federation credential
Gallup-Certified CliftonStrengths CoachListed in the Gallup Certified Coach directory- Cornell High Performance Leadership
- SBA-Certified SDVOSBService-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business
Maryland-Certified VOSBBusiness ID T00542263
Start with a conversation.
Tell me what is changing in your organization. We'll talk about who matters most to keep through it.