Helping leaders around the world shape and execute their career strategies over the last 20 years, and getting even better at it
Based in San Francisco, Terry Chuah is the Founder of TheCareerLifeCycle. He advises investor clients and Boards of Directors on CEO and C-level appointments. Terry conducts CEO and Leadership Assessments that leverage off of his extensive business and executive search experience with VC-backed high growth technology as well as PE-backed companies. With 20 years of executive search experience gained at three of the top tier global search firms and having worked across North America, Asia, Australia and Europe, and in multiple industry verticals, Terry also advises and helps individual executives design career strategies to realize their professional and life aspirations.
Areas of Practice
leadership assessment
Terry Chuah combines 20 years of executive search (Heidrick & Struggles, Korn Ferry and Russell Reynolds) experience at the CEO- and C-level with the science of psychometrics (Hogan Assessment and MBTI), together with the insights from executive leadership coaching (Columbia University).
There are three phases to the leadership assessment that he conducts. The first is a broad overview of the leadership style and effectiveness of the participant, as reflected and confirmed in his or her track record of achievements and challenges to date. The second phase is an analysis of the potential derailers that might compromise the participant’s success in driving growth and building organizational capacity in a company of any stage. In the third phase, he addresses quite specific questions that typically the client would have about the participant.
In terms of process, the participant would take two online psychometric assessments that are around 40 minutes each. Terry studies the patterns that emerge from a close look at the participant’s career and role progression, stated achievements and implied leadership competencies, possible missteps and challenges, evidence of entrepreneurial drive and calculated risk taking and evidence of learning agility. He then meets ideally in person with the participant.
An executive report is prepared for the client with the key issues and potential challenges are discussed and resolved. Irrespective of how the client chooses to proceed, Terry will provide constructive feedback to the participant as part of the overall service.
career strategy
Terry left a successful executive search consulting career to work with individuals to help realize their leadership potential. He saw the patterns of leadership and personality that successful leaders exhibited and wanted to be able to work on the side of the individual who perhaps never got the needed and deserved development within their organizations.
Terry has designed a proprietary career advancement approach he calls the 5.4.3.2.1 Career Planning Methodology. This is a unique holistic approach to developing a career roadmap which serves as a guide to an individual executive or professional on the career journey. A well-designed career roadmap is built on the individual’s career balance sheet, drive, aspiration and potential.
Once developed, many elements of the career roadmap will remain unchanged but it is ultimately an organic document which the owner can modify, change aspects of or change the speed of execution of, depending on life’s circumstances.
This roadmap is at once both a career development plan and a longer term guide to what career success looks like. Specifically, it helps the individual make decisions about whether a job opportunity that comes up is a true opportunity or more likely a distraction because it does not take one's career in the chosen direction.
In short, a career roadmap can help make good decisions and sometimes, perhaps even more importantly, stop its owner from making bad career decisions which could significantly disrupt career trajectory.
executive and leadership team coaching
Trained in the highly structured and academically rigorous Columbia University’s External Coach Intensive program, Terry takes a slightly different approach to coaching. He combines the more conventional framework of coaching with elements of his own 5.4.3.2.1 principles, with an understanding of the psychological drivers (and a realistic assessment of both the bright and dark side of personality) of the coachee and, importantly, with due consideration of the urgent business needs of the coachee’s organization.
He constantly informs his approach with continuous learning. He recently certified in Designing Talent, a tremendously innovative and pragmatic approach to talent development. Terry also just certified in ExPI, the Bates Executive Presence Index, at once both a high impact feedback tool to enhance one’s executive effectiveness and a powerful leadership model.
“Terry is incredibly insightful into people’s personalities, styles, wants and needs. He is direct but not offensive in providing constructive insight. He is a quick learner of subject matters beyond his prior experience. I believe he genuinely cares and it is not simply about getting the task completed. ”
Talk to Terry
CAREER STRATEGY
Just email Terry directly with any query you might have regarding your career, or simply what’s on your mind. You may have questions about how best to make a decision with respect to a fork in the road; even considering a total career change, or you just need a sanity check on whether you have an issue with your career trajectory.
LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT AND EXECUTIVE COACHING
Send me an email and I will set up a call quickly to learn how I might be able to help.
terry@thecareerlifecycle.com
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