Dianne Jacobs

Chosen By Leading Organisations And Executives

Dianne Jacobs is the founding principal of The Talent Advisors | The NED Advisors and her focus is guiding and informing organisations, executives, partners and directors. She is often described as professional, a trusted sounding board, strategic and pragmatic with insightful solutions to improve business and leader impact.

With a strong commercial and action-oriented approach, Dianne draws on a background that includes twelve years with investment bank Goldman Sachs JBWere, where she was an equity partner, a member of its partnership committee and established its inaugural diversity council.

She is currently or has previously been selected as a panel member, associate, presenter or program mentor with:

• Melbourne Business School

• Corporate development leadership programs for ASX or SME businesses

• Program mentor (corporate or community board-ready initiatives)

• The University of Sydney Business School

• Leadership Victoria (presenter and pro-bono mentor)

• Governance Institute of Australia (pro-bono mentor)

• Women on Boards

• Australian Institute of Company Directors

Client testimonials attest to the value she brings to c-suite executives and board directors. Work is delivered face-to-face or virtual; one-on-one and in small groups; with individuals or organisations.

Her client experience is across diverse sectors: aviation, banking, beverages, building materials, business schools, consultant engineering, education, financial services, government, hospitals, health insurance, investment management, investment banking, insurance, legal, logistics, MBA alumni, media, membership institutes, oil & energy, professional institutes, professional services, private equity, sports marketing, superannuation, resources, start-ups and wealth management.

She has been a long-time advocate for diversity, inclusion and different viewpoints, developing both organisational initiatives and in helping others capitalise on the value of all talent.

Dianne’s published articles cover managerial leadership, business, board-readiness, talent strategies and women’s leadership.

She sits on the board of Melbourne Forum an organisation that connects ideas, people and places through meaningful discussion and contribution to civic, social, economic, cultural, political and public policy issues of relevance to Melbourne. Her board role has included co-deputy chair and chair of the membership, member engagement, fellowships and interest groups (including sustainability leadership) sub-committees.

Chosen For Acumen, Results and Reputation

Like you, she wants people to succeed.

Having been on senior executive teams – and a sounding board to CEOs and their direct reports – she has a real understanding of high-impact talent, how they think, achieve success, develop strategy and which actions take performance and careers to the next level.

Dianne is skilled at improving business and leader impact by helping executives prepare for the next-level of leadership, to take stock of that new role, to jump-start change by coaching change agents, to avoid new leader transition pitfalls, to rethink their managerial leadership, to capitalise on the advantages of diversity.

She also guides executives wanting to be more astute when navigating the corporate landscape. Executives or new directors seek her out for her judgement and to help them be better positioned when transitioning to non-executive director.

In particular, Dianne brings to her work the acumen and insight gained from complex and demanding environments. Her expertise has been honed from involvement in all stages of the organisational life-cycle including merger, joint ventures and restructures – from the pre-transaction to the post-integration stages.

Her style is flexible, matching the way others learn. She is a confidential thought partner and the people she works with feel “listened to and more confident.” Empathy creates and maintains the relationship, which leads to discussions that uncover what is really happening, to being open to alternate perspectives, to learn and to change. Dianne utilises action learning, adaptive leadership, self-directed learning, situational leadership and mentoring circles.

More effective role-transitions, successful promotion nominations, reduced derailment risks, greater business outcomes, non-executive director board readiness, board or senior executive appointments, re-focus of new or transitioning boards, improved performance ratings or 360° feedback and shifts in leader impact are typical outcomes from working with her.

Dianne’s relationships are collaborative. Based on trust, this mutual connection fosters a joint commitment to both agreed outcomes and the value of the alliance.

As seen by these testimonials Dianne successfully assists individuals aiming for board roles or corporate director-level positions.

By the way, she can be quite ‘social,’ tweeting about leadership, blogging or discussing tactics for aspiring board directors on LinkedIn.