As headhunters, we’ve been working in the executive search industry for many years helping organisations in different sectors and geographies to hire key executive. Our experience means we are able to advise and guide you in managing your career options and achieving your specific work life goals.
With many years of experience advising boards on their hiring needs, we are able to share our observations with you and explore how you can best use your skills to develop the next stage of your work life.
Board Career Coach, Executive Chair ISC Group and Co-Chair GAIN a voluntary position.
Barbara’s career in the financial services covers 4 decades operating in the industry as a business leader and later as an executive search consultant to the insurance markets.
Barbara set out 45 years ago to better understand the complexities of much needed culture change in insurance. In her extensive years operating in financial services and as a executive search consultant, Barbara challenged normal practices and spotted the need to bring together women leaders in the London Market to network, over time creating an international community of women, for which she was awarded an MBE in 2018.
Today, Barbara’s focus is on offering career advice to busy executive as well as expanding the executive level membership of ISC-Group which nowadays is a non profit membership organisation supporting the advancement of all women in insurance and financial services.
Alongside ISC-Group, Barbara co founded and co-Chairs GAIN a non profit membership organisation to encourage better understanding and inclusion of neurodiverse individuals in the insurance industry. Barbara is a Freeman of the City of London and a member of the WCI where she co-founder their female network iWIN.
In recent years, Anthony has helped numerous executives in different countries and from different industries to develop their own clear, concise and compelling personal narrative.
This has become the foundation of his approach to career transition.
Alongside his coaching work with executives, Anthony continues to operate as Managing Partner of executive search firm Archer Mann, which he co-founded with Jim Burley over 10 years ago.
Anthony began his executive search career with Heidrick & Struggles International in their London office before moving the Frankfurt office and later returning to the UK.
Anthony's early search work was predominantly in the technology and professional services sectors, recently expanded to include industrial and consumer sector experience.
Anthony has a degree in German & Spanish from Bristol University and an MBA from Cranfield School of Management. He speaks fluent German and passable French and Spanish.
Gaëlle is an experienced leadership assessor, coach and mentor with 30 years experience working in and around the insurance sector. She works with senior leaders and ambitious mid level managers to help them realise their maximum potential in their chosen professional environment. She is an expert in providing data led personality profiling services and coaching is a passion. Gaëlle has a broad and deep understanding of the insurance sector. Gaëlle is bilingual in French and English and she works internationally.
Since 2005, she has been focusing on developing her skills and experience in leadership assessment, coaching, and executive search. Prior to that, Gaëlle spent 10 years in senior HR positions where she built strong foundations in Talent Management, Global Mobility, Employee Benefits Design, and Executive Recruitment. Her last role was HR Director. Gaëlle has lived and worked in Singapore, the UK and the US.
For the past three and a half years, she led the Leadership Assessment practice of a mid-size talent consulting firm as part of the broader Leadership Advisory team. There, she provided leadership assessment services for recruitment & selection as well as development purposes. Her clients’ exposure includes the broader financial services industry as well as tech and professional services.
Style and approach
DEI underlies everything she does, especially gender diversity and neurodiversity. Gaëlle regularly works with women in the insurance sector to support their career progression as a coach or as a mentor. A keen promoter of inclusivity, she was a founding member and leader of the neurodiversity support group in her previous organisation.
“Anthony Harling has a system that works and delivers results. A true partner, he took the time to understand me and where I wanted to go. I learned from him how to build my story and manage a proactive process to achieve the opportunity I was after.”
“Barbara’s coaching and mentoring support helped me successfully transition from an Executive career to an Non Executive portfolio career. This enabled me to really think deeply about my brand, style and offering.”
Penny Shaw, NED
“I reached out to Anthony to help me understand my career focus and goals, and more importantly tell the story in a compelling way. He instantly understood my background and was quick to cut noise and unpick key themes, resulting in almost instant outcomes and quite a significant career move. I would be delighted to recommend Anthony to other senior execs.”
"Barbara is a consummate professional with an unparalleled network in the Insurance industry. She really thinks about the right role for the right person and laterally in terms of opportunities. I value her as a trusted advisor in my career choices."
Dee Lehane, NED
"Through several sessions Anthony developed a deep understanding of my career choices and motivations. By articulating my career story in an engaging way, Anthony has helped me stand out from the crowd when communicating with headhunters and private equity investors. Through an insightful understanding of what makes me tick Anthony brought into clear focus the type of role that I should be targeting. The way executives find senior roles is now fundamentally different from 10 years ago so we developed an effective search and networking strategy that put me front of mind with the right people. The outcome was that I was able to secure an exciting CFO role in a fast-paced PE-backed technology business - just up my street.”
“Barbara has been consistently supportive and encouraging in my NED journey. She is insightful, analytical, honest and tenacious. These qualities coupled with her impressive network have enabled me to gain the confidence to pursue a number of opportunities which otherwise would not have materialised. I would fully endorse her as both a mentor and coach when transitioning from an executive to plural career in the insurance sector.”
Kim Vernau, NED
"Barbara is very good at assessing and then matching the needs of a board and the executive looking for a position. This avoids the painful process of repeating interviews and time spent on both sides."
Al-Noor Ramji, NED
“Barbara was able to counsel me at an important time where I was deciding on the next phase in my career. She skillfully challenged me to rethink my assumptions and helped me view my options with a fresh, new lens. Barbara’s strong relationship skills, depth of experience and contacts in the market, makes her an invaluable resource for insightful conversations.”
Cristiana Baez, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance