Executive Career Coaching · Professional Services

Executive career coaching
for future Partners & Managing Directors

Accelerate to the top, and become the leader you were designed to be. Executive career coaching for Senior Managers, Senior Associates, VPs, Executive Directors, Engagement Managers and Project Managers at the world’s leading consulting, law, accounting and financial firms.

A private 1:1 with Lance Tanaka. Completely confidential. No obligation.
24 yrs
Coaching at the top
1,000+
Professionals guided
3×
Published author

Two decades coaching senior professionals at

The Partner / MD inflection point

The crossroads every high performer reaches.

Every senior professional on the path to Partner or Managing Director meets the same four pressures. Naming them is the first step to moving past them.

01

The clock is running.

The path to Partner or Managing Director runs on a timer. Every year without a deliberate plan is a year your peers are compounding theirs.

02

No time to think about the top.

You are heads-down delivering. The one career that should be accelerating, your own, is the only one nobody is actively working on.

03

Talent was never the bottleneck.

You are already exceptional. What is missing is the positioning, sponsorship and plan that turn senior-executive performance into a Partner/MD seat.

04

Surviving isn’t a strategy.

Just surviving the workload isn’t the right approach. Hoping good work gets noticed is how brilliant people stall one rung from the top.

You advise others on their highest-stakes decisions every day. This is executive career coaching for the highest-stakes decision of your own: becoming the leader you were designed to be.

A private 1:1 with Lance Tanaka. Strictly confidential.

The neutral advisor

Everyone advising your career is conflicted.

Not by intent. Everyone you would turn to either has a stake in your next move, or has never sat where you sit.

Your firm
Wants you to stay
Your mentor
Plays the firm’s game
Recruiters
Paid to place you
Peers & family
Goodwill, not expertise

Each of them has an agenda. North Unlocked has only one: you.

NeutralExpertConfidential
Lance Tanaka, executive career coach for senior executives and founder of North Unlocked
Meet your advisor

Lance Tanaka

Creator of North Unlocked · Executive coach to the world’s leading firms

For more than two decades, Lance has coached the people at the very top of the world’s leading consulting, accounting, law and financial services firms. Since 2001 he has logged over 19,000 coaching hours and guided more than 900 executives to Partner, Managing Director and General Manager.

Proven across the top professional services firms
McKinsey & Company18 years · 170+ Partners & EMs coached
Deloitte24 years · 300+ Partners & Senior Managers coached
Morgan Stanley20 years · 40+ MDs & Directors coached
A&O Shearman15 years · 20+ Partners & Senior Associates coached
EQT10 years · 20+ Partners coached
Published authorThree books on purpose & authenticity

A private 1:1 with Lance. Strictly confidential.

The method

Your path to the top, in three steps.

North Unlocked is a structured engagement, not a series of chats. Three clear steps take you from delivering the work to leading it, on the path to Partner or Managing Director.

01

Find your North

We pinpoint the Partner or MD you were designed to be, and the strengths and experience that get you there.

What you getYou stop guessing and start moving, sure of the leader you are becoming.

02

Build the three platforms

Every Partner stands on three: a strong client practice, go-to expertise, and the sponsors who back you.

What you getYou become the obvious choice, backed by the people who decide promotions.

03

Execute the plan

We turn it into deliberate steps to take now, and adjust the course as you climb.

What you getYou reach Partner or MD years sooner, and still feel like yourself.

A private 1:1 with Lance Tanaka. Strictly confidential.

Proof

Trusted at the very top.

Partners, Managing Directors and CEOs at the firms you are aiming for.

Lance has worked with hundreds of our potential partner candidates for the past 16 years. I find that Lance is both practical and perceptive, understanding our needs and the changing, often challenging demands of the market place.

Anne Shih
First female Partner, Deloitte China

I have worked with Lance multiple times over my 17 year career in China, both for my own development and that of my team. I cannot say enough about him as an executive coach. He is the best.

Brendan Kelly
Senior Partner & Head of China Tax, Baker & McKenzie

Insightful and resourceful, Lance has impact with everyone he works with. His calm, open approach has enabled leaders in my organization to make the changes required to take on new challenges and roles.

Dawn de Morgan
Director, Credit Suisse China

What sets Lance apart is his experience running businesses, his cultural fluency across East and West, and his passion and integrity to help people succeed.

Robbert van der Feltz
President, Hilti Asia

His extensive background and practical experience guided me in my first CEO role, and helped our leadership team work together more effectively.

James Schwartz
CEO, MGF Sourcing

A private 1:1 with Lance Tanaka. Strictly confidential.

Who it is for

Built for the people on the Partner track.

Senior professionals at the world’s top firms, ready to accelerate.

Consulting
Engagement & Project Managers
Accounting
Senior Managers
Law
Senior Associates
Finance
VPs & Executive Directors

Selective by design. If you are serious about reaching Partner or Managing Director, and ready to be deliberate about getting there, this is built for you.

A private 1:1 with Lance Tanaka. Strictly confidential.

Questions

FAQs

Completely. Everything you share is private, including the fact that you are working with us at all. Your firm is never contacted, involved or informed.

Your firm’s programs exist to serve the firm. North Unlocked answers only to you, with no stake in your decision except your success.

No. The engagement is built for people running at full tilt. Sessions are focused and deliberate, and the plan fits around the work you already carry.

That is the starting point, not a problem. We begin by finding your direction rather than forcing a single answer. Clarity is the first thing you get.

With a confidential strategy call with Lance. You will leave with a clear read on your path to Partner or Managing Director, and whether this is right for you. No pressure either way.

The next step

One conversation can change your trajectory.

Book a confidential strategy call with Lance Tanaka. Leave with a clear read on your path to Partner or Managing Director, and whether North Unlocked is right for you.

Strictly confidential. No pressure, either way.