The Work
Decisions often don't fail because the analysis was wrong. They fail in the landing.Gibb Advisory works with leaders ahead of significant transitions — providing an independent read of where exposure is forming and what needs to be considered before they commit.The transition might be a leadership change, an acquisition, a restructure, a major public commitment, or a partnership that is more exposed than it looks. The kind of moment that will define the next two or three years.The most useful counsel at moments like these is genuinely independent. Gibb Advisory is a sole practice. There is no firm, no network with its own interests, no financial stake in the outcome. The only obligation is to the client.The gap between aspiration and real-world reception is where the risk lives. Working on that gap early — before the options begin to close — is how you move with confidence.
The Gap
Most decisions don't fail because the risks were invisible. They fail once they meet the internal dynamics, governance structures, and external stakeholder pressure they were never fully examined against.That gap is where an independent read changes what is possible. It is where Gibb Advisory works.
The Foundation
The work draws on ongoing primary research with senior leaders: how transitions actually played out, what signals were present but not acted on, where the gap between internal conviction and external reality opened without warning.Not a judgment on the calls that sat behind them. A read of what was visible, what was missed, and what that pattern suggests about the transition in front of you now.No adviser inside the situation has access to that pattern. An independent read, grounded in how these moments have actually behaved, is what changes what is possible.That is the foundation of every engagement.
HOW WE WORK
Gibb Advisory works across four engagement types. Each is designed around a different moment and a different need. All are grounded in the same principle: independent counsel, at the point when it matters most.All engagements begin with a scoping conversation.
Independent Sounding Board
A single conversation for a specific moment. Up to 60 minutes by phone, Zoom or in person, followed by a short summary note capturing the key points and considerations. For leaders who need an independent read on something forming, before it becomes a decision or a commitment. For many leaders, this is where the relationship begins.
Focused Transition Engagement
For leaders who are close to a moment and need to move quickly. Two working sessions over up to two months, with check-ins between, focused on triaging immediate exposures and identifying the next steps most likely to stabilise the situation and regain clarity and momentum.Closes with a summary note on key findings and priorities.
Forward Engagement
For leaders with a significant transition on the horizon and enough lead time to prepare properly. Three to four working sessions over up to three months, with an independent read across the full picture: the environment, stakeholder dynamics, internal and external context, and the patterns of risk and opportunity most relevant to what is ahead.Closes with a review note setting out key findings and a prioritised view of where to focus before the moment arrives.
Retained
A standing relationship for leaders who want independent counsel as a constant rather than a one-off. A monthly session of 60 to 90 minutes as the backbone, with responsive access between sessions for the moments that won't wait.A light review every quarter to step back from the immediate and take stock of what is developing and what is on the horizon. The retained relationship accumulates something the other engagements don't: context. Over time, the read becomes sharper because the landscape is already known.Minimum three month commitment. 30 days notice to cancel thereafter.
Fiona Gibb
More than 20 years inside senior leadership — including eleven as a Global Managing Director at HSBC, on the executive committees of its two largest and most complex global businesses. What that time built is a practiced ability to read how decisions behave under pressure. Where the gap between what a leadership team believes and what is actually happening tends to open. What is visible at the point before commitment, and what is not.That is not a skill that belongs to large institutions. The dynamics of transition — the stakeholder pressures, the distance between internal conviction and external reality, the signals that are present but not acted on — are present wherever leaders are making decisions that matter. The work is grounded in ongoing primary research with senior leaders across sectors, examining how transitions have actually played out and what they reveal about the moments that preceded them.
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START A CONVERSATION
Every engagement begins with a scoping conversation — a short call to establish whether there is a fit and what the right approach is.If you are approaching a moment that matters, or can see one on the horizon, the right time to have that conversation is before the options begin to close.