Building on more than 30 years of experience as a consultant and executive, Margaret Downs helps leaders thrive in their careers, navigate change, lead diverse teams, and build healthy, effective organizations.

Professional Bio

Building on more than 30 years of experience as a consultant and executive, Margaret Downs helps leaders thrive in their careers, navigate change, lead diverse teams, and build healthy, effective organizations.

Professional Bio

Executive Coach + Management Consultant

Margaret’s expertise ranges across executive coaching, strategic planning, organization design and transformation, and leadership development. Her industry experience encompasses media and marketing, professional services, engineering, healthcare, financial services, and non profit. Sample engagements are provided below.

In addition to her tenure at Bain as a manager and associate, Margaret has worked at Bain Capital LLC as an executive vice president, serving in a business development and marketing role for this private equity firm. She also managed APM’s strategy consulting group (before its acquisition and rebranding as CSC – now DXC – Healthcare, APM was a leading U.S. consulting firm serving the health care industry.)

Margaret received an M.B.A. degree from Harvard Business School. She earned her B.A. degree from Harvard College, magna cum laude with highest honors in history and Phi Beta Kappa. Margaret also holds an Advanced Diploma in Coaching from NYU’s School of Professional Studies and has completed certification work through the International Society for Emotional Intelligence. She is a member of the International Coaching Federation and serves on the New York chapter’s Professional Development Committee.

As needed, Margaret assembles a team of associates to address client needs. Her consulting work has focused in 3 areas detailed below.

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As an executive coach, Margaret works one-on-one with senior and upcoming leaders who want to expand their leadership ability, rise up in their organization, lead with emotional intelligence, build powerful, diverse teams, and make change happen. She is certified through NYU’s Advanced Diploma in Coaching program and through the International Society for Emotional Intelligence.

As an executive coach, Margaret works one-on-one with senior and upcoming leaders who want to expand their leadership ability, rise up in their organization, lead with emotional intelligence, build powerful, diverse teams, and make change happen. She is certified through NYU’s Advanced Diploma in Coaching program and through the International Society for Emotional Intelligence.

As a management consultant, Margaret helps clients make strategies work in complex organizations, update organizational designs, and improve organizational, team and leadership effectiveness. Margaret’s consulting career began at Bain & Company where she helped the firm’s Fortune 1000 clients build and execute powerful business strategies.

As a management consultant, Margaret helps clients make strategies work in complex organizations, update organizational designs, and improve organizational, team and leadership effectiveness. Margaret’s consulting career began at Bain & Company where she helped the firm’s Fortune 1000 clients build and execute powerful business strategies.

“Strategic planning is fascinating on many levels, but even more compelling to me are the human challenges that clients face in making new strategies work inside complex organizations.”

Consulting Practice Areas

Conduct strategic organizational reviews and advise leadership on decisions to restructure management roles and realign supporting organizational structures and workforce. Work alongside functional leaders to support implementation.

For example:

CHANGE MANAGEMENT: For national publisher, managed organizational redesign and change management efforts alongside large-scale program of digital transformation and cost reduction.

ORGANIZATIONAL REFRESH: Conducted organizational assessment and helped leadership of digital services company update organization to increase customer focus, enable international expansion, innovate dynamic products, and manage increasing scale.

GROWTH & PROFITABILITY PLAN: For engineering services firm, developed 3-year organizational roadmap to support continued growth while improving operating margin. Work resulted in key leadership role changes and paved way for acquisition.

MERGER INTEGRATION: Developed organization plan for merger of 2 divisions acquired by global professional services firm; supported integration of engineering firm acquisition.

Consulting Practice Areas

Organizational
PlanningLeadership
DevelopmentStrategic Planning

Conduct strategic organizational reviews and advise leadership on decisions to restructure management roles and realign supporting organizational structures and workforce. Work alongside functional leaders to support implementation.

For example:

CHANGE MANAGEMENT: For national publisher, managed organizational redesign and change management efforts alongside large-scale program of digital transformation and cost reduction.

ORGANIZATIONAL REFRESH: Conducted organizational assessment and helped leadership of digital services company update organization to increase customer focus, enable international expansion, innovate dynamic products, and manage increasing scale.

GROWTH & PROFITABILITY PLAN: For engineering services firm, developed 3-year organizational roadmap to support continued growth while improving operating margin. Work resulted in key leadership role changes and paved way for acquisition.

MERGER INTEGRATION: Developed organization plan for merger of 2 divisions acquired by global professional services firm; supported integration of engineering firm acquisition.

Advise clients on executive succession planning and leadership team reorganization. Conduct team-building and leadership development programs.

For example:

DIVERSITY & LEADERSHIP: Managed extensive engagements to improve gender diversity and develop women leaders for two national engineering firms.

LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT: Supported two leading financial services firms in launch of leadership development programs.

SUCCESSION PLANNING & MANAGEMENT RESTRUCTURING: Conducted leadership assessment and facilitated key executive succession planning and reorganization of national engineering firm’s management and board.

TEAM BUILDING: Worked with senior executive team to improve cohesion and communication and address global business processes.

VIRTUAL TEAMWORK: Assessed team working across 3 offices and recommended initiatives to increase face-to-face interaction (video and in-person), improve meeting and other communication practices, and leverage new technologies.
GLOBAL LEADERSHIP COUNCIL: Conducted semi-annual retreats for 35-member global management council of fast-growing financial services software company.

Strategic Planning

Design and manage planning processes to identify key strategic issues and opportunities and mobilize leadership team around plan of action.

Managed all aspects of strategic planning for leading marketing information services company.

Facilitated numerous strategic planning committees through a course of investigation, decision-making and implementation planning.

Conducted comprehensive audits of national non-profit organizations for their leadership and a major foundation donor to identify future prospects, current strengths and weaknesses, and investment needs. One of these efforts also involved developing a plan for the organization’s national field operations.

Insight • Vision • Change

Ready to take your career to the next level and make some changes?

If you would like to discuss how coaching with me can help, let’s connect.

Exploratory calls are always complimentary.

©2018 Margaret Downs | PRIVACY | Designed by Weller Smith Design

Insight • Vision • Change

Ready to take your career to the next level and make some changes?

If you would like to discuss how coaching with me can help, let’s connect.

Exploratory calls are always complimentary.

©2018 Margaret Downs | PRIVACY | Designed by Weller Smith Design