Our Practices
Everything we do is retained, exclusive, and led personally by the partner you engage. The person you engage is the person who leads your search from start to finish.
Four practices. One disciplined approach.
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Chief executive and C-suite appointments for organisations where leadership matters most. These are searches where the cost of getting it wrong is measured in years, and where the difference between interviewing well and leading well can be significant.
We map the entire market, not just the active one. Most of the executives we place were not looking for a move; they moved because the opportunity was well articulated and compelling.
Every candidate is assessed against the TDN Leadership Compass. You will receive a written assessment that reflects our observations, providing a balanced view of each person's strengths, development areas, and overall leadership fit.
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Chair and non-executive director appointments where judgement, independence and board fit matter most. These are highly selective searches, where the quality of each appointment shapes the effectiveness of the board for years to come.
Our networks extend across the generation of leaders now serving on boards, with many relationships established long before they took on those roles. That depth of connection gives us access beyond the visible market.
Every board search follows the same disciplined assessment process. We begin with board composition and skills matrix analysis, then assess each candidate against the board's specific needs. You will receive written assessments that provide a clear view of capability, contribution and overall fit.
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General managers, site leaders, project directors and the senior operational leaders who deliver outcomes. These are appointments where execution matters every day, where the impact of the right leader is felt immediately, and where getting it wrong can affect safety, performance and project success.
We approach every operational leadership search with the same discipline and assessment rigour as a chief executive appointment, because these leaders carry responsibility for the outcomes that matter most.
This is also where our networks are deepest. Many of today's managing directors are people we first met as project engineers, superintendents or site leaders. Those long-standing relationships give us access to talent throughout the leadership pipeline, not just at the top.
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Not every leadership question begins with a vacancy. We advise organisations on succession planning, leadership assessment, talent mapping and team composition, applying the same disciplined assessment approach that underpins our search work.
Talent mapping gives you a clear view of the market before you need to hire. Succession planning provides an honest assessment of whether the right leader is already within your organisation. If that's our conclusion, we will tell you - even if it means there is not a search to undertake.
Every advisory engagement is tailored to the organisation and the question at hand. And if we do not believe we can add meaningful value, you will hear that first.
How the search runs
Three phases. Simple to say, disciplined to do.
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Every search begins with the brief, but we don’t simply accept it, we test it. Because we know the industries we work in, our first conversation is not spent learning your business. It is spent understanding the role, the outcomes it needs to deliver, and whether your expectations align with the realities of the market.
We will tell you if the remuneration is unlikely to attract the calibre of leader you are seeking, or if the brief needs refining before we go to market. Those conversations happen early, not after an unsuccessful search.
Together, we develop a position specification that reflects both your needs and market reality. It becomes the benchmark against which every candidate is assessed.
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We map the entire market, not just the active one. That means research, targeted approaches, and conversations that only happen when the person making the call has spent decades building relationships in the industry. Most of the leaders we place are not looking for a move.
Comprehensive market mapping is also where diversity is won or lost. Narrow searches produce familiar shortlists. We build candidate pools deliberately broad, challenge role requirements that exclude capable people without improving hiring outcomes, and report on the diversity of the market we identified, not just the shortlist we present. The result is a process that is both transparent and merit-based. Every candidate you meet has earned their place through assessment, and we believe clients should expect both diversity of access and rigour of selection.
Candidates are assessed against the brief using the TDN Leadership Compass, our framework for evaluating leadership across four dimensions: Direction, Delivery, Engagement and Resilience. Character sits outside the framework as a threshold rather than a score. It is not something to balance against other qualities; it is the standard every candidate must first meet.
You will receive written assessments that reflect our judgement of each candidate's strengths, development areas and overall fit for the role. Referencing is conducted personally by the lead partner, in depth, before an offer is made, not afterwards.
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In our view, a search is not complete when a leader starts. We stay involved through the first twelve months, with structured check-ins with both you and the appointed leader at agreed milestones, not just when issues arise.
Those conversations help build momentum, surface challenges early, and support a successful transition for both the individual and the organisation.
That ongoing involvement is why we are prepared to stand behind our work. If a placement leaves or their employment is terminated within twelve months due to underperformance, we will undertake the search again at no professional fee.
TDN Leadership Compass
Four dimensions. One threshold.
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Executive assessment too often produces reports that are difficult to act on. Strengths are emphasised, development areas are softened, and important leadership risks can be lost in carefully balanced language. The result is that clients are left making one of their most important decisions without a clear view of both capability and risk.
The TDN Leadership Compass is our answer to that. It is the assessment framework we have developed through decades of executive search in industries where leadership outcomes are highly visible, expensive to recover, and measured in delivery rather than intent. Mining, major projects, contracting and defence. Environments where leadership is reflected in safety, performance, cost and execution, not simply in how a leader presents in an interview.
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The Leadership Compass assesses every candidate across four dimensions.
Direction. Can they set a course and hold it? Strategic judgement, commercial acumen, and the ability to make sound decisions with incomplete information.
Delivery. Do they turn plans into outcomes? Operational discipline, accountability, and a proven record of delivering results, not simply participating in them.
Engagement. Can they take people with them? How they lead teams, work with boards and owners, and build trust that endures under pressure.
Resilience. What happens when things don't go to plan? Composure, adaptability, and the ability to navigate setbacks without losing perspective or judgement.
Character sits beneath all four dimensions. We treat it differently because integrity is not something a leader can have seven out of ten of. It is a threshold, not a score. Candidates who don't meet it do not progress, regardless of their strengths elsewhere.
Every shortlisted candidate is assessed against the Leadership Compass, and every client receives a written assessment outlining both strengths and development areas. No leader is without gaps. The value lies in understanding them before an appointment is made, so expectations are clear and support can be targeted from day one.