From Retired Executive to Global Thought Leader

Context
After an accomplished executive career, this client completed a doctoral dissertation on a pressing issue in organizational life. His committee off-handedly remarked, “You should publish something on this.”

He knew he didn’t just want “something.” He wanted this body of work to:

• Influence senior leaders and boards

• Open doors to meaningful post-retirement work

• Build a durable platform—not a one-and-done article

What he didn’t have was a strategy or the time, writing support, and thought partnership to execute it.

What We Did

• Clarified the platform. We reframed the dissertation not as a “student project” but as the first brick in a larger body of thought with clear audiences: senior leaders, managers, HR, and industry partners.

• Extracted the core ideas. We mapped the dissertation into a set of distinct but connected frameworks—each with its own angle, story, and application.

• Designed a publication ladder. Together we built a sequencing strategy: start with tier-one business outlets, then deepen into industry publications, then a book.

• Ghostwrote and co-created. Working from recordings, notes, and dissertation chapters, we drafted and refined articles in his voice, tightening the arguments and making the research accessible.

• Architected the book. We structured a commercially viable book around his frameworks, then developed sample chapters, proposal materials, and supporting tools and exercises.

• Extended into programs. We translated the ideas into talks, workshops, and curricula that organizations could deploy at scale.

Throughout, we functioned as strategist, ghostwriter, and execution engine—allowing him to stay in his zone of genius while the work moved forward.

Outcomes

• Articles based on his work were published in top-tier business outlets (think HBR/MIT-level) and multiple industry journals.

• His book, built from this body of IP, was picked up by a major publisher and went on to win several awards.

• The frameworks became the basis for enterprise-level programs and courses, including a high-visibility collaboration with a global nonprofit.

• He has since spoken on prestigious stages—including global economic and faith-based forums—where his ideas now influence leaders around the world.

• Most importantly, he has a coherent, extensible body of thought that supports consulting, partnerships, and ongoing influence.

This is what happens when you treat a dissertation as the seed of a movement, not the end of a degree.