North Highland’s New CEO, Alex Bombeck, Wants Businesses to Empower the Workforce with Structured Flexibility

Highlights the firm’s people and culture as differentiating strengths 

North Highland, the leading change and transformation consultancy, kicks off 2022 with new CEO Alex Bombeck at the helm. Previously, the firm’s managing director and group president, Bombeck succeeds Dan Reardon who transitioned to executive chair of the Board after 17 years as CEO.

Bombeck takes over at an exciting time as the firm celebrates its 30th anniversary in April 2022 and continues its renewed focus on helping client transform and embrace the central role the workforce plays. “Our vision for the firm is to have the most enviable culture on the planet. We know this will help us continue to attract the best talent and deliver the best work for our clients.”

Commenting on the firm’s strategy, Bombeck said, “Our firm approaches flexibility with intentionality. We create a framework that empowers the workforce and offers them the guardrails to drive toward shared enterprise goals. We've always been the opposite of businesses that are hardwired to do things in a certain way. So, we are uniquely positioned to help clients strike the right balance between adaptability and structure to keep up with today’s climate of always-on transformation.”

Dan Reardon said, “Through the many roles Alex has had over the years at North Highland, he’s shown he has what it takes to lead us in this ever-changing environment. His background, his consulting expertise and the unique perspective he brings, give me complete confidence that he is the right choice to be CEO. He’s a visionary leader who is also committed to our people enabling others to reach their full potential.”

North Highland is consistently acknowledged as a leading global consultancy by analyst firms including Gartner, Forrester, ALM, and others. For the past 13 years, the firm has been ranked as a “best firm to work” for by Consulting Magazine. “What makes us different from other consulting firms is the intersection of our operating model with the expertise of our people and our culture,” Bombeck said. “We not only develop strategies to address our clients’ greatest challenges, we roll up our sleeves alongside them to help with implementation to ensure lasting success.”

Loretta Penn, founder and president of executive coaching and consulting company PECC, LLC and North Highland lead director and board member, said, “On behalf of the Board, I enthusiastically welcome Alex to his new position. He does a superb job of instilling high standards and a collaborative culture and will lead North Highland forward as an outstanding transformation consultancy that embraces diversity in every form.”

Bombeck brings impressive and diverse experience to his role as CEO. He brings more than 25 years of experience helping enterprises transform their organizational and operational processes in ways that support new and more digital ways of working, greater enterprise agility and cultures rooted in collaboration and co-creation. Since joining North Highland in 2014, Bombeck has had responsibility for a number of areas in the firm, including digital and experience design, data & analytics, agile transformation and the firm’s revenue and growth strategy.  He has also served as a member of the North Highland’s Board since 2018 and on the Board of Directors for the Metro Atlanta Chamber since 2022.

Prior to joining North Highland, Bombeck served as chief digital officer at Havas Worldwide and led digital consulting practices at several other marketing and communications agencies.