Why the name “Lodestone”?
Pieces of lodestone, suspended so they could turn, were the first magnetic compasses, and their importance to early navigation is indicated by the name Lodestone, which in Middle English means “course stone” or “leading stone”, from the now-obsolete meaning of lode as “journey, way”
Lodestone People Consulting was founded by an organizational psychologist and former Prequin Top Decile PE executive to make organizational assessment and effectiveness accessible to all PE firms, not just the giant ones…or the ones on TV.
We are business psychologists and Human Capital leaders who assist investors and boards with management team assessment; with scientifically assessing and building out effective leadership teams; with merging, growing, and creating positive organizational cultures; with advising and developing leaders throughout the organization; and with auditing and optimizing human capital practices in portfolio companies. Lodestone’s hallmark is pragmatically tying human capital science to business outcomes in a cost-effective way for large and small private equity firms and their portfolio companies.
Often, we work with organizations early in the hold, after a significant change out of leadership, or after an acquisition to establish the Vision, Mission, and Values of the new organization going forward. We counsel management teams to not just laminate some popular words and slap them on the wall, but rather, to be intentional about choosing their values and then operationalizing them in their behavior and performance reward systems.
We take our own advice, and so we spent concentrated effort deciding and honing Lodestone’s values. Reviewing these should give you a sense of who you get when you work with us.
- Credibility: Clients appreciate our blend of scientific training with years of relevant, pragmatic experience. We know what we know, and we excel at what we know.
- Humility: We keep learning from all sources, including our clients. We avoid Ph.D. lingo and citing research without purpose. We partner vs. tell. We refer clients to others for services we don’t know well.
- No BS: With clients and internally, we say what we mean and mean what we say. We check assumptions rather than assume.
- A-Ha Moments: We create learnings in our clients about the value and practice of human capital science.
- Enjoyment: We appreciate the multi-dimensionality of our own team and of our clients. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, and we intentionally celebrate as we work.
Our Vision
Be the trusted, front-of-mind sherpa who guides values-aligned clients safely through the human capital science portion of their growth journey.