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Leigh Weiss

Senior ExpertBoston

Helps boost organizational effectiveness by optimizing organization design, leading governance transformations, and streamlining executive decision making

Leigh works across industries within the Organization Practice to increase organizational effectiveness. She brings expertise in organization design and helps clients understand how putting in place the right structures and practices can clarify decision rights, instill effective accountability, and make governance more impactful.

Leigh’s work often focuses on executive governance transformations. Whether advising a Fortune 500 enterprise or a small, rapid-growth company, she helps leaders implement changes that enable fast, high-quality decision making.

Examples of her recent client work include the following:

  • designing a governance approach for a new financial services institution, including a vision and charter for the board of directors and roles and decision rights for board members
  • leading an executive governance redesign for a healthcare company, reducing the time executives spend on governance by accelerating decision making
  • working with the CEO and executive team of a technology company to drive a corporate governance transformation addressing board interactions, committee structure, cross-business collaboration, and top-team alignment
  • redesigning governance at the group and subsidiary levels for a leading Latin American financial services company, including developing succession plans and clarifying decision rights

To share insights and inspire conversations, Leigh publishes frequently. Her articles have appeared in Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, Journal of Management Studies, and Organizational Dynamics. Focused on her local community, she serves as a trustee for Gann Academy.

PUBLISHED WORK

Boards and decision making,” McKinsey & Company, April 2021

The disaster you could have stopped: Preparing for extraordinary risks,” McKinsey & Company, December 2020

To unlock better decision making, plan better meetings,” McKinsey & Company, November 2020

Reimagine decision making to improve speed and quality,” McKinsey & Company, September 2020

For smarter decisions, empower your employees,” McKinsey & Company, September 2020

How to make smart decisions quickly in uncertain times,” McKinsey & Company, June 2020

Making quick decisions in a crisis,” LeadershipReview, March 31, 2020

Decision making in uncertain times,” McKinsey & Company, March 2020

What it really means to lead more effectively through empowerment,” McKinsey & Company, February 2020

Busting a management myth: empowering employees doesn’t mean leaving them alone,” McKinsey & Company, February 2020

Want a better decision? Plan a better meeting,” McKinsey Quarterly, May 2019

Three keys to faster, better decisions,” McKinsey Quarterly, May 2019

Decision making: how to get the big bets right,” McKinsey & Company, May 2018

Decision making in your organization: Cutting through the clutter,” McKinsey Quarterly, January 2018

PAST EXPERIENCE

Goldman Sachs
Business analyst

EDUCATION

Harvard University
PhD, MA, BA