Meet Leigh Ann Schultz
Former Director Leigh Ann Schultz talks about her approach to completing an endurance event in Antarctica
It’s a slippery slope from the D.C. suburbs to a muddy, sleet-whipped island off the coast of Antarctica. Just ask Leigh Ann Schultz, formerly a Director with AlixPartners, an active AlixAlumni member, and a textbook high achiever who recently completed a half-marathon at an Antarctic outpost.
Leigh Ann, a financial executive, first worked with AlixPartners as a client on a Chapter 11 case in the early 2000s, then joined the team in 2004. In 2009, she transferred from AlixPartners’ Dallas office to the D.C. office and found herself in a “freakishly athletic neighborhood” where group runs were the favored social outing, a sport that lent itself quite nicely to the consultant life, always available when she was traveling.
Positive pressure to get active escalated from “Let's go run this race and then I'll host brunch at my house,” to “let's go run this 200-mile overnight relay in bourbon country,” says Leigh Ann.
At this point, with such rich industry experience, Bonney was in high demand in the consulting world. So, he accepted work at McKinsey & Co. in Cleveland, Ohio, and after a short spell as an independent consultant he moved to AlixPartners in late 2007. While at AlixPartners, Bonney enjoyed the creative, hands-on work he was able to accomplish. “I always loved the fact that there wasn’t a prescriptive way of doing things,” Bonney said of his time at the firm. “It was very much about finding the right solution for the particular problem we were working on at the time. I really enjoyed that we didn’t assume there was a copybook way of doing things.”
The move to Cerberus came when Bonney realized he wanted to experience new horizons. “There’s a common feature when I look back on my career,” he said. “I always feel like there’s more to see and more to life than what I’m doing. I’m really interested in seeing how other industries work, how other sectors work. It’s a curiosity, I suppose.”
After four years at Cerberus, Andy took a role as the Global Head of Programme Management Office at global leader in gateway services and Asia's preeminent provider of food solutions.
One learning that Bonney has carried throughout his varied experiences is the idea that there is no substitute for forming good relationships with the key stakeholders on your project and at work in general. “Becoming a trusted advisor is not an entitlement – it’s earned,” he said. “You have to invest time and go above and beyond to show that you are genuinely aligned to the interests of whoever it is, the client, the company, etc. And through that, you’ll earn some respect, and through that you’ll earn trust, and that will allow you to do the task that you’re there to do so much more easily. It doesn’t matter what job title you carry and what business card you hold.”
There is, also, no substitute for human connections and the professional relationships one forms with people. It’s one of the reasons Bonney tries to stay in touch with old colleagues. “Everyone always has a story to tell,” he said. “Everyone is gaining new experiences all the time and there’s always something to be learned. You create and offer opportunities to others through that route. You learn personally, but you could also fulfil some business needs. So, there’s a practical aspect to it as well.”
To tackle facets of his busy life, Bonney has always relied on a few tricks. He is a prolific list-maker, taking the trusty pen-and-paper approach to planning his day. “My wife sometimes mocks me for this because if I end up doing things that weren’t on my list, I write them down and cross them off as well!”
He also doesn’t “fight the time zones,” as he describes it. “If, for example, I’m going to the US for a week’s work, I’ll finish my day at about 9 PM and go to bed,” he said. “And then I’ll get up at 3 AM and do the administrative stuff that I normally would’ve done in the evening. Of course, my standard working day has to adjust, but beyond that I don’t fight it.”
Another thing that keeps Bonney relaxed despite the high-pressure life is living in a relatively small town 50 miles north of London with his wife and two teenage sons who enjoy riding the three horses they own. Bonney also has three older sons from a previous marriage. “I love to go to London for a day’s work, but I also love the contrast that when I get home at night, I can look out my back window and I can’t see another house.”
In his free time, Bonney enjoys traveling with his family (pictured here with two of his sons and his wife) and discovering new artists at music festivals.