How we found them · Engaging them · The deck
Leaders who control an independent service firm, are growing it, and are changing how its people work
In short
- Acceptance criteria for the list: a US service firm of 1,000 to 10,000 people, independently owned, led by someone who controls it, a dated and costly change to how the work is done, and their own words on why.
- The 1% of the 1% share four qualities: they see the shift, think from first principles, challenge the status quo, and the people around them trust them and follow their lead. Most also talk about the firm decades ahead.
- The best fits are also growing or investing: acquisitions, new offices, new capital, or a major build inside the firm.
- 5 prototypes show what a perfect fit looks like: Marty Bicknell of Mariner, Anthony McCusker of Goodwin (Goodwin Procter LLP), Eugene Ludwig of Ludwig Advisors, Jamie Price of Osaic and Tim Stonehocker of Americo.
- Every leader has a score out of 10 for how closely they match the profile. The highest score so far is 7, and 10 leaders score 6 or higher.
Who qualifies
Acceptance criteria
| Test | What passes |
|---|---|
| 1. A US service firm | People doing the work for clients: advice, care, law, accounting, insurance, engineering, staffing, agencies and similar. Firms that mainly sell products or software do not pass. |
| 2. 1,000 to 10,000 people | A firm this size has an established way of working, and one leader can still change it. The list still includes leaders of smaller firms we found earlier. |
| 3. Independently owned | Private, family, employee, partner or co-op owned. Not publicly traded and not controlled by a private-equity owner. |
| 4. A leader who controls it | A founder, owner, chair or chief executive with no parent company or controlling investor above them. |
| 5. A dated, costly change to how the work is done | AI or automation in the core work, roles or layers redesigned, a new service or pricing model, a new owned arm. A sale of the firm or a succession plan is not enough by itself. |
| 6. Their own words | A quote from the leader, not the company or a journalist, showing they want to change how the firm works. |
We leave off household names, billionaires and anyone outside the United States.
What the 1% of the 1% have in common
Four qualities, and a long view
| Quality | What it looks like |
|---|---|
| Sees the shift | Believes the world of work is changing. |
| First principles | Works out what the firm should be from first principles instead of copying peers. |
| Challenges the status quo | Has the ambition or incentive to push and see what happens. |
| Trusted influence | Has the trust and influence of the people around them, at any level of the firm. |
| A long-term mindset | Talks in public about the firm decades ahead: the next 20 years, the next generation of partners, a firm built to last. |
The acceptance criteria decide who is on the list. The qualities raise a leader's score: half a point for each of the four we can show from a dated public source, and a point for the long view.
What makes a strong fit
A firm in a growth or investment part of its life
- Growing: buying other firms, opening offices or entering new markets, adding people.
- Investing in itself: new capital or a minority investor, a major technology or AI build, a new owned arm or service line, a new headquarters or training center.
A growing firm has a reason to rethink how its people work now, and the money to act on it. Growth raises a leader's score, and a firm that isn't growing stays on the list.
The prototypes
What a perfect fit looks like
Marty Bicknell of Mariner, Anthony McCusker of Goodwin (Goodwin Procter LLP), Eugene Ludwig of Ludwig Advisors, Jamie Price of Osaic and Tim Stonehocker of Americo. See their cards
The score out of 10
How closely each leader matches the profile, on top of the acceptance criteria
0score 8 to 10
10score 6 or 7
223score 5 or lower
The seven parts
What earns points, and how many
| Part | Points | How it is scored | Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Growth or investment stage | 2 | Growing (acquisitions, new offices or markets, rising headcount) or investing in itself (new capital, a major technology build, a new arm): 2. Steady: 1. Not yet known: 0.5. Contracting or being sold: 0. | 1.4 |
| Firm size | 2 | 0.2 for each full 1,000 people, from 1,000 up to 10,000 or more: 2,500 people scores 0.4, 10,000 scores 2. Under 1,000: 0. | 0.2 |
| Transformation mindset | 2 | 0.5 for each quality of the 1% of the 1% shown on the record: sees the shift, first principles, challenges the status quo, trusted influence. | 1.2 |
| A recent, costly change | 1 | Weight, up to 0.5: three or more costly actions on record: 0.5. Two: 0.35. One: 0.2. Recency, up to 0.5: latest action in 2026: 0.5. In 2025: 0.4. In 2024: 0.25. Earlier: 0.1. | 0.6 |
| Warm introduction | 1 | A documented path to Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn: 1. | 0 |
| In the news | 1 | In the news in the last 60 days: 1. | 0.1 |
| Long-term mindset | 1 | Has spoken publicly about decades ahead or the long term (the next 20 years, a 100-year firm, the next generation): 1. | 0.1 |
We add the points and round to a whole number. "Average" is the mean across the list.
Where the facts come from. Growth: a dated item from the firm's newsroom or the trade press, 2024 to 2026. Size: the best public headcount. Change: the costly actions already checked for each card, and the year of the latest one. Mindset and long-term view: interviews, talks, articles and the firm's own pages, with a dated source for each quality. Warm introduction: a documented path, three steps or fewer, to Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn. In the news: the newest story about the leader or the firm.
How the list spreads out
Leaders at each score
71
69
543
481
346
247
16
A worked example
Marty Bicknell, Mariner: 7 out of 10
| Part | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Growth or investment stage | 2 of 2 | Acquired Atlas Financial and Newport Advisory (about $878 million AUM), December 2024; 126 offices, target of 5,000 advisors by 2027 |
| Firm size | 0.4 of 2 | about 2,500 people |
| Transformation mindset | 1.5 of 2 | Sees the shift, First principles, Challenges the status quo |
| A recent, costly change | 0.9 of 1 | 2 costly actions on record, latest in 2026 |
| Warm introduction | 1 of 1 | documented path to Andrei Pop, Dimple Shah or Grad Conn |
| In the news | 1 of 1 | in the news 2026-09-12 |
| Long-term mindset | 0 of 1 | no long-term statement found |
The highest scores
The 15 leaders at the top
| Leader | Firm | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Marty Bicknell | Mariner | 7 |
| Phil Shawe | TransPerfect | 6 |
| Bryan Hannegan | Holy Cross Energy | 6 |
| Michael Pierson | Pierson Ferdinand LLP | 6 |
| B.J. Werzyn | West Shore Home | 6 |
| April Koh | Spring Health | 6 |
| Jen Leary | CLA | 6 |
| John Morgan | Morgan & Morgan | 6 |
| Miguel Zaldivar | Hogan Lovells Cadwalader | 6 |
| Dwayne Clark | Aegis Living | 6 |
| Nir Bar Dea | Bridgewater Associates | 5 |
| George Popstefanov | PMG | 5 |
| Dave Kievet | The Boldt Group | 5 |
| James B. Rutland | MMR Group Inc. | 5 |
| Jean Hynes | Wellington Management | 5 |
How to use it
Start with the highest scores, then filter
- Sort the list by Highest score first, or filter to 8 or higher.
- Combine the score with industry, title and geography to build a batch for the week.
- Open Why on a card before reaching out: a high score from recent news is a reason to write now.