Protiviti’s latest survey of 1,453 financial services board members and C-suite executives says “ …the ability to attract and retain top talent in a tightening talent market…” ranks #4 in their top 5 concerns in achieving operational goals. Longitude Partners, Inc can help.
Longitude Partners is truly excited to welcome Allen L. Abbott, MBA as EVP, Executive Search and Leadership Coaching. Allen’s long and successful operating background in specialty finance, receivables management, and contact center operations adds enormous depth and substance to Longitude’s commitment to deliver the focused, strategic insights of a senior search partner and the credibility of an operationally experienced management team on every search mandate.
Allen comes to Longitude from DebtTrader® where he spent over 5 years as President and COO with enterprise responsibility for the development and the execution of overall corporate operations. His strong background in business development, recruiting, executive coaching, and operations will be a major asset to Longitude’s clients as they expand and develop their leadership teams. We sat down with Allen and asked him what attracted him most to the role and what he hopes he can bring to the team.
What are you most excited about for your new role? “Finding and starting a new job or career can be one of the most stressful things an individual can go through. This stress, however, isn’t exclusive to the prospective or newly hired employee. Companies aren’t hiring for fun; they are trying to address a need. In the case of Longitude’s clients, these needs are in the leadership ranks so finding the right fit can have far-reaching implications. Make no mistake, these are high-stakes relationships. Placing talented leaders in roles where they can immediately get to work addressing a business need is going to be highly rewarding on all fronts.”
What previous experience do you think prepares you best for this new role? “My career actually started squarely in the Social Sciences and Civic arenas with community mental health, not-for-profit research, and training and development. Over time, my I/O Psychology experience guided me into the fintech space. My focus moved from people to systems and process improvement. As an experienced operations leader, I tend to look at projects, challenges, or problems in terms of their contributing factors. The temptation is to reduce these types of analyses into lists of quantifiable (ideally predictable) inputs and the outputs they generate. This is a reasonable view unless you have a background in studying and exploring human behavior. When humans are involved in counting on rote predictability it’s a fool’s errand. Over the past 20 years, my ongoing education and experience have allowed me to blend and enhance my “Operations View” into a perspective that always starts with enhancing the human element.”
Please welcome Allen to the Longitude Partners team. You can reach him directly at allen@longitudeinc.com or via our website at www.longitudeinc.com.
Longitude Partners is proud and excited to announce our Optimist sponsorship of the 35th Anniversary Celebration of the Women’s Employment Network. Please join us in supporting WEN as they continue their many efforts to empower women to realize their true potential.
Longitude Partners, the only executive recruiting firm exclusively focused on fintech, specialty finance and payments, was proud to again sponsor LEND360, the premier virtual networking event for the online lending industry. The four day, online forum featured expert panelists and keynote speakers addressing the most critical and important topics for investors, operators and others in the sector, from data security, to the future of capital investments, to the issues to expect post-election. The event provided attendees with unparalleled networking and learning opportunities with the best and brightest in the industry. Additionally, Kim Anderson, Longitude Partners CEO chaired an expert panel on cybersecurity in online lending. Panelists included Scott Shedd, CISO, Strategic Link; Erin Jane Illman, Partner, Bradley; Rocio Baeza, CEO, Cybersecurity Base; and, Michael Schenck, Senior Consultant, CyZen.
Forbes Finance Council, the invitation-only organization for senior-level financial services executives and leaders, recently featured comments and perspectives by Kim Anderson, Longitude Partners Founder and CEO, on three separate occasions. The organization periodically publishes advice and counsel from industry experts on current growth-related topics confronting businesses across the US.
“I’m humbled and honored to have my thoughts and comments included with some of the countries most respected financial leaders as businesses across the country deal with the human and economic toll of recent events” said Anderson. “Finding solid footing to ensure long term success can be achieved for many businesses if they’re willing to confront some difficult, fundamental questions”. Anderson’s comments, along with those of other Finance Council members can be found here:
Raising outside funding to establish or expand a business comes with many questions (or should). There are many available funding options, and each carries its own set of benefits and burdens that business leaders need to consider carefully.
When a crisis like COVID-19 hits, it can have expected—and unexpected—impacts on your business’ revenue stream. That’s why it’s important to have a plan for diversifying cash flow, freeing up capital and tapping into other sources of income.
Now is a good time to start thinking about what the workplace should look like when the shutdown is over. The lockdown offers a unique opportunity to supercharge progress on gender equity by deliberately reworking policies and practices to usher in a new chapter in the history of work — one that is designed for men and women, particularly as family commitments come into play.
This poignant article serves as a reminder that Covid-19 isn’t the only pandemic we are in the midst of. The United States is in crisis. As we write this article, videos of racial violence and racist threats toward Black people in America flood social and news media channels.
When a crisis like COVID-19 hits, it can have expected—and unexpected—impacts on your business’ revenue stream. That’s why it’s important to have a plan for diversifying cash flow, freeing up capital and tapping into other sources of income.
Let us know how we can help, whether in driving exceptional performance for your organization, or in your own career advancement.
