Leading Boutique Executive Search, Coaching, & Professional Services Firm Marks 23 Years of Serving Global Companies McKinney Consulting, an international executive search, human resources, and coaching consultancy based in Seoul, South Korea, was founded 23 years ago, in 2001 by Steve McKinney, a highly experienced leader across various industries, particularly in product development for the international footwear industry.

McKinney Consulting, an international executive search, human resources, and coaching consultancy based in Seoul, South Korea, was founded 23 years ago, in 2001 by Steve McKinney, a highly experienced leader across various industries, particularly in product development for the international footwear industry. However, prior to that, Steve was a professionally trained singer, had been on several recordings, traveled, and conducted several choirs. This shaped his outlook on leadership, placing importance on creating harmony between different teams within an organization and balancing their interests to achieve success.

In the 1990s, Steve joined the footwear industry, first as senior manager for development and commercialization at a major brand, where he oversaw R&D and manufacturing. He then became head of footwear product development at one of the largest global athletic shoe brands, helping establish a new team and procedures that contributed to a 20% increase in global sales.

According to Steve, he got into the executive search industry as he was looking for a career change as well as the opportunity to settle in his wife's home country of Korea. He spoke to the president of an executive search company, who convinced him that executive search would be a great fit for him. The president hired him on the spot, and Steve learned the ropes of the industry, before setting out on his own to found McKinney Consulting in 2001.

Initially focused on executive search, the company rapidly expanded and added more services – HR and management consulting for global organizations in 2002 and executive coaching in 2003. McKinney Consulting's coaching services are aimed at individual leaders and leadership teams for multinational and start-up companies.

In 2007, McKinney Consulting was accepted to the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC), which sets the quality standard for the executive search and leadership consulting professions. Only the best firms from around the globe are recommended for membership in AESC, which serves as proof of the company's excellence in this field. That same year, Steve was accredited as a Certified Master Coach by the International Coaching Council, and the company further expanded, adding an employee of record, talent solutions, and bookkeeping to its list of services.

McKinney Consulting became a member of IRC Executive Search Partners, now known as Kestria, in 2017. Kestria is the world's largest executive search alliance, with more than 600 consultants across more than 90 cities and over 40 countries in all six inhabited continents. Steve is currently the managing partner of Kestria for South Korea, and he was also recently named as an Asia-Pacific council member for AESC.

To date, McKinney Consulting has placed more than 500 middle to senior-level leaders in multinational companies, including some of the largest players in the automotive, beverage, logistics, and electronics industries. Steve's extensive industry experience has helped him effectively coach more than 350 startup CEOs and over 2,000 middle- to senior-level leaders, helping them become more effective leaders within their organizations. McKinney Consulting has worked with more than half of the Fortune 100 companies, and many more small and medium-sized organizations, as well as embassies.

Moving forward, McKinney Consulting will be launching the Success Factors online coaching program in the second quarter of 2024. Using the 3.5-step method that Steve formulated, the program helps learners identify the patterns that predict their success and which course of action to take to achieve their goals. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Steve and Bryan McKinney will launch a book on building a global mindset, which will help managers transition from their usual managerial duties to higher-level leadership roles.

McKinney Consulting is also preparing Bryan McKinney, a Director at the company for over 12 years, to lead the company.

"For the past 23 years, I've found the work I've been doing with McKinney Consulting incredibly rewarding," Steve says. "I derive a lot of satisfaction from seeing people succeed, and that includes helping match a person and an organization that fit each other well. With the coaching program, we help people take that next step and understand themselves while finding out what it takes for them to succeed. Aside from executive search and coaching, we offer our clients numerous other services, and we always do our best to help our clients succeed as individuals and leaders to maximize their effectiveness and exceed their potential. We help you become the leader you're meant to be."