What Phillips Associates does

Phillips Associates is a privately held management consulting firm headquartered in Pacific Palisades, California, founded more than 30 years ago by Steven L. Phillips, PhD. The firm operates as a boutique practice of approximately six senior consultants, almost all holding advanced degrees (PhDs, PsyD, MSOD) from institutions including USC, Pepperdine, and UCLA, with prior leadership experience at McKinsey, The Los Angeles Times, Amgen, Boeing, Disney Consumer Products, and a $1B privately held company where Phillips served as SVP Chief Talent Officer.

The firm's core offerings are professional services rather than technology products: senior leadership off-sites, "Turbo Charged" strategic planning, cultural evolution, organization design, organizational change management, executive coaching, and YPO (Young Presidents' Organization) forum facilitation. The underlying "technology" is a proprietary 5-step team development methodology that treats senior teams as complex adaptive systems, supported by self-authored assessment instruments (Team Assessment Inventory, Team Player Characteristics, Establishing Team Ground Rules) and a published book portfolio on team-building and change management. Two awards from the American Society for Training and Development reinforce the firm's brand credibility.

Phillips Associates generates revenue exclusively through direct, customized enterprise engagements priced on an outcome- and engagement-basis, with multi-year contract structures and results guarantees (including a satisfaction-based payment model for YPO forum services). The go-to-market motion is enterprise field sales targeting Fortune 500 and mid-market senior leadership teams, with named clients spanning Microsoft, Disney, Mattel, Fox, Warner Bros., Boeing, Viacom, PepsiCo, Richemont, Nestlé, CBRE, Sirius XM, Cedars Sinai, City of Hope, the LA Clippers, SAG-AFTRA, and others — a claimed 200+ global enterprise client base across roughly 30 years of operation. Distribution is exclusively on-site facilitation, supplemented by thought-leadership channels including the founder's books, conference speaking, LinkedIn presence, and the firm's website.

Name

Phillips Associates

Legal name

Phillips Associates, LLC

Website

https://phillipsassociates.net

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Phillips Associates is a privately held, boutique management consulting firm in Pacific Palisades, California, providing senior leadership off-sites, strategic planning, cultural evolution, organization design, executive coaching, and YPO forum facilitation to Fortune 500 and mid-market enterprises via a ~6-person senior consultant team.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Management Consulting

NAICS

Management Consulting Services (54161), Human Resources Consulting Services (541612)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Operations & Process Improvement Consulting (BPAHACAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Talent Management & Leadership Advisory (Succession, Performance, Culture) (BPACAJAH), Executive Leadership & C-Suite Development (EDABAAAA)

Keywords

• Management consulting services
• Executive coaching
• Organizational development
• Strategic planning facilitation
• Leadership team building

Headquarters

HQ city

Malibu

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Management Consulting Services: Professional consulting services delivered through engagements with senior leadership teams, including off-site facilitation, strategic planning, organizational change, and team development. Revenue generated through billable consulting hours and engagement-based fees.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Phillips Associates is a management consulting firm that delivers senior leadership off-sites, strategic planning facilitation, cultural evolution, organization design, organizational change management, and executive coaching services. Engagements are customized around a proprietary 5-step team development process and delivered on-site by trained PhD-level consultants to enterprise senior leadership teams. The firm also offers specialized services for Young Presidents' Organization (YPO) forums and supporting diagnostic tools and books authored by founder Steven L. Phillips.

Product overview

Phillips Associates is a management consulting firm offering a portfolio of professional services centered on senior team development, organizational transformation, and executive leadership. The core offerings include Off-Sites for Senior Leadership, Strategic Planning, Cultural Evolution, Organization Design, Organizational Change, Executive Coaching, and YPO Resource services. These services are supported by proprietary tools including the Team Assessment Inventory (TAI), Team Player Characteristics assessment, and Establishing Team Ground Rules guide. Additionally, the firm offers published books by Steven L. Phillips covering team-building and organizational change methodologies. The services range from individual executive coaching to large-scale organizational change initiatives, all delivered by trained professionals with advanced degrees in business, communications, and psychology.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Off-Sites for Senior Leadership

Quantifiable outcome

• 60% improvement in annual plan achievement for Pacific HealthWorks after implementing Phillips Associates process
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers19 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Young Presidents' Organization (YPO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSteven L. Phillips completed rigorous application and certification process to become a Certified Forum Facilitator for YPO. He provides multiple services to YPO chapters including forum optimization, chapter strategic planning, moderator meetings, forum fundamentals workshops, and leadership development programs.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Egon Zehnder: Executive search and leadership advisory firm with a strong executive coaching and senior leadership development practice, targeting C-suite clients across industries — directly comparable in client base and service line.
• Spencer Stuart: Executive search and leadership advisory firm with consulting services around board effectiveness, CEO succession, and senior team development, operating in the same client segment as Phillips Associates.
• Heidrick & Struggles: Executive search and leadership consulting firm with a dedicated Culture Shaping and Leadership Consulting practice, serving enterprise clients on senior team effectiveness — comparable to Phillips Associates' offerings.
• Korn Ferry: Global organizational consulting firm with a substantial leadership development, executive coaching, and team effectiveness practice serving senior executives, closely overlapping with Phillips Associates' service portfolio.
• Center for Creative Leadership (CCL): Nonprofit leadership development research and consulting organization offering executive coaching, team development, and leadership programs to senior leaders — highly comparable in service line and methodology.
• RHR International: Boutique management consulting firm specializing in executive coaching, leadership development, and senior team effectiveness, serving Fortune 500 CEOs and senior leadership teams — directly comparable to Phillips Associates' core offerings.

Broad incumbents

• McKinsey & Company: Global management consulting giant whose Organization Practice delivers senior-team effectiveness, culture, and organizational change services to the same Fortune 500 clients Phillips Associates serves, but at significantly larger scale.
• Deloitte Human Capital: The Human Capital practice of a Big Four firm offering leadership development, organizational transformation, and executive coaching services to large enterprises, competing in adjacent parts of Phillips Associates' market.
• Bain & Company: Global management consulting firm with an Organization practice providing leadership development, organizational design, and change management services to enterprise C-suites, overlapping with Phillips Associates' core work.
• FranklinCovey: Global leadership and organizational effectiveness consulting firm offering executive coaching, team development, and culture change services to enterprise clients, broadly overlapping with Phillips Associates' service categories.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/steven
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/phillips-associates---off-sites-for-senior-leadership

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Phillips Associates