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Dick Patton

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+1 617 535 3500

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Dick Patton partners with clients on CEO succession, advisory, and search, in addition to providing board consulting and search, talent assessment, and recruitment of senior-level executives. Dick previously led the firm’s global CEO Practice, the Consumer Practice, and cofounded Egon Zehnder’s Chief Marketing Officers Practice.

One of the greatest rewards of our profession is helping others win. I get genuine satisfaction from seeing my clients, candidates, and colleagues succeed.

Prior to joining Egon Zehnder, Dick held management, marketing, and business development roles at Coca-Cola and Frito-Lay. He has also worked in startups and an advertising agency, and published two speeches in the Congressional Record while working for the U.S. Senate.

Dick earned a BA from Brown University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a frequent speaker, and his insights on talent development, functional evolution, and recruitment have appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek, Harvard Business Review, Forbes, and other publications. Dick serves as a trustee of Groton School in Massachusetts, and he cochairs Egon Zehnder’s annual Marketing Leadership Summit at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. He is married with three children and loves spending time outdoors.

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Thought Leadership

Thought Leadership by Dick Patton

CEO Insights — Volume 31: Minds Over Matter: Increasing CEO Capacity for Success

CEO Insights — Volume 31: Minds Over Matter: Increasing CEO Capacity for Success

There has been a remarkable augmentation of expectations for CEO leadership. How can CEOs expand their capacity? Read more

CEO Insights

CEO Insights

The CEO Insights Series shares our latest and best thinking on the most definitive topics affecting CEO leadership and performance today. Read more

CEO Insights — Volume 27: Reconnecting and Reinventing Over Resigning

CEO Insights — Volume 27: Reconnecting and Reinventing Over Resigning

Moving through the Great Resignation, CEOs can build connections and foster transformation by evolving and adapting themselves. Read more

CEO Insights — Volume 25: Spanning the Realities of the CEO Role

CEO Insights — Volume 25: Spanning the Realities of the CEO Role

CEOs are straddling two realities—one they are familiar with based on older metrics and the other reliant upon evolving expectations. Read more

Egon Zehnder global study reveals CEOs are more self-aware, yet need to become more relational and adaptive

Egon Zehnder global study reveals CEOs are more self-aware, yet need to become more relational and adaptive

Survey of nearly 1,000 global CEOs reveals recent social and economic challenges drove unprecedented levels of self-reflection and development – changing CEO perspectives and… Read more

It starts with the CEO

It starts with the CEO

Survey of nearly 1,000 global CEOs reveals recent social and economic challenges drove unprecedented levels of self-reflection and development – changing CEO perspectives and… Read more

CEO Insights — Volume 22: Featuring “CEOs: Architects of Prosperity”

CEO Insights — Volume 22: Featuring “CEOs: Architects of Prosperity”

Our new series, “CEOs: Architects of Prosperity,” has been created to highlight the expanding expectations for CEOs across a wide range of issues affecting… Read more

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity

CEO performance has been redefined by rising expectations and growing complexity. To show this transformation, Egon Zehnder profiled six exceptional CEOs who are working… Read more

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity — The Adaptive CEO

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity — The Adaptive CEO

CEO performance has been redefined by rising expectations and growing complexity. To show this transformation, Egon Zehnder profiled six exceptional CEOs who are working… Read more

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity — Reconnecting with Our Humanity

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity — Reconnecting with Our Humanity

CEO performance has been redefined by rising expectations and growing complexity. To show this transformation, Egon Zehnder profiled six exceptional CEOs who are working… Read more

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity — The Power of Relationships

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity — The Power of Relationships

CEO performance has been redefined by rising expectations and growing complexity. To show this transformation, Egon Zehnder profiled six exceptional CEOs who are working… Read more

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity — Perform <i>and</i> Transform

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity — Perform and Transform

CEO performance has been redefined by rising expectations and growing complexity. To show this transformation, Egon Zehnder profiled six exceptional CEOs who are working… Read more

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity — Time to Open the Doors

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity — Time to Open the Doors

CEO performance has been redefined by rising expectations and growing complexity. To show this transformation, Egon Zehnder profiled six exceptional CEOs who are working… Read more

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity — Navigating a World in Flux

CEOs: Architects of Prosperity — Navigating a World in Flux

CEO performance has been redefined by rising expectations and growing complexity. To show this transformation, Egon Zehnder profiled six exceptional CEOs who are working… Read more

2020 Kellogg Marketing Leadership Summit: A New Brand Framework Built on Social Action

2020 Kellogg Marketing Leadership Summit: A New Brand Framework Built on Social Action

The 10th anniversary Kellogg Marketing Leadership Summit was unlike any other — a virtual setting that brought more attendees than ever before and content… Read more

The Kellogg Marketing Leadership Summit — Tenth Annual Kellogg Marketing Leadership Summit

The Kellogg Marketing Leadership Summit — Tenth Annual Kellogg Marketing Leadership Summit

The 10th anniversary Kellogg Marketing Leadership Summit was unlike any other — a virtual setting that brought more attendees than ever before and content… Read more

CEO Insights — Volume 16: Both/And CEO Leadership: Leveraging New Possibilities from Old Polarities

CEO Insights — Volume 16: Both/And CEO Leadership: Leveraging New Possibilities from Old Polarities

Leaders today need to better manage polarities - but what are those polarities, and how do you reconcile them? Read more

CEO Insights — Volume 14: An Expanding Role: The Advancing Impact of CEO Engagement

CEO Insights — Volume 14: An Expanding Role: The Advancing Impact of CEO Engagement

There is extensive speculation about the impact that leading through COVID-19 will have on the future of the CEO position. Have the past five… Read more

“In the Eye of the Storm”: A New CEO Mandate

“In the Eye of the Storm”: A New CEO Mandate

Five tips for CEOs while they work to manage the business and create psychological and emotional safety for their employees during the COVID-19 crisis. Read more

CEO Insights — Volume 9: “In the Eye of the Storm”: A New CEO Mandate

CEO Insights — Volume 9: “In the Eye of the Storm”: A New CEO Mandate

Five tips for CEOs while they work to manage the business and create psychological and emotional safety for their employees during the COVID-19 crisis. Read more

The Call for Curiosity

The Call for Curiosity

Curious, bold leadership is not something you simply have or don’t have; you build upon what is there, you learn it and continue to… Read more

CEO Insights — Volume 6: The Call for Curiosity: Cultivating Inquisitive Leadership

CEO Insights — Volume 6: The Call for Curiosity: Cultivating Inquisitive Leadership

Curious, bold leadership is not something you simply have or don’t have; you build upon what is there, you learn it and continue to… Read more

The Uncharted Leadership Voyage

The Uncharted Leadership Voyage

The CEO turnover rate is at a record high and appears to be accelerating. How can we better prepare CEOs for today’s reality, where… Read more

CEO Insights — Volume 4: The Uncharted Leadership Voyage

CEO Insights — Volume 4: The Uncharted Leadership Voyage

Sudden CEO departures have been constantly in the headlines. The CEO turnover rate hit a record high in 2018 and looks to be accelerating.… Read more

CEO Insights — Volume 2: It Takes a Village: Supporting CEO Leadership

CEO Insights — Volume 2: It Takes a Village: Supporting CEO Leadership

Not that long ago, the idea of coaches for CEOs was frowned upon, viewed as a sign of weakness or called on as a… Read more

CEO Insights — Volume 1: New Captains of Consciousness: Infusing CEO Leadership with Social Responsibility and Accountability

CEO Insights — Volume 1: New Captains of Consciousness: Infusing CEO Leadership with Social Responsibility and Accountability

Not even two decades into the new millennium, the world has faced many devastating events that have deeply affected the century’s course—terrorist attacks, hate… Read more

No CEO is an Island

No CEO is an Island

We often speak of CEOs as forces unto themselves, when in reality, there can be no CEO leaders without followers—and vice versa. Read more

It Takes a Village: Supporting CEO Leadership

It Takes a Village: Supporting CEO Leadership

Leading in today’s complex, uncertain world presents challenges that no amount of preparation can completely take into account. How CEOs are seeking regular, reliable… Read more

New Captains of Consciousness

New Captains of Consciousness

Across the world, top corporate officers are increasingly assuming a mantle of public leadership by driving purpose-directed company strategies and taking overt stands on… Read more

Even CEOs Get Nervous About Their Jobs
3:04

Even CEOs Get Nervous About Their Jobs

Dick Patton talks to NPR about the importance of mindset preparation and the role of boards in helping CEOs succeed. Read more

Harvard Business Review – Survey: 68% of CEOs Admit They Weren’t Fully Prepared for the Job

Harvard Business Review – Survey: 68% of CEOs Admit They Weren’t Fully Prepared for the Job

CEOs are known for their confidence, but according to a. Egon Zehnder survey of 402 CEOs from 11 countries, while many did feel ready… Read more

The CEO: A Personal Reflection

The CEO: A Personal Reflection

We surveyed 402 current CEOs from various industries, countries and corporate structures. They shared perspectives on the realities of the role, their preparation, their… Read more

Commentary: Here’s Why So Many CEOs Start the Job Unprepared

Commentary: Here’s Why So Many CEOs Start the Job Unprepared

Leadership has never been easy. Yet given the current volatility of the external world—stemming from geopolitical uncertainty, activist pressure, a new generation of employees,… Read more

Directors&Boards - The Lonely CEO

Directors&Boards - The Lonely CEO

Whether it’s racial tensions in a coffee shop or testimony before Congress about privacy, CEOs face a lot of pressure to make things right.… Read more

The CEO: A Personal Reflection

The CEO: A Personal Reflection

Between November 2017 and January 2018, Egon Zehnder conducted a global research project, surveying current chief executives from a wide cross-section of industries, countries,… Read more

Bloomberg – New CEOs Struggle with Tougher-Than-Expected Top Job

Bloomberg – New CEOs Struggle with Tougher-Than-Expected Top Job

Only around one in three new CEOs feel fully prepared to take on the top job, reports Bloomberg citing Egon Zehnder’s study: “The CEO:… Read more

CMO Redefined

CMO Redefined

“Cladogenesis” is a term used by evolutionary scientists to describe the relatively sudden division of an existing species into two or more separate lines… Read more

Comfort with Paradox

Comfort with Paradox

Most CEOs and boards name succession, both for the CEO and for business unit leaders, as their biggest strategic challenge. While this leadership challenge… Read more

Architect of Consumer Centricity

Architect of Consumer Centricity

Markets are merging; smart, self-confident consumers are networking with one another and sharing their views online. Read more

Leaders of the Future: Navigating Disruption in Consumer Goods and Retail

Leaders of the Future: Navigating Disruption in Consumer Goods and Retail

Egon Zehnder was privileged to be part of the 60th annual Consumer Goods Forum global summit on 15-17 June 2016. Held in Cape Town,… Read more

The Intersection of Brand and Culture

The Intersection of Brand and Culture

The news story seems common now. Information about a company – working conditions, political affiliations, government relations, etc. – is made public, and the… Read more

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