Phil Sineath Partner and CEO Coach, Cornerstone Coaching Get in touch

Executive development for the season that demands more from you.

A concierge-style partnership for CEOs, Owners, and C-suite leaders who don't want to leave their growth, or their firm's growth, to chance.

Phil Sineath, Partner and CEO Coach, Cornerstone Coaching

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My CEO/Owner portfolio is currently full. I'm glad to talk through fit and upcoming portfolio spots.
Phil Sineath Phil SineathPartner and CEO Coach, Cornerstone Coaching

Cornerstone is a pioneer in the executive development space.

35year track record of serving executives
500+executives served
100proven “street-tested” tools
8–12clients per Partner, by design
About Phil

I've lived the decisions that come with rapid growth.

RolePartner and CEO Coach, Cornerstone Coaching
Background15 years on an executive team with 750 employees in 39 cities in 13 countries

Co-founder of a multinational professional services firm
ServesCEOs, Owners, Presidents, and C-suite leaders
Off the clockCoaching my kids' sports teams and getting lost in a bookstore

The skills that got you here aren't always the ones that will take you, and your business, where you want to go next.

For fifteen years, I served on the executive team of a global franchising organization with 750 employees in 39 cities across 13 countries. I then co-founded a multinational professional services firm. Along the way, I encountered firsthand the complex challenges and high-stakes decisions that accompany rapid growth.

Today I partner with a small portfolio of CEOs and executives through Cornerstone Coaching. Founded by Steve Graves more than thirty years ago, before most leaders had even heard of executive coaching, Cornerstone has served CEOs at Fortune 100 public firms, multigenerational family businesses, scrappy founders, and some of the largest nonprofits and churches in the US.

We guide each client through a custom executive development plan that achieves two objectives: enhancing your executive skillset and hitting your business goals.

Visit cornerstoneco.com
Simply put:We help form you, and your business, for results.
Who I work with

Two kinds of leaders. One trusted co-pilot.

We've worked with Fortune 500 CEOs, scrappy founders, family-owned businesses, PE-backed firms, and everything in between. The leaders I'm best positioned to help fall into two profiles.

Profile one

The first-time CEO

You're not satisfied with the status quo. You want to enhance your enterprise leadership skills and achieve your business goals, at the same time.

  • Growing into the five leadership tasks only a CEO can do.
  • Space and frameworks for the high-dollar, high-leverage decisions.
  • A steady outside voice when the role feels bigger than you.
Profile two

The veteran executive or Owner

A COO, CFO, President, or Business Owner who wants to sharpen and broaden your executive skillset as you prepare for what's ahead.

  • Building or rebuilding the strategy and goals of the business.
  • Leading up, down, out, across, and within at a higher level.
  • Navigating rapid growth or slow decline without losing focus.
Most leaders call me in one of three moments.
A growth plateauWhat got you here won't take you there.
A new responsibilityA new role or assignment feels bigger than you.
A shift in productivityRapid growth, or slow decline, is straining everything.
How I work

Four things set our coaching apart.

This isn't motivational, and it isn't hourly-rate coaching. It's strategic work on real decisions, real dynamics, and the kind of personal growth that shows up in how your team performs.

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Formation-based

Over 12–18 months, I guide you through a custom executive development plan to navigate the 5–7 most high-dollar, high-leverage priorities and projects. The coaching is holistic and spans everything in your work and world, but is weighted toward the professional side of life.

Framework-driven

I draw from Cornerstone's vault of 100 tools and frameworks, proven over 35 years with 500+ executives. Built "on the street" in real-world business settings, they're practical and action-oriented, spanning management, strategy, leadership, operations, and life stewardship.

Dashboard-accountable

Using proprietary diagnostic tools, we build a Dashboard of the 5–7 highest-leverage priorities and projects in your world. The Dashboard is our scope of work, and how we keep focus and measure progress across the engagement.

Concierge-style

Cornerstone is intentionally small, and each Partner carries a lean portfolio of 8–12 clients. I immerse myself in the leadership and life context of a CEO for a season as a strategy and thought partner. Clients experience me as an executive co-pilot: confidant, strategist, advisor, and encourager.

From the vault

Every leader must master the Five Directions of Leadership.

The five areas where you must constantly give your attention. Select a direction to explore it.

Up

Managing expectations

Managing the expectations of superiors, investors, and board directors.

The engagement

What an engagement looks and feels like.

An engagement starts at 12 months and can run 18 to 24.
It rests on two pillars:

Monthly Anchor Meeting

Monthly, 2–3 hours

We zoom out and look strategically at the business, moving the needle on strategic decisions and executing your strategy.

I drive this meeting. This is where we do real work together. I don’t show up and ask “What are we talking about today?”

Impromptu Meetings

As needed

I help you get the essential things done, navigating crises and solving problems as they come.

Board meeting next week?Explaining poor quarterly earnings to investors. Let's game-plan that meeting.
A blow-up on the leadership team?Let's process what went wrong and make a plan to move forward.

Our work helps you solve three problems: decisions, direction, and distractions.

Decisions

This is about leverage.

Space and frameworks to make high-impact, high-dollar decisions.

Direction

This is about alignment.

Developing, or rebuilding, the strategy and goals of your business.

Distractions

This is about focus.

Staying accountable to a Dashboard so your best energy goes to what matters most.

Priced at a premium

Because I embed myself in the work and world of a few leaders at a time, engagements are priced at a premium. My monthly retainer depends on the scope of the engagement.

$4K–$7Kper month, based on scope
Clients

The leaders we serve.

A sample of my current portfolio

  • President/COO of a $900M manufacturing company
  • CEO of a $100M construction company across the Southeast
  • President of a $50M M&A advisory firm
  • CEO of a $50M leadership training agency in 13 countries
  • CEO of a $10M high-end landscape design/build firm

A sample of Cornerstone clients

  • CEOs of multiple Fortune 100 firms
  • CEO of a $500M food company in Mexico City
  • CEO of a multi-billion-dollar enterprise identity security firm
  • CEO of a $150M PE-backed health care services firm in Southern California
  • A $200M family office exploring legacy investments and entrepreneurship
The podcast

Interested, but not ready to chat just yet?

Preview our work through the podcast episode “How do I find the right coach for my needs?”

Listen on Spotify
Get in touch

If the season in front of you is demanding more than the last one did, let's talk.

Level up your executive acumen and enterprise leadership, without sacrificing your health or your family.

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