Adam Zak recruits “A” players, leaders who simply get things done.

Adam is the founder and CEO of Adam Zak Executive Search, and an accomplished senior executive with more than 25 years of experience spanning the areas of management consulting; financial and operations management; and talent acquisition.

Adam excels at identifying and recruiting business leaders who are experts in Lean continuous improvement, process and operational excellence, and sustainability.  His impact on organizations quickly becomes apparent as the talented individuals he identifies for his clients, in their new leadership roles, consistently go on to make their new companies simply excellent.

Adam has recruited executives for a diverse mix of Fortune 1000, private equity, and entrepreneurial companies in the U.S. and abroad. He has worked in a variety of industries, from automotive and aerospace giants implementing sustainable operational excellence cultures, to fast-paced consumer product distributors revolutionizing their global supply chains with green management practices.

Clients say Adam is clear, focused, and disciplined in his approach. He hears them. He responds. He leads them to solutions. And, he’s fun to work with. One senior executive even used the word “delightful!”

A sampling of organizations with whom Adam has partnered includes:  Parker Hannifin and Rockwell Collins, in aerospace & defense;  Rockwell Automation, a diversified industrial manufacturer;  Porsche Cars North America (there really is no substitute); Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream and Del Monte Foods Co., supply-chain and distribution-oriented food purveyors; Philips Electronics NV, in electrical and electronics products; McKinsey & Co., in management consulting; General Electric HealthCare and Ventana Medical Systems, high tech healthcare leaders; VistaPrint, providing digital business services; and BNP Paribas and GE Capital, in global financial services.

Earlier in his career Adam earned his accounting degree from the University of Illinois, became a CPA, and worked with KPMG in both advisory and assurance roles. He subsequently held a variety of financial and general management positions with venture capital, innovative start-up and Fortune-ranked companies in Chicago, San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

Adam has been using his uncommon expertise to help clients improve their businesses operationally and financially for almost 20 years.  He’s been a partner with two international executive recruiting firms, and now conducts executive searches in a much more creative, entrepreneurial and results-driven (and Lean) fashion. His unique and highly-personalized methodology for recruiting exceptional leadership talent is trademarked as PDCAsearch ®.

Adam contributes his time to a number of professional and community organizations. He often speaks and writes on topics including the Lean Enterprise, innovation, operational excellence and sustainability. He is a devoted student of executive leadership, change management and most of all, the philosophies and practices of continuous improvement.

Finally, Adam is co-author of the new book  Simple Excellence: Organizing and Aligning the Management Team in a Lean Transformation  (November, 2010, Taylor & Francis/CRC Press), which explains the critical role each member of the senior management team must play in successfully achieving a company’s transformation to a Lean, operational excellence organization.

Adam partners with clients exclusively on a retained basis.  Please consider if your next search requirement would merit Adam’s individualized focus, undivided attention and personal guarantee.