Kern & PartnersLeadership. Collaboration.

About

Kern and Partners / Los Angeles

Russell M. Kern, Founder and CEO of Kern and Partners.

Russell brings the perspective of a founder and CEO to the work of developing managers, leaders and teams.

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Watch Russell on the Magnificent Manager

Background

Russell M. Kern speaking with energy, microphone in hand
Russell
M. KernFounder and CEO
Kern and Partners

Experience beyond the classroom.

Russell founded a national marketing agency and ran it as CEO for four decades, from start-up through high growth, with clients including AT&T, DirecTV, AMEX, SAP, AAA and Canon. He prepared it for sale, sold it to Omnicom and stayed for ten years developing the leadership team that ran it after him.

During his career as a leader he saw the same thing again and again.

  1. New managers did not know how to coach and grow teams.
  2. Becoming a great coach is a learned skill that only gets better with practice.
  3. The work rarely breaks or stalls inside a department. Work most often breaks between the functions, in the handoffs, in the lack of clarity or agreements within the handoffs, slow decisions between the functions nobody owns.

This stems from managers and leaders not being trained as team members and as coaches of one another.

Video

The Magnificent Manager, in Russell's words.

A manager who attracts, retains, empowers, and grows their team members.

See Manager & Supervisor Development

Credentials

Training and certifications

Also: Harvard, Omnicom U at Babson · Wiley, Change Leadership · Wiley, L360 Evaluations · Vistage Speaker

  • The Five Behaviors, a Wiley brandAuthorized Partner
  • The 6 Types of Working GeniusCertified
  • Case Western Reserve University, Weatherhead Executive EducationAppreciative Inquiry Certificate
  • GallupCertified Strengths Coach
  • MIT Sloan School of ManagementNeuroscience of Leadership
  • ATD, Association for Talent DevelopmentMember
  • IDEO UIDEO U

Kern and Partners

Leaders developing leaders

  • Our mission

    Leaders developing leaders

    Your leaders learn to teach with our help. Leader as teacher gives our clients multiple cultural and workforce development benefits, and a built-in capacity-scaling process.

  • How we work

    We only work with a handful of clients, on purpose

    Russell works directly on every engagement. Our solutions draw on world-class university faculty who engage your leaders in learning how to be great teachers.

    See how we work

The book

Russell Kern smiling in front of a screen showing the cover of Transform or Die
Russell presenting Transform or Die

Transform or Die

Russell is the author of Transform or Die: How to Build Teams that Outthink, Outpace, and Outprofit the Competition in the AI Age, an Amazon bestseller. It’s about how teams of people and AI work together to solve problems and come up with new ideas. A second book, on cross-functional performance, is on the way.

Get the book on Amazon

Also published AMA Quarterly, 2026: The Neuroscience Risks of Using AI to Think for Us

Endorsements

What leaders say about Russell

Russell is one of those guys people want to work for - not for the money but because of who he is, and how he is. If anyone knows how to build, and get the best from, from teams, it’s him. I know this because I’ve had the pleasure of working for him, and look forward to the next opportunity to do so. I’ve seen him attract talented people and turn them into a happy, highly effective team. There is much to learn from his experience and approach.

Sean RichesDirector · Erskine, Nash AssociatesWorked for Russell

Having seen Russell grow his business from a start up to a thriving multi-million dollar company, the secret sauce that Russell always brings to leaders is unabated honesty about what he sees, good or bad, in their business. Whether it relates to his own services or not, leaders from the many Fortune 500 clients he works with have trusted Russell’s counsel for years. That kind of ego-free, drama-free, agenda-free advice is why his clients stay with him no matter how big or small their business or their challenge.

Camilla Grozian-LorentzenFounder & CEO · Lorentzen MarketingOn working with Russell

Transform or Die is a great example of applying Appreciative Inquiry methodology (the “other AI”) to the increasing challenges of AI adoption and team collaboration. Russell’s approach embodies the principle that ’the art of asking unconditionally positive questions to surface strengths-in-practice’ can drive organizational transformation. His ’Empower’ pillar particularly reflects our research on building generative capacity.

Ronald Fry, PhDB Charles Ames Professor of Management · Case Western Reserve UniversityOn Transform or Die

Having worked with and coached dozens of Mid-Market CEOs as a Vistage Chair, Russell is the go-to expert on collaboration development for high-performance teams. This book, Transform or Die, captures the step-by-step methodology he’s refined through decades of real-world experience and building a $100MM company. His Human+AI framework will help leaders avoid collaboration development blind spots while reducing the risk from costly AI pilot failures. The key point Russell makes, which I fully support, is that business growth, profits, and success are not about the tech; it’s always about leadership, trust, and effective collaboration.

Sandeep KheraCEO Peer Group Chair & Executive Coach · Vistage and TIGER 21On Transform or Die

Speaking

Russell Kern presenting a slide on trust behaviors
Russell speaking on trust and team behaviors

Speaking

Russell speaks to leadership teams and conferences on manager development, cross-functional work, and leading teams in the AI age.

Ask about speaking

The presentation was engaging, inspiring, enlightening and actionable. Russell is a speaker and his information was valuable, interactive and engaging.

Chris RitchieDirector Human Resource Development · Auburn UniversityConference session feedback

Russell’s knowledge and coaching skills are thought provoking. He gets everyone engaged.

Mallory FlynnContent Manager, Organization Development and Career Development · ATDConference session feedback

Russell’s presentation helped our team to rethink our approach to Organizational Development for the rapid growth of our organization moving forward.

Jill SmithSenior Manager of Organizational Effectiveness · Zaxby’s FranchisingConference session feedback

Russell Kern gesturing toward a projected framework in a workshop room lined with flip charts
Russell in a working session

Watch

Russell on screen

Next step

Let’s talk about your goals.

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Kern and Partners / Let’s talk

The first step is a conversation.

Thirty minutes with Russell to discuss the result you need, what may be getting in the way and whether we can help. No obligation to go further.

Your note goes directly to Russell.

Or call 877-323-5376 (KERN)
Free assessment

Assessment

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Or talk to Russell now877-323-5376 (KERN)
Video