Nat Stoddard is a Crenshaw Associates Expert, Mentor, and leader of the Directorship Prep Practice. He also serves as a Crenshaw Onboarding Advisor and Development Coach. Nat was the firm’s Chairman for the past 18 years, and during this time he has assisted a great number of individuals and companies to achieve their personal and corporate goals and aspirations.

Nat has extensive C-level and boardroom experience and has held roles as Chairman of the Board, President, and CEO of Camco Inc., General Electric’s publicly traded affiliate for major appliances in Canada, and as President, CEO, and Board Director of World Kitchen, Inc., a $1.5B global roll-up of KKR-acquired companies in the housewares sector. Additionally, he has held key leadership and operating positions with such iconic consumer brands as Troy-Bilt, Bolens, Black and Decker, and Samsonite.

With more than 15 years of public and private company board experience, Nat brings a practical perspective to the directorship search process. He helps clients understand what is expected of board members, the rigor of obtaining a board seat, and the nuances of becoming a collaborative contributing director. Being a successful board member requires a different set of skills from being an effective C-suite leader, and Nat helps his clients reframe their value propositions to focus on board-relevant competencies that will make them stronger candidates for board roles. To better prepare leaders for the realities of board work, Nat led the development of a proprietary symposium for Crenshaw clients focusing on the legal and behavioral obligations and expectations for directors that has received consistently high net promoter scores and has broad appeal to executive coaching and career transition clients.

Consumer Durables, Professional Services

Director, Chairman, CEO searches, (Start-Ups, General Management Manufacturing, Marketing, Finance)

Camco, Inc., World Kitchen, Inc., Garden Way Inc., Black & Decker, Inc., Leigh Product, Inc., Beatrice Foods, Inc., Samsonite Inc.

AOL, American Express, Procter & Gamble, Verizon, AT&T, Time Warner Cable, TIAA, CIT Group, Skanska USA, Duracell, Timex, Inc.

• Assisted numerous newly retired and actively employed senior executives to appointments as public-company board of directors
• Provided successful onboarding counsel to newly appointed CFO of major technology firm
• Provided advisory services to newly appointed division president of Fortune 50 corporation
• Successfully coached high-potential candidate to prepare for the Chief Technology Officer position in one of the world’s largest packaged goods company

MBA, University of Denver
BA, Denison University

Author, THE RIGHT LEADER: Selecting Executives Who Fit (Wiley, 2009). Has written numerous articles on leadership, cultural fit, and succession planning. Published on Bloomberg.com, Businessweek.com, Forbes, CEO Magazine.com, Directorship, and other executive leadership publications.

Over the years, has been a keynote speaker or presenter on topics of leadership, fit, and culture to multiple audiences including Colorado Business Law Institute, Colorado Bar Association, American Management Association, various HR and recruiting organizations, Penn State University, and The University of Chicago Alumni Association.

• Appalachian Trail Conservancy, (Director, Member of Executive Committee, Governance Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Facilities Committee)
• World Kitchen, Inc., (Inside Director)
• Camco, Inc. & (Chairman & Non-Executive Chairman)
• Director, Advisory Board Member and/or Trustee for numerous Start-Ups, Not-For-Profits, and City, County, State and Federal (non-political) appointed chairmanships including:
  
  • Federal (Canadian) Advisory Group for International Trade - Housewares Sector
  • Economic Advisory Board to Premier of Ontario
  • SPOC, Inc (Medical Device start-up, advisory board)
  • Florida Academy of Nursing (Educational Institution start-up advisory board)

Hiked the entire Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine (2,180 miles) in segments over a nine-year period; former Air Force pilot and Vietnam veteran; Certified ski instructor.